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4th Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali - 2.3
Italy, March 24-28, 2004
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Stage 5 - March 28: Castellarano-Sassuolo, 170.3 km
Figueras takes 1 second victory over Celestino
Marzoli wins final stage
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Giuliano Figueras (Panaria), disappointed that he didn't win stage 2, made up for it by finishing second in the final stage of the Settimana Coppi & Bartali and taking enough time bonus to overtake Mirko Celestino (Saeco) and Michele Scarponi (Domina Vacanze) to win the general classification. The stage finished in a 10 man sprint won by Ruggero Marzoli (Acqua e Sapone), and the best Celestino could do was fourth, which was not enough to stop Figueras.
"Never has a second place in a sprint meant so much to me," said the delighted Figueras. "I rejoiced as though I'd won. It was suffering until the finish, and to win is even nicer. Well, my career begins again now after two terrible years. The truth is that I can now claim to be relaxed: I married in December, I have trained well and often at home, in Naples. And to return home to my mother, after the death of my father, was good. I don't exclude other strong performances because I've found my legs again, together with Illiano, D'Armore, Muto, my Neapolitan colleagues.
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The final stage was marked by the fearsome ascent of Fazzana, a 2 km climb with sections of over 20% which had to be ridden three times. The attacks were constant on the climbs, with Domina Vacanze trying to split the race up for Scarponi, putting Celestino in a lot of difficulty. In the end there were 10 riders left, with Celestino, Scarponi, Figueras and Marzoli among them, and Figueras was able to make the most of his chances in the general classification when he sprinted home for second place behind Marzoli.
Photography
Images by Olympia Photo
- Ruggero Marzoli (Acqua e Sapone) is delighted to win the last stage
- Giuliano Figueras (Panaria) scored the final leader's jersey
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- The last stage of the Settimana Coppi & Bartali was challenging, with many climbs
- Scenic but steep
- The Domina Vacanze boys helped to split the field in the final stage
- Michele Scarponi (Domina Vacanze) tried to gain an advantage over Celestino
- Giuliano Figueras (Panaria) puts the others in difficulty on the climb of Fazzana
- Michele Scarponi (Domina Vacanze) on the attack again
- Ruggero Marzolo (Acqua e Sapone) wins ahead of Figueras (2nd L) and Illiano (L)
- Ruggero Marzolo (Acqua e Sapone) on the podium
- Giuliano Figueras (Panaria) with his rather novel trophy
- The final podium (L to R): Alexandr Kolobnev (Young rider), Giuliano Figueras (GC and mountains) and Ruggero Marzoli (Points)
Results
1 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo 4.21.24 2 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 3 Raffaele Illiano (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 4 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Saeco 5 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo-Fiave 6 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 7 Andrea Noè (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 8 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Saeco 9 Timothy Jones (Zim) Domina Vacanze 10 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo Final general classification 1 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 21.09.36 2 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Saeco 0.01 3 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 4 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo 0.08 5 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Saeco 0.11 6 Andrea Noè (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 0.12 7 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo 0.24 8 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 0.29 9 Timothy Jones (Zim) Domina Vacanze 10 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 0.32 Points classification 1 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo Mountains classification 1 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres Best young rider 1 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Domina Vacanze
