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87th Giro d'Italia - Grand Tour
Italy, May 8-30, 2004
Map Stages Stage profile Start List Results Latest live report
Stage 1 - May 9: Genova - Alba, 143 km
Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Tim Maloney
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 14:30 CEST
Estimated finish time: 17:00 CEST
14:19 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews' coverage of the first road stage of the Giro d'Italia.
It's a fairly short one to kick off with, just 143 kilometres from Genova to
Alba, still in the northwestern corner of Italy. The stage is designed for sprinters,
despite the fact there is the 10.3 km/4.1% Colle di Cadibona to be climbed when
the race leaves the coastline after 39 km. After the summit is reached, there
is more climbing until km 69, when it plateaus at around 750m. After 105 km,
the riders descend into Alba, where they will complete four 5 km finishing circuits.
The man in pink today is FDJeux.com captain Bradley McGee, who had a stunning
ride in the prologue yesterday to win it by 10 seconds. If McGee finishes in
the front today, he should be able to keep the jersey, despite the 20/12/8 second
time bonuses for the top three stage finishers. The closest of the pure sprinters,
Mario Cipollini, would have to win two stages in a row to erase his 35 second
deficit to McGee. One rider with a better chance is Olaf Pollack, who is second
on GC at 10 seconds behind McGee and a handy sprinter. But McGee himself is
no mean sprinter, and will certainly defend the jersey while he has it.
14:33 CEST 32km/111km to go
As there were no overnight withdrawals, 169 riders started today at 13:39 from
Genova. As is traditional in the Giro, the peloton has been content to just
roll along at a steady speed in the first hour, and it's all together at the
moment after 30 km. The Giro is generally a slower race than the Tour de France
or the Vuelta, where the racing is on from the gun, and you typically see average
speeds close to 50 km/h in the first hour. In Italy, it's more like 30-35 km/h.
But by the end of the stage, the pace is very, very high once the sprinters'
trains get rolling.
14:52 CEST
The weather today is quite good for racing again. The temperatures at the start
in Genova were 16 degrees C (61 F). There is a steady wind from the southeast
blowing at 35 km/h, which will assist the riders for much of the day.
The peloton has now left the coastline, passing through Savona (km 39 as one
big bunch. The climb of the Colle di Cadibona starts as soon as the riders exit
the town.
After one hour of racing, peloton had covered 33.5 km.
15:08 CEST 47km/96km to go
It looks as though the climb of the Colle di Cadibona hasn't done a lot to split
up the peloton. With 3 km from the summit of the 10 km/4.1 percent climb, it
was still gruppo compatto. The sprinters should have their day today,
although no doubt the attacks will start soon.
15:13 CEST 50km/93km to go
At the top of the climb, Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann sprinted to take the
points ahead of Colombian Fredy Gonzalez (Colombia-Selle Italia) and Cristian
Moreni (Alessio-Bianchi). Although they're at the top of the climb, there's
still some 300m of altitude to be gained in the next 20 km.
15:24 CEST 55km/88km to go
The attacks start once the peloton hits the top of the climb. Alberto Borrajo
(Panaria), Ruber Marin (Colombia-Selle Italia) and Daniel Schnider (Phonak)
attempted to escape, but were brought back by the peloton.
15:41 CEST 62km/81km to go
We're still a fair way from the next intermediate sprint - the Intergiro at
Bossolasco (km 94). The first rider across the line here will receive the blue
Intergiro jersey at the end of the day. This classification is scored on time,
but it's actually similar to a points classification as the first riders across
the line are awarded various bonus seconds - the actual time doesn't matter,
even if there is a gap of 10 minutes between first and second. Except in time
trials, when the rider's actual time past the Intergiro point is counted. A
little weird, but that's how it works, and it's worth a few euros too.
It's still gruppo compatto after 62 km. No-one is in a hurry yet. The average
speed after 2 hours is 33.2 km/h.
15:46 CEST 69km/74km to go
The peloton is passing through a long 1.3 km tunnel as it continues to climb
at a steady pace. It emerges as one big block, spread 10 across the road.
An attack! Marlon Perez (Colombia-Selle Italia) has a go and immediately gets
a gap.
15:52 CEST 71km/72km to go
Perez now has 40 seconds as he passes through Tetti di Montezemolo, which will
give him the virtual maglia rosa, as he started the day 39 seconds down on GC.
Of course, a virtual maglia rosa is like a verbal contract - not worth the paper
it's printed on. But it's better than nothing!
The peloton has picked up a little bit of speed now, but it's still five riders
across the road.
15:57 CEST 74km/69km to go
Marlon Perez (Colombia-Selle Italia) has now achieved a 1'40 lead over the peloton,
which is starting to get interested. Perez is an excellet rider against the
clock, and is a past Colombian TT champion. This year he has already won four
races: three stages in the Vuelta a Tachira and one stage in the Tour de Langkawi.
He picked a good time to attack and is moving along well now in the bright afternoon
sunshine.
