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7th Giro della Provincia di Lucca - 1.1
Italy, March 7, 2005
2004 Results Results Past winners
Cipollini triumphs in Altopascio
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Mario Cipollini (Liquigas-Bianchi) has won his first duel of 2005 against Alessandro Petacchi, beating the Fassa Bortolo sprinter into third place at the end of the 7th Giro di Lucca. Wedged in between the pair of super sprinters was Panaria's Paride Grillo, who has already shown good form this year at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under.
After a magnificent victory salute to notch his 189th career win in Altopascio, Cipollini explained that, "My win is really thanks to the serenity I've found at the Liquigas-Bianchi team. They've given me the possibility to race without a lot of pressure, with the ideal psychological and technical conditions."
Cipollini further explained who he put together his win today, saying, "The last man in the train was supposed to be Bäckstedt, but he had a flat. So we decided to make the race against Petacchi's team. My teammates brought me perfectly to the last kilometre and from then on, I just marked my man Alessandro. Velo and Petacchi led into the last corner with 500m. to go. I jumped early and got a two bike length lead on Petacchi which I held to the finish line."
With Tirreno-Adriatico starting the day after tomorrow's, Cipollini explained that he's looking further ahead. "My real thoughts are already for Milano-Sanremo. That's my first, real objective of the season. If I can get over il Poggio in good position, I may be a factor there."
159 riders started in Viareggio at 11:34, with the peloton riding at a steady 31.6 km/h for the first hour. The second hour saw a few more attacks, with Andriy Grivko (Domina Vacanze), Nicola Scattolin (Team Androni Giocattoli) and Lars Michaelsen (CSC) going clear after 64 km and getting a gap.
After two hours, the average speed had lifted to 36 km/h and the trio reached a maximum lead of 4'57 the first time they passed through Altopascio. The bunch began to pick up the pace, and on the first descent after the climb of Montecarlo, which was lined by large numbers of people, it split into two parts. It came back together again for the second passage of the finish line, with Fassa Bortolo at the front having brought the gap down to 3'23.
On the second lap of the circuit, the leaders lost more time and with 63 km to go, they had just 2'30. In front, Grivko put in an attack on the climb but could not stay away. Meanwhile, the peloton split into two again on the descent. At the end of the lap, the three leaders had just 1'34 of their advantage intact, the average speed now up to 39.87 km/h.
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Michaelsen was the first to be dropped as the break started the third lap, and was caught by the bunch with 40 km to go. Grivko and Scattolin followed a few kilometres later. By the end of lap three, the peloton was together as the speed continued to increase. On the final time up the Montecarlo climb, Vincenzo Nibali (Fassa Bortolo), Elio Aggiano (Team L.P.R.) and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) attacked but were immediately caught.
In the centre of Montecarlo, Ivan Basso (CSC) crashed, but was not seriously hurt. On the descent after the climb, the bunch split yet again. Mario Cipollini and Alessandro Petacchi made the front group, which stayed away until the finish. With 3 km to go, Aggiano tried another attack but was caught very quickly. The bunch sprint saw Cipollini put his nose into the wind over the last 75m and cross the line ahead of Grillo and Petacchi.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Mario Cipollini (Liquigas-Bianchi) beats Paride Grillo (Panaria) and Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) to win the Giro di Lucca
- A happy Cipo on the podium with his trophy
- Cipollini and Petacchi: The score is 1-0, in favour of Cipo
Results - 177 km
1 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 4.24.36 (40.13 km/h) 2 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 3 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 5 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 6 Sergio Marinangeli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 7 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Domina Vacanze 8 Ivan Fanelli (Ita) Team L.P.R. 9 Marco Velo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 11 Marlon Alirio Perez Arango (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 12 Stefano Guerrini (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 13 Davide Vigano (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 0.06 14 Enrico Degano (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 15 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.08 16 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie 0.13 17 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0.16 18 Alexandre Bazhenov (Rus) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 19 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Miche 20 Manuele Spadi (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 21 Raffaele Illiano (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 22 Juan Pablo Magallanes Aranda (Mex) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 23 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 24 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 25 Tom Southam (GBr) Team Barloworld-Valsir 26 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 27 Luca Ascani (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 28 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 0.26 29 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 0.28 30 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 31 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 32 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Team L.P.R. 33 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 34 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 35 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 36 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 37 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 38 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 39 Marco Osella (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 40 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 41 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 42 Michele Gobbi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 43 Dmitri Konyshev (Rus) Team L.P.R. 44 Ivan Degasperi (Ita) Team L.P.R. 45 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas-Bianchi 46 Devis Miorin (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 47 Artur Krzeszowiec (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 48 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 49 Jonas Holmkvist (Swe) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 50 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 51 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 52 Andris Nauduzs (Lat) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 