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Michele Bartoli hasn't taken long to reward the faith shown in him by Fassa Bortolo. In a race that has been dominated by Italians, the 32 year old Tuscan from Pisa picked up his first victory of the year in the 4th stage of the 29th Tour Méditerranéen.
The stage included the gruelling climb up Mount Faron. Starting at a 90-m. altitude, and finishing at 511 metres above sea level it's a 5.6-km. climb, with an average gradient below 10%, but in the second half of the ascent moves up to around 14%, even going up to 16% in a particular piece renamed "Le Trou du Diable" ("The Devil's Throne").
Fassa controlled most of the stage setting a high pace right from the penultimate ascent, the Col des Fources. Interesting, stage 3 leader Alessandro Petacchi was one of the hardest workers for Bartoli, so the indication is that team director Giancarlo Ferretti is setting up for Bartoli to claim the overall victory as well.
Because of the pace, and Fassa's teamwork, the peloton splintered with only 50 riders remaining in the lead bunch, with this number reduced to twenty after a horse ran across the riders path during a descent.
Both Richard Virenque and Mapei's Hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi managed to break away, but were caught with about 20 kms. to go. At the beginning of the final ascent, sprinter Robbie McEwen surprised all by attempting a solo, uphill, break, at one stage he even managed to put 20 seconds on the peloton, however it wasn't to be McEwen's day, as he was eventually caught.
Bartoli's successful attack came 3 kms from the finish, just before the "Trou du Diable". The Italian took his first (solo) win of the year, the 35th victory of his career. Fassa's triumphal day was completed by Paolo Tiralongo finishing in second place, while another Italian (Colpack Astro's Dennis Lunghi) took third. Robbie McEwen finished in eighth place, while "American" Guido Trenti ranked sixth in the stage and is now seventh overall.
The "Tour of Mediterranean" seems to be an all-Italian affair. After 3 stage wins by Italy's riders and teams (including Fassa-Bortolo's in the opening TTT), and an overall ranking full of Italians in the top 10.
Bartoli's victory comes after a couple of relatively poor seasons for the rider marked by injury and team troubles. Bartoli is now the most serious candidate for the final win, as the French stage-race finishes tomorrow with a 120-km. leg (Rousset-Marseille) featuring 4 climbs, including the Col de Ginestre, whose summit is placed at 15 kms from the finish line.
1 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3.56.22 (36.477 km/h) 2 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.07 3 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 1.09 4 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1.14 5 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 1.21 6 Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 1.31 7 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 1.40 8 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 1.46 9 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.58 10 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 2.22 11 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 2.49 12 Grischa Niermann (Ned) Rabobank 2.54 13 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC Tiscali 3.00 14 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 3.19 15 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Rabobank 3.32 DNF Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner DNF Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites DNF Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC Tiscali DNF Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank DNF Mïrko Celestino (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport DNF Biagio Conte (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport DNF Jonathan Vaughters (USA) Credit Agricole DNF Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Anthony Langella (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Pedro Horrillo-Munoz (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step DNF Marino Piccoli (Ita) Lampre-Daikin DNF Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin DNF Zoran Klemencic (Slo) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola DNF Frédéric Finot (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF Joona Laukka (Fin) Jean Delatour DNF Andreï Kivilev (Kaz) Cofidis DNF Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Christophe Oriol (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Olivier Trastour (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Christophe Mengin (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux DNF Loic Lamouller (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 DNF Christophe Capelle (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 DNF Giosue Bonomi (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro DNF Miguel Meza (Mex) Team Colpack-Astro DNF Vladimir Smirnov (Ltu) Team Colpack-Astro DNF Frédéric Gabriel (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos DNF Jean Nuttli (Swi) Saint-Quentin Oktos DNS Christian Charriere (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems DNS Damien Nazon (Fra) Bonjour Points 1 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 25 pts 2 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 20 3 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 16 4 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 14 5 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 12 6 Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 10 7 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 9 8 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 8 9 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 7 10 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 6 11 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 5 12 Grischa Niermann (Ned) Rabobank 4 13 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC Tiscali 3 14 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2 15 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Rabobank 1 Young rider 1 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 12.24.37 2 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Domo-Farm Frites 0.56 3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Bonjour 1.33 4 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 2.41 5 José Ivan Guttierez (Spa) iBanesto.com 3.31 6 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 5.31 7 Sandy Casar (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 6.42 8 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 10.19 9 Yuriy Krivtsov (Rus) Jean Delatour 11.12 10 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 15.50 11 Baden Cooke (Aus) La Francaise Des Jeux 17.30 12 Alexandre Kolobnev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 18.42 13 Ruben Plaza (Spa) iBanesto.com 19.44 