10th GP Costa degli Etruschi - 1.1

Italy, February 6, 2005

2004 Results Results Past winners

Alessandro Petacchi
Photo ©: Sirotti

Petacchi starts well

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) has joined the ranks of his fellow top sprinters by notching a win very early in the season. Petacchi was the fastest at the end of the GP Costa degli Etruschi, the opening race of the Italian season, beating Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Petacchi's leadout man Francesco Chicchi (Fassa Bortolo) in a massive bunch sprint.

"I have started on the right foot," commented Petacchi after the race. "The team did, like always, an immense job to take me in the best condition to confront the sprint. After having worked so much in the winter you need to have the right confirmation in competition. Above all this year, I decided to lose weight compared to the start of 2004. Now after a short break I will head to Spain to do the Ruta del Sol, Puig and Vuelta Valenciana. I will return to racing in Tirreno Adriatico then aim for Milan-San Remo."

The race was animated by a solo breakaway by Dean Podgornik, from that well known Irish team Tenax. The Slovenian gained a maximum advantage of 10'52 before he was hauled back by the peloton with 24 km to go. A late move was tried by Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita), Kevin De Weert (Quick Step), Bo Hamburger (Acqua & Sapone) and Roberto Petito (Fassa Bortolo) was unsuccessful, and all that remained was for Fassa Bortolo to deliver Petacchi to the line, which it did.

Dean Podgornik (Tenax)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Take it to the bridge!
Dean Podgornik (Tenax) launched a solo attack that gained 10 minutes, but was reeled in.
Riders climb a tree-lined lane.
The GP Costa degli Etruschi takes in glorious rural roads.
The peloton passes along scenic roads.
Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) rugged up against the late winter chill.
Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) rides on the front of the peloton.
The Acqua e Sapone team leads the peloton.
Fassa Bortolo leads the peloton, ready to deliver their man Petacchi to the line.
Alessandro Petacchi claims the win from Luciano Pagliarini (Liquigas-Bianchi, left)
Alessandro Petacchi wins his first race of the season.
Alessandro Petacchi knows he's got it.
Alessandro Petacchi celebrates his win.
Alessandro Petacchi holds aloft the glass trophy.
The podium - Luciano Pagliarini (Liquigas-Bianchi, 2nd), Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo, 1st) and Francesco Chicchi (Fassa Bortolo, 3rd).
Alessandro Petacchi on the podium.
Alessandro Petacchi gets a big congratulations.

Results

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                   5.19.24
2 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Liquigas-Bianchi 
3 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
4 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 
5 Enrico Degano (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 
6 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
7 Krysztof Szczawinski (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia 
8 Crescenzo D'Amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 
9 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 
10 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
11 Samuele Marzoli (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
12 Davide Vigano (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
13 Ivan Fanelli (Ita) Team LPR 
14 Marco Marcato (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
15 Marco Velo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
16 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick Step 
17 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 
18 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Team LPR 
19 Ivan Quaranta (Ita) Domina Vacanze 
20 Andrus Aug (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
21 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick Step 
22 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Team LPR 
23 Zoran Klemencic (Slo) Tenax 
24 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) Tenax 
25 Bo Hamburger (Den) Acqua & Sapone 
26 Stefano Boggia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
27 Dmitri Gaynitdinov (Rus) Ceramica Flaminia 
28 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC 
29 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step 
30 Luca Ascani (Ita) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
31 Francesco Failli (Ita) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
32 Blazej Janiaczyk (Pol) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
33 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
34 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team LPR 
35 Massimo Mazzanti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
36 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 
37 Alejando Borrajo (Arg) Ceramiche Panaria 
38 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Ceramiche Panaria 
39 Corrado Serina (Ita) Tenax 
40 Daniele Colli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 
41 Sèbastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step 
42 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 
43 Marco Osella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
44 Moises Aldape Chavez (Col) Ceramiche Panaria 
45 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 
46 Juan Magallanes Aranda (Mex) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
47 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 
48 Jure Zrimsek (Slo) Acqua & Sapone 
49 Kristjan Fajt (Slo) Tenax 
50 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 
51 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
52 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Domina Vacanze 
53 Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 
54 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 
55 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 
56 Massimiliano Martella (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
57 Ivan Degasperi (Ita) Team LPR 
58 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step 
59 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
60 Matej Mugerli (Slo) Liquigas-Bianchi 
61 Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 
62 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 
63 Francesco Cipolletta (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
64 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
65 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step 
66 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 
67 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
68 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone 
69 Manuele Spadi (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
70 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team LPR 
71 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
72 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 
73 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
74 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
75 Giancarlo Ginestri (Ita) Tenax 
76 Simone Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 
77 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 
78 Michele Maccanti (Ita) Team LPR 
79 Eddy Serri (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 
80 Radoslav Rogina (Cro) Tenax 
81 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 
82 Luis Laverde Jimenez (Col) Ceramiche Panaria 
83 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 
84 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Domina Vacanze 
85 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
86 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 
87 Alexander Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone 
88 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
89 Fabio Boccialoni (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
90 Nicola Scattolin (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
91 Konstantin Klyuev (Rus) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
92 Freddy Gonzales Martinez (Col) Ceramiche Panaria 
93 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
94 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Domina Vacanze 
95 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Tenax 
96 Jure Golcer (Slo) Acqua & Sapone 
97 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 
98 Oscar Mason (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 
99 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 
100 Andrea Del Baggio (Ita) Team LPR 
101 Timothy Jones (Zim) Tenax 
102 Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli Casalinghi 3 
103 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 
104 Maurizio Varini (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
105 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
106 Dean Podgornik (Slo) Tenax 
107 Darren Lill (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 
108 David Loosli (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
109 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick Step 
110 Guido Trombetta (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia 
111 Cristian Murro (Ita) Tenax 
112 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria 
113 Alberto Tiberio (Ita) Team LPR 
114 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Naturino Sapore di Mare 
115 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
116 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 
117 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 

Courtesy of velomania.net

Past winners

2004 Yuriy Metlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 
2003 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Ag2r-Prevoyance
2002 Yuriy Metluschenko (Ukr) Colnago-Landbouwkrediet 
2001 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita)
2000 Mario Cipollini (Ita)
1999 Endrio Leoni (Ita)
1998 Mario Cipollini (Ita)
1997 Biago Conte (Ita)
1996 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita)