Giro d'Italia - Stage 11


Stage 11, Camaiore,155 km:

 1. Gabriele Missaglia (Italy) Mapei   	     3.36.24 
 2. Andrea Vatteroni (Italy) Scrigno
 3. Mirko Celestino (Italy) Polti
 4. Massimo Podenzana (Italy) Mercatone Uno    all s.t.
 5. Francisco Cabello (Spain) Kelme            	0.15
 6. Marco Fincato (Italy) Roslotto
 7. Daniele di Paoli (Italy) Ros Mary
 8. Cristiano Frattini (Italy) Brescialat      all s.t.
 9. Mario Cipollini (Italy) Saeco            	1:00
10. Alessandro Spezialetti (Italy) Batik 
11. Dmitri Konychev (Russia) Roslotto 
12. Manuel Scopsi (Italy) Ros Mary 
13. Mariano Piccoli (Italy) Brescialat 
14. Sauro Gallorini (Italy) Scrigno 
15. Giampaolo Mondini (Italy) Amore and Vita 
16. Filippo Casagrande (Italy) Scrigno 
17. Davide Bramati (Italy) Mapei 
18. Jose Luis Rubiera (Spain) Kelme 
19. Fabrizio Bontempi (Italy) Brescialat 
20. Stefano Garzelli (Italy) Mercatone Uno      all s.t.

 40. Ivan Gotti (Ita)
 41. Luc Leblanc (Fra)              
 43. Enrico Zaina (Ita)            
 49. Evgeni Berzin (Rus)            
 59. Pavel Tonkov (Rus)            
 61. Roberto Petito (Ita)            
 79. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita)       
 94. Michele Coppolillo (Ita)    		2.29
152. Marco di Renzo (Ita)          		7.48

Departed: 153, Arrived: 152
Non-starters: Ermano Brignoli (Ita) injured.
Thierry Laurent (Fra), Wladimir Pulnikov (Ukr), Marco Gili (Ita), Roberto
Moretti (Ita) all for excessive blood test levels.
Retired: Stefano Casagranda (Ita) crashed.
20. Garzelli 
21. Bortolami  22. Mazzanti  23. Vergnani  24.
Padrnos  25. Tebaldi  26. Della Vedova  27. Davidenko 
28. Pierdomenico  29. Serrano  30. Galletti  31.
Finesso  32. Di Grande  33. Savoldelli  34. Secchiari 
35. Crepaldi  36. Siboni  37. Molinari  38. Shefer 
39. Barbagli  40. Gotti  41. Leblanc  42. Noe  43.
Zaina  44. Chiesa  45. Ugrumov  46. Simeoni  47. Velo 
48. Paluan  49. Berzin  50. Fornaciari  51. Lebreton 
52. Vidal  53. Sivakov  54. Lozano  55. Bobrik  56.
Jeker  57. Barbero  58. Gasperoni  59. Tonkov  60.
Miceli  61. Petito  62. Dotti  63. Sgambelluri  64.
Caruso  65. Frigo  66. Garcia  67. Lanfranchi  68.
Faresin  69. Simoni  70. Piepoli  71. Gualdi  72.
Merckx  73. Gentili  74. Ouslamine  75. Steinhauser 
76. Pellicioli  77. Belli  78. Calcaterra  79.
Gonzalez P.  80. Conti  81. Gontchar  82. Cenghialta 
83. Guerini  84. Volpi  85. Hernandez  86. Puttini 
87. Tani  88. Donati  89. Forconi  90. Gomez  91.
Pozzi O.  92. Patuelli  93. Aggiano 1.13 94.
Coppolillo 2.29 95. Gonzalez G.  96. Manzoni a
2.38 97. Ouchakov  Di Silvestro  98. Fontanelli a
2.52 100. Roncancio 5.12 101. Wust 5.33 102.
Boscardin  103. Calzavara  104. Sacchi  105. Brasi 
106. Edo  107. Giacomelli  108. Laddomada  109.
Djavanian  110. Roscioli  111. Zanette  112. Baldato 
113. Santaromita  114. Bettin  115. Frattini F.  116.
Werner (abb. 6")  117. Baronti  118. Hvastija  119.
Alberati  120. Lecchi  121. Apollonio  122. Magnusson 
123. Bettini  124. Larsen  125. Loda  126. Pozzi A. a
7.48 127. Pianegonda  128. Schmidt  129. Giraldi 
130. Murtas  131. Lietti  132. Pumar  133. Brognara 
134. Bottaro  135. Cauz  136. Rossato  137. Leoni 
138. Cassani  139. Dalla Costa  140. Spruch  141.
Andriotto  142. Pistore  143. Peschel  144. Moos  145.
Poser  146. Bonetti  147. Bugno  148. Contrini  149.
Traversoni  150. Citracca  151. Dolci  152. Di Renzo.