53 Manuel Calvente Gorbas (Spa) Team CSC 54 Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 55 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie 56 Fabio Borghesi (Ita) Miche 57 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 58 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 59 Ignacio Gutierrez Cataluna (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 60 Moreno Di Biase (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 61 Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 62 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 63 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 64 Radoslav Rogina (Cro) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie 65 Kristjan Fajt (Slo) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie 66 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Team Barloworld-Valsir 67 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 68 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 69 Dainius Kairelis (Ltu) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 70 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 71 Ivan Quaranta (Ita) Domina Vacanze 72 Domenico Passuello (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 73 Luca De Angeli (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 74 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team L.P.R. 75 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 76 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 77 Grégory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 78 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 79 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 80 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 81 Przemyslaw Niemec (Pol) Miche 82 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 83 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 84 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 85 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Domina Vacanze 86 Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 87 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 88 Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Col) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 89 Antonio Bucciero (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 90 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 91 Sean Sullivan (Aus) Team Barloworld-Valsir 92 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 93 Eddy Serri (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 94 Stefano Boggia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 95 Antonio D'aniello (Ita) Miche 96 Pasquale Muto (Ita) Miche 97 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Team L.P.R. 98 Maurizio Varini (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 99 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team L.P.R. 100 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 101 Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa) Team L.P.R. 102 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Team Barloworld-Valsir 103 Philippe Schnyder (Swi) Colombia-Selle Italia 104 Konstantin Klyuev (Rus) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 105 Kimmo Kananen (Fin) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 106 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 107 Leonardo Caneschi (Ita) Miche 108 Zoran Klemencic (Slo) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie 109 Blazej Janiaczyk (Pol) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 110 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) Lampre-Caffita 111 Sascha Urweider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 112 Kacper Sowinski (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska 113 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 114 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 115 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 116 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 117 Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 118 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 119 Cristiano Frattini (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie 120 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Colombia-Selle Italia 121 Nicola Scattolin (Ita) Team Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 122 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 123 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Domina Vacanze 124 Scott Davis (Aus) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie DNF Simone Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil DNF Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil DNF Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil DNF Claudio Astolfi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil DNF Leonardo Moser (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil DNF Claudio Bartoli (Ita) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska DNF Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Amore & Vita-Beretta-Polska DNF Luca Celli (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir DNF Francesco Cipolletta (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia DNF Dmitri Gaynitdinov (Rus) Ceramica Flaminia DNF Massimiliano Martella (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia DNF Krzysztof Szczawinski (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia DNF Guido Trombetta (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia DNF Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare DNF Graeme Brown (Aus) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare DNF Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare DNF Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare DNF Mariano Giallorenzo (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia DNF Leonardo Scarselli (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia DNF Andrus Aug (Est) Fassa Bortolo DNF Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo DNF Dario Pieri (Ita) Lampre-Caffita DNF Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas-Bianchi DNF Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team L.P.R. DNF Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team L.P.R. DNF Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Miche DNF Alberto Tacconi (Ita) Miche DNF Manuel Mattiuz (Ita) Miche DNF Ivailo Gabrovski (Bul) Miche DNF Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare DNF Niki Aebersold (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC DNF Ruslan Pidgornyy (Ukr) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie DNF David Mcpartland (Aus) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie DNF Gianluca Tonetti (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
Past winners
2004 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 2003 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 2002 Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) Mercatone Uno 2001 Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 2000 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1999 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