14 Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) iBanesto.com 20.40 15 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 21.01 16 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) La Francaise Des Jeux 25.47 17 Matteo Gigli (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 33.41 18 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 35.06 19 Cristian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 40.17 General classification after stage 4 1 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 12.20.42 2 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.11 3 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 2.05 4 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 2.12 5 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 2.37 6 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 3.16 7 Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 3.31 8 Grischa Niermann (Ned) Rabobank 3.45 9 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 3.51 10 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 3.55 11 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC Tiscali 3.56 12 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Domo-Farm Frites 4.51 13 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Credit Agricole 5.11 14 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Jean Delatour 5.24 15 Jean Cyril Robin (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 5.26 16 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Bonjour 5.28 17 Félix Garcia Casas (Spa) Bigmat.Auber 93 5.32 18 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Rabobank 5.35 19 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis 5.42 20 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 5.57 21 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 6.08 22 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Jean Delatour 6.10 23 Roger Beuchat (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 6.19 24 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 6.36 25 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 6.38 26 Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) iBanesto.com 7.02 27 Diego Ferrari (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 7.04 28 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 7.26 29 José Ivan Guttierez (Spa) iBanesto.com 7.26 30 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 7.36 31 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 7.36 32 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 7.46 33 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 7.48 34 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Bonjour 7.55 35 Didier Rous (Fra) Bonjour 7.55 36 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 8.02 37 Richard Virenque (Fra) Domo-Farm Frites 8.13 38 Paul Van Hyfte (Bel) Team CSC Tiscali 8.22 39 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 8.24 40 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 8.24 41 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 8.24 42 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 8.31 43 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Bigmat.Auber 93 8.35 44 Aitor Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 8.36 45 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Mapei-Quick Step 8.45 46 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 8.48 47 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 9.14 48 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 9.16 49 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 9.25 50 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 9.26 51 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 9.26 52 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) Team CSC Tiscali 9.36 53 Reto Bergman (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 9.52 54 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) iBanesto.com 9.59 55 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10.05 56 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 10.11 57 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems 10.21 58 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bonjour 10.24 59 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 10.32 60 Sandy Casar (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 10.37 61 Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 10.45 62 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 10.46 63 Tomas Konecny (Cze) Domo-Farm Frites 10.49 64 Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 11.14 65 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 11.45 66 Martin Derganc (Slo) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 11.51 67 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 12.21 68 Torsten Nitcshe (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 12.29 69 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 14.14 70 Yuriy Krivtsov (Rus) Jean Delatour 15.07 71 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC Tiscali 16.13 72 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 16.21 73 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 16.21 74 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 16.30 75 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre-Daikin 16.39 76 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 16.49 77 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 17.52 78 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bonjour 17.54 79 Rafael Mateos (Spa) Team Colpack-Astro 17.55 80 Pierre Bourquenoud (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 18.06 81 Benoit Salmon (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 18.10 82 Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 18.54 83 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Credit Agricole 18.57 84 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis 18.57 85 Bingen Fernandez Bustinzea (Spa) Cofidis 18.58 86 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Jean Delatour 19.02 87 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC Tiscali 19.19 88 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole 19.26 89 Thierry Loder (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 19.35 90 Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 19.38 91 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 19.45 92 Arvis Piziks (Lat) Team CSC Tiscali 20.16 93 Frédéric Mainguenaud (Fra) Bonjour 20.19 94 Franck Renier (Fra) Bonjour 20.58 95 Mauro Radaelli (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 21.04 96 Luca Paolini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 21.12 97 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 21.20 98 Baden Cooke (Aus) La Francaise Des Jeux 21.25 99 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Adecco 21.26 100 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 22.07 101 Stevel Zampieri (Swi) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 22.19 102 Alexandre