12th Giro d'Italia Femminile - 2.9.1Italy, July 1-15, 2001Main Page Results Previous stage Stage 5 - July 6: Taranto - Lecce, 103 kmThird win for a flying Greta ZoccaGreta Zocca, the sprinter of the Gas Sport Team, has won her third stage of the Giro Femminile in Lecce. She beat Russian Olga Slioussareva and Australian Rochelle Gilmore. On the first of three days in the southern Puglia region, the Giro was warmly welcomed in the capital of the Salento area. Zocca who comes from Vicenza in the Veneto region, showed yet again that she is a great sprinter. This is her eighth win of the season, proving that she is also the best sprinter in the Girodonne. "I've won three stages now, just like in 1998," Zocca said. "Having equaled this record is a nice feeling. I didn't think I'd win today win because when there's a stage which seems to suit you, there is often something which goes wrong. Now I've got a chance of winning my fourth stage in Nanantola, but to tell you the truth I really hope my team mate Gabriella Pregnolato wins that one. She lives nearby and will be riding at home." After winning in Milazzo and Messina, Zocca won in Lecce, so confirming the predictions made before the stage. The flat stage was raced at a very fast speed. (more than 42km/h). There were few attacks due to the speed and because the Gas team carefully controlled the racing all the way to Lecce., showing that they are the absolute dominators of the Giro so far. Indeed, the results of the Gas team are recording breaking. They have won five out of six stages, have the pink jersey with Zinaida Stahurskaia, the green climber's jersey with Severine Desbouys and the Ciclamino points jersey with Zocca. It will be interesting to see what the other teams can do in the rest of the Giro. Tomorrow's stage to Selva di Fasano could be a good chance. The 117km stage starts at 11.55 and finisjhes at 3:00pm. The finish is uphill and so any challengers to Stahurskaia will have to show themselves. After the climb to Squinzano, the stage passes Brindisi and Ostuni, before the covering the climb to Selva di Fasano twice. It is not a steep climb but could shake up the Giro. Report courtesy of www.girodonnne.com
Results1 Greta Zocca (Ita) Gas Sport Team 2.22.43 (42.041 km/h) 2 Olga Slioussereva (Rus) Carpe Diem Itera 3 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) Australia 4 Vera Holfeld (Ned) Accadueo Lorena 5 Monica Valen (Nor) Sponsor Service Norvegia 6 Irina Chuzhynova (Ukr) Edilsavino Anusca 7 Tanja Hennes (Ger) Team Nurnberger 8 Esther Van der Helm (Ned) Farm Frites Hartol 9 Katia Longhin (Ita) Accadueo Lorena 10 Regina Schleicher (Ger) Michela Fanini Record Rox General classification after stage 5 1 Zinaida Stahurskaia (Blr) Gas Sport Team 16.27.39 (37.787 km/h) 2 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Accadueo Lorena 0.10 3 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Edilsavino Anusca 4 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Edilsavino Anusca 5 Alessandra Cappellotto (Ita) Gas Sport Team 0.25 6 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Alfa Lum Aurora 0.26 7 Rosalisa Lapomarda (Ita) Rosa dei Venti 0.44 8 Joane Somarriba (Spa) Alfa Lum Aurora 0.45 9 Susanne Ljungkog (Swe) Vlaanderen T.Interim 1.07 10 Severine Desbouys (Fra) Gas Sport Team 1.15 |