12th Giro d'Italia Femminile - 2.9.1

Italy, July 1-15, 2001

Stage 7 - July 8: San Giovanni Rotondo - San Giovanni Rotondo, 135 km

Simone Parente worries Stahurskaia

It was a special Sunday's racing in front of a huge crowd for the 7th stage of the Giro d'Italia Femminile which started and finished in San Giovanni Rotondo, the town made famous by the Catholic icon Padre Pio. On a difficult and nervous stage, which finished with a climb, Simone Parente (Edilsavino Anusca) won and frightened race leader Zinaida Stahurskaia. "I've never won a stage at the Giro, I can't believe it," Parente said. "It's an incredible sensation which pays me back for three years of suffering after I was hit by a car and fractured my hip."

The stage was full of action with a three rider break which went clear after an early sprint. The three were: Parente, Roberta Bonanomi and Olga Zabeliskaia.

They gained a clear lead before Bonanomi was dropped on the climb and caught by the bunch. Zabeliskaja and Parente carried on, maintaining a clear lead on the main bunch. With 25km to go it was still 4:20. It was a dangerous and difficult situation for the Gas Team because Parente was only 4:08 behind Stahurskaia in the overall classification. The powerful team had to chase hard to defend the pink jersey.

The two attackers made it to the finish and so contested the sprint. Parente was strongest and won slightly ahead of Zabeliskaja. Behind nine riders lead the chase, bringing the gap down to 2:17 at the finish and so defending the pink jersey of Stahurskaia.

"It was a difficult stage," Stahurskaia admitted. "It was risky. As we've seen, the Giro is long and full of problems."

Tomorrow is the only rest day for the Giro which also serves as a transfer north to the Emilia Romagna region near Bologna. On Tuesday the 8th stage of the Giro will take place in the village of Nonantola with the start and finish of the stage. It is a relatively easy stage before the Giro heads into the mountains in the Trentino region and the final stages in the Veneto region. The final stage next Sunday is the time trial from Cornuda to Valdobbiadene.

Report courtesy of www.girodonne.com

Results

1 Simona Parente (Ita) Edilsavino Anusca           3.51.57 (34.921 km/h)
2 Olga Zabeliskaja (Rus) Carpe Diem Itera             0.04
3 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O                      2.17
4 Zinaidina Stahurskaia (Blr) Gas Sport Team                
5 Rosalisa Lapomarda (Ita) Rosa dei Venti                
6 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Edilsavino Anusca                
7 Edita Pucinskaite (Ukr) Team Alfa Lum Aurora                
8 Alessandra Cappellotto (Ita) Gas Sport Team                
9 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Edilsavino Anusca                
10 Susanne Ljngskog (Swe) Vlaanderen T.Interim                

General classification after stage 7

1 Zinaida Stahurskaia (Blr) Gas Sport Team        23.35.05 (37.058 km/h)
2 Nicole Brandli (Swi) Edilsavino Anusca              0.17
3 Diana Ziliute (Ltu) Acca Due O Lorena               0.18
4 Alessandra Cappellotto (Ita) Gas Sport Team         0.36
5 Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Alfa Lum Aurora             0.37
6 Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Edilsavino Anusca            0.47
7 Rosalisa Lapomarda (Ita) Rosa dei Venti             0.55
8 Joane Somarriba (Spa) Alfa Lum Aurora               1.22
9 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Vlaanderen T.Interim        1.44
10 Simona Parente (Ita) Edilsavino Anusca