Kolobnev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 22.37 103 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 22.55 104 Ruben Plaza (Spa) iBanesto.com 23.39 105 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 23.40 106 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Gerolsteiner 23.42 107 Milan Kadlec (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 23.45 108 Matthew Wilson (Aus) La Francaise Des Jeux 23.54 109 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 24.04 110 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 24.34 111 Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) iBanesto.com 24.35 112 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 24.50 113 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 24.56 114 Jimmi Madsen (Den) Team CSC Tiscali 26.37 115 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) Gerolsteiner 29.22 116 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) La Francaise Des Jeux 29.42 117 Jérôme Neuville (Fra) Cofidis 29.55 118 Alessio Galetti (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 29.55 119 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 32.02 120 Angelo Lopeboselli (Ita) Cofidis 32.08 121 David Latasa Lasea (Spa) iBanesto.com 33.17 122 Stephane Barthe (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 33.56 123 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 33.57 124 Rafael Nuritdinov (Uzb) Team Colpack-Astro 35.13 125 Steve De Wolf (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 36.23 126 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 36.32 127 Matteo Gigli (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 37.36 128 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) Cofidis 38.20 129 Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Gerolsteiner 38.50 130 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 39.01 131 Sébastien Demarbaix (Bel) Ag2R Prevoyance 41.30 132 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 41.49 133 Patrick Jonker (Aus) Bigmat.Auber 93 42.06 134 Nicolaj Bo Larsen (Den) Gerolsteiner 43.56 135 Cristian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 44.12 136 Michele Colleoni (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 45.39 137 Jacky Durand (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 46.03 Points classification 1 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 37 pts 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 32 3 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 28 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 28 5 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 25 6 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 24 7 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 20 8 Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 18 9 Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 16 10 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 16 11 Baden Cooke (Aus) La Francaise Des Jeux 16 12 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 16 13 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 14 14 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 14 15 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Bigmat.Auber 93 12 16 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 12 17 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 12 18 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 10 19 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Gerolsteiner 9 20 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 9 21 Zoran Klemencic (Slo) Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola 8 22 Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) iBanesto.com 7 23 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 5 24 Torsten Nitcshe (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 5 25 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 5 26 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 4 27 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems 4 28 Grischa Niermann (Ned) Rabobank 4 29 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Team CSC Tiscali 3 30 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Bonjour 2 31 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2 32 Richard Virenque (Fra) Domo-Farm Frites 1 33 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 1 34 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Rabobank 1 Mountains classification 1 Richard Virenque (Fra) Domo-Farm Frites 34 pts 2 Thierry Loder (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 26 3 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Mapei-Quick Step 24 4 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 18 5 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10 6 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10 7 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 7 8 Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 7 9 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 6 10 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 5 11 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 5 12 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis 5 13 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 5 14 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 5 15 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4 16 Steve De Wolf (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 3 17 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3 18 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 3 19 Olivier Trastour (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 3 20 Rafael Mateos (Spa) Team Colpack-Astro 3 21 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2 22 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1 23 Stéphane Berges (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 1 Young rider classification 1 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 3.59.11 2 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step 0.47 3 José Ivan Guttierez (Spa) iBanesto.com 1.02 4 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Domo-Farm Frites 1.04 5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Bonjour 2.10 6 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 2.25 7 Sandy Casar (Fra) La Francaise Des Jeux 4.22 8 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 4.37 9 Koldo Gil Perez (Spa) iBanesto.com 5.19 10 Yuriy Krivtsov (Rus) Jean Delatour 7.52 11 Ruben Plaza (Spa) iBanesto.com 7.52 12 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 11.14 13 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 11.56 14 Baden Cooke (Aus) La Francaise Des Jeux 17.09 15 Eddy Lembo (Fra) Saint-Quentin Oktos 17.09 16 Cristian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 17.09 17 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) La Francaise Des Jeux 17.31 18 Alexandre Kolobnev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 17.48 19 Matteo Gigli (Ita) Team Colpack-Astro 19.27