GC after Stage 11

 1. Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mapei        49.34.40
 2. Luc Leblanc (Fra)              	0.41
 3. Ivan Gott (Ita)               	1.07
 4. Roberto Petito (Ita)           	1.09
 5. Andrea Paluan (Ita)           	1.39
 6. Andrea Noe (Ita)             	1.43
 7. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita)         	2.40
 8. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita)         	2.49
 9. Alexadnre Chefer (Kaz)        	3.05
10. Gilberto Simoni (Ita)          	3.14
11. Michele Coppolillo (Ita)       	3.18
12. Nicoa Micele (Ita)            	3.50
13. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita)        	3.58
14. Piotre Ugrumov (Rus)          	3.59
15. Enrico Zaina (Ita)            	4.01
16. Giuseppe di Grande (Ita)       	4.02
17. Wladimir Belli (Ita)           	4.39
18. Filipo Simeoni (Ita)         	5.01
19. Axel Merckx (Bel)             	5.09
20. Felix Gracia Casas (Spa)       	5.32
20. Garcia Casas 5.32
21. Berzin 5.36 22. Frigo 5.40 23. Serrano 
24. Faresin 5.42 25. Sgambelluri 5.52 26.
Gontchar 6.07 27. Gentili 6.19  28. Forconi a
7.45 29. Volpi 8.38 30. Steinhauser 8.54 31.
Loda 9.33 32. Puttini 9.38 33. Conti 9.46
34. Garzelli 10.01 35. Rubiera 10.30 36.
Piccoli 10.32 37. Cenghialta 10.42 38.
Pierdomenico 13.05 39. Secchiari 13.26 40.
Bobrik 13.40 41. Jeker 13.53 42. Pistore a
14.06 43. Bettini 14.24 44. Gonzalo 14.46
45. Mazzanti 16.15 46. Donati 17.20 47. Velo a
17.22 48. Gasperoni 18.01 49. Konyshev 18.11
50. Barbero 19.10 51. Podenzana 19.38 52.
Bortolami 20.11  53. Pellicioli 21.56 54.
Padrnos 22.30 55. Lozano 22.41 56. Sivakov a
22.48 57. Vatteroni 23.07 58. Spezialetti a
23.26 59. Molinari 24.04 60. Siboni 24.05
61. Vergnani 24.20 62. Lanfranchi 25.02 63.
Patuelli 25.15 64. Frattini F. 25.26 65.
Calzavara 26.31 66. Gonzalez P. 28.12 67.
Mondini 29.28 68. Ouslamine 29.30 69.
Hernandez 30.05 70. Brognara 30.44 71. Manzoni
a 31.02 72. Roscioli 31.47 73. Fincato 32. 
74. Lietti 32.16 75. Finesso 32.26 76. De
Paoli 32.41 77. Della Vedova 33.06 78. Tani a
33.07 79. Gualdi 33.37 80. Davidenko 34.21
81. Pumar 34.36 82. Lecchi 34.52 83. Laddomada
a 35.57 84. Hvastija 36.46 85. Gonzales G. a
37.48 86. Giraldi 38.06 87. Dotti 39.05 88.
Poser 41.30 89. Crepaldi 41.49 90. Citracca a
42.16 91. Cabello 43.24 92. Tebaldi 43.51
93. Ouchakov 44.28 94. Frattini C. 44.35 95.
Galletti 44.43 96. Casagrande Fil. 46.25 97.
Gallorini 47.11 98. Boscardin 47.12 99. Scopsi
a 47.13 100. Barbagli 47.18 101. Cipollini a
47.22 102. Baldato 47.39 103. Brasi 48.01
104. Pozzi O. 48.08 105. Vidal 48.28 106.
Fontanelli 48.55 107. Alberati 49.08 108.
Bonetti 49.12 109. Caruso 50.01 110. Missaglia
a 52.21 111. Pozzi A. 54.14 112. Larsen a
54.24 113. Zanette 54.44 114. Celestino a
54.59 115. Chiesa 55.06 116. Sacchi 55.23
117. Dalla Costa 56.11 118. Apollonio 57.31
119. Edo 57.34 120. Baronti 57.40 121. Bettin
a 57.55 122. Wust 59.04 123. Roncancio 59.47
124. Bramati 1.00.14 125. Andriotto 1.00.20
126. Leoni  127. Bugno 1.00.35 128. Magnusson a
1.00.45 129. Fornaciari 1.01.59 130. Dolci a
1.02.28 131. Traversoni 1.04.09 132. Di
Silvestro 1.04.44 133. Werner 1.05.22 134.
Lebreton  135. Bottaro 1.07.28 136. Djavanian a
1.07.42 137. Cassani 1.07.51 138. Spruch a
1.08.36 139. Moos 1.09.58 140. Pianegonda a
1.12.27 141. Calcaterra 1.12.28 142. Murtas a
1.13.55 143. Contrini 1.15.20 144. Schmidt a
1.15.38 145. Peschel 1.15.58 146. Bontempi a
1.16.27 147. Aggiano 1.19.56 148. Santaromita a
1.21.19 149. Cauz 1.30.31 150. Giacomelli a
1.31.27 151. Di Renzo 1.38.18 152. Rossato a
1.43.25

