31st Settimana Ciclista Lombarda - 2.4

Italy, April 18-22, 2001

Stage 3 - April 20: Stezzano - Selvino, 181.9 km

Gontchar takes over

Ukrainian World TT champion Serguei Gontchar (Liquigas) became the new overall leader in the Settimana Lombarda, after winning stage 3 in solo fashion. Gontchar attacked with 5 kilometres to go in the 182 kilometre stage from Stezzano to Selvino, winning by 24 seconds ahead of Serguei Yakovlev (Cantina Tollo) and Pascal Herve (Alexia).

The race finished atop the 938m Selvino climb, and was extremely selective, especially given the wet weather conditions. Gontchar complained that he was not in good form, and therefore had to attack so as not to risk a sprint.

A little way behind was a group containing Mercatone Uno's Marco Pantani, as well as Mapei's Stefano Garzelli, two of the big favourites in the Giro d'Italia.

Results

1 Sergey Gontchar (Ukr) Liquigas-Pata                  4.47.20
2 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone     0.24
3 Pascal Herve (Fra) Alexia Alluminio
4 Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone
5 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
6 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo
7 Faat Zakirov (Rus) Amore & Vita Beretta
8 Giuseppe Di Grande (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola
9 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour
10 Simone Bertoletti (Ita) Lampre-Daikin
11 Daniele De Paoli (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Albacom
12 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Albacom
13 Ivan Gotti (Ita) Alessio
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Saeco Macchine per Caffe
15 Franco Pellizzotti (Ita) Alessio
 
General classification after stage 3
 
1 Sergey Gontchar (Ukr) Liquigas-Pata                 13.15.11
2 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step                0.05
3 Pascal Herve (Fra) Alexia Alluminio                     0.24
4 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour
5 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo
6 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone
7 Ivan Gotti (Ita) Alessio
8 Franco Pellizzotti (Ita) Alessio
9 Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone
10 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Team Deutsche Telekom
 
Points classification
 
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                   12 pts
2 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Alessio                                12
3 Stefan Rutimann (Swi) Tacconi Sport-Caldirola             11
4 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Domo-Farm Frites                     10
5 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo              10
6 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Cantina Tollo Acqua & Sapone        8
7 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Liquigas-Pata                       7
8 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance                  7
9 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Mobilvetta Design                   6
10 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems               6
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step                   4 pts
2 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa          4
3 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance                  2
4 Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bonjour                                 2
5 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                            2
6 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Alessio                                 1
7 Mirco Marini (Ita) Liquigas                                1