Reports from Stage 11

Four riders were banned from the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday after failing random blood tests.

Ukraine's Vladimir Poulnikov, his Italian team mates Marco Gili and Roberto Moretti and Frenchman Thierry Laurent were declared medically unfit to continue the race because their red blood cell count was too high, officials said.

International Cycling Union (UCI) jury president Michel Riviere said blood samples had been taken from 19 riders an hour before the start of Wednesday's 11th stage over 159 kms.

Poulnikov, Gili and Moretti were all from the Kross team. The 31-year-old Ukrainian was the highest-placed of those banned at 21st overall, 5.22 seconds behind Giro leader Pavel Tonkov of Russia.

Last year Poulnikov finished 16th overall in the Giro. The UCI decided in January to introduce blood tests to try to combat the use of EPO (erythropoietin) and injectable blood-doping substances that simulate altitude training by increasing the number of oxygen-rich red blood cells.

If a test shows a rider's oxygen-carrying capacity in his blood to be above 50 percent he is considered unfit to race and is automatically suspended.

Riders must be re-tested at a UCI-sanctioned laboratory to ensure their red blood cell count is back to normal before they are allowed to race again.

Earlier this month leading Italian rider Claudio Chiappucci was thrown out of the Tour of Romandie after failing a blood test. A 15-day suspension meant he could not start the Giro which began on May 17.

Chiappucci became the fourth rider to fail a blood test since they were introduced. Three riders fell foul of the new tests during the Paris-Nice race in March

And What Happened

Giro d'Italia leader Pavel Tonkov had another victory to celebrate on Wednesday as he braced himself for the first serious challenge to his overall lead.

His team mate Gabriele Missaglia snatched the second win of his three-year professional career in the 155-km circuit race at this Tuscan resort.

``It was a great moment for the team. I have the leader's colours and we still managed to win,.. said the Russian.

Tonkov finished one minute behind Missaglia in a group of 84 to ensure his lead of 41 seconds over Frenchman Luc Leblanc was safe for an eighth day.

Tonkov said: ``I know everyone is going to attack on Thursday and not just for my pink jersey. Others will be attempting to improve their positions.

``It will be a big battle" he said of Thursday's mountainous finish to the 214-km leg into Varazze.

All the contenders finished with Tonkov on Wednesday except Michele Coppolillo, seventh overnight with a 1:49 deficit.

The Italian crashed on a downhill bend to finish 2:29 behind Missaglia.

It was a miserable day for Coppolillo.s team. Stefano Casagranda fell heavily in the feeding zone, suffering concussion and a fractured cheekbone and jaw.

Then Paolo Bettini was with the leaders on the final descent when a puncture put him out of contention, leaving Missaglia, Andrea Vatteroni, Mirko Celestino, and Massimo Podenzana to contest the finish.

Missaglia said: ``When I was with the breakaway early on I did not know if anyone was a danger to Pavel. I am in the team to help him. That's my role but this time I had a chance for success."

Last year Missaglia was drafted into the Giro at 24 hours notice. He had been signed by Tonkov's team after his original team collapsed through lack of finance.

This year he has had to fight back from tendinitis and .flu to make the Giro selection.

As he and others began to build a lead on the first lap on Wednesday Missaglia crashed on a tricky winding descent but was quickly back in the fray.

On Thursday it will be business as usual as he works to keep Tonkov in the leader's colours.