16:00 CEST 79km/64km to go
Magnus Backstedt (Alessio-Bianchi) has dropped back behind the peloton and gets
the world's slowest wheel change. He's pretty annoyed, it looks like. Backstedt
won the Intergiro jersey last year and also finished 8th in the prologue yesterday.
And of course he won Paris-Roubaix this year. He's now chasing back through
the caravan.
Perez now has 2'44 to the peloton.
16:05 CEST 84km/59km to go
There's a reaction in the peloton, and five or six riders set off in pursuit
of Marlon Perez. Radoslav Rogina (Tenax) is leading them, with a teammate of
Perez with him, Leonardo Scarselli. Luis Filipe Jimenez (Formaggi) is also there.
Brad McGee is now moving up the peloton. It's time to race.
16:07 CEST
There is a crash in the peloton. FDJeux.com's Freddy Bichot is down, as are
Johan Verstrepen (Landbouwkrediet) and Scott Davis (Panaria), who is madly signalling
for a spare wheel/bike. He gets one, and is under way after losing about 40
seconds. Bichot has to wait longer.
16:09 CEST
Perez is oblivious to all the action behind him, and has 3'15 on Rogina, Scarselli
and Fortunato Baliani (Panaria).
16:10 CEST
Rogina's group has been joined by quite a few more men, and we have a bunch
of 20 riders pursuing Marlon Perez at 3'15. It looks like Davide Rebellin is
in this chase group.
16:14 CEST
The 20 man group (which doesn't contain Rebellin but does have three Gerolsteiners
in it) is about 20 seconds in front of a Fassa Bortolo led peloton. This is
an interesting move. They're 2'40 behind the leader, Marlon Perez. Peloton 2
is at 3'00 and there is a third group behind the main bunch at 3'15.
The third group has almost reached the main peloton.
16:16 CEST 93km/50km to go
The chasing group of 20 has been caught by the main bunch, while the group behind
is still trying to bridge the gap. There are four Fassa Bortolo jerseys leading
the main group.
Perez is almost at the Intergiro point.
16:18 CEST 94km/49km to go
The peloton is now back together again, chasing Perez at 2'30. Fassa Bortolo
jerseys are in front (and there were also some chasing back onto the peloton),
and Saeco and Vini Caldirola are also highly placed. Brad McGee is about 20
riders back.
16:22 CEST 95km/48km to go
Scott Davis (Panaria) has made it back onto the peloton after a long chase.
Fassa has three men in front still, with a couple of Alessio riders - Backstedt
one of them? - getting ready for the Intergiro.
But Perez will take the first Intergiro bonus seconds of the Giro at Bossolasca.
He'll also get a few (6) bonus seconds for the GC.
16:26 CEST 96km/47km to go
Alessio prepares the sprint for Moreni, but it looks as though Crescenzo d'Amore
(Acqua e Sapone) got the second place ahead of Fred Rodriguez (Acqua e Sapone).
Moreni was fourth. The gap at the Intergiro was 2'02 to Marlon Perez, our gallant
solo leader of the day.
16:31 CEST 100km/43km to go
Perez's lead has sunk to 1'35 now, as four Fassa Bortolo riders lead the peloton
at a decent clip. Lampre is in the second rank with four riders.
Freddy Bichot is on the back of the bunch, looking rather unhappy after his
crash.
16:37 CEST 104km/39km to go
Perez hasn't quite reached the descent to Alba yet, and his lead is still dwindling
under the impetus of Fassa Bortolo. The latest time check is 1'25 to the Colombian
riding for Colombia-Selle Italia.
16:38 CEST
Perez passes a banner reading "Grazie, Pirata" in memory of the deceased Marco
Pantani, who rode his last Giro d'Italia last year but died of a cocaine overdose
early this year.
16:40 CEST 118km/25km to go
The descent has now started, and Perez is crouched low over the handlebars,
trying to get the most aerodynamic position when hte road goes downhill. In
the peloton, it's still four Fassa Bortolos in front.
16:44 CEST 110km/33km to go
After 3 hours, the average speed has risen to 35.95 km/h. That means 41.5 km
have been covered in the third hour.
Freddy Bichot is at the back of the bunch on the descent, having received some
treatment for his elbow from the race doctor.
Dario Cioni has a close encounter with a barrier on the side of the road, but
survives. Mario Cipollini is sighted at the front of the peloton too.
16:46 CEST 113km/30km to go
Perez has 30 km to go, including four laps of the 5 km circuit in Alba. He's
not riding this descent flat out, and is losing time still. The latest gap is
1'13, and the peloton isn't exactly flying on the descent.
16:49 CEST 116km/27km to go
Both Marlon Perez and the peloton have reached the foot of the descent, and
Perez has just a minute of his gap left. It was 3'40 at one stage. He's still
the virtual maglia rosa, but probably won't be for long. He has won some real
prizemoney today though by crossing the Intergiro line first, and he'll probably
get the most combative rider too.
16:53 CEST 118km/25km to go
Lotto-Domo and Vini Caldirola jerseys are massing at the front now with 25 km
to go, chasing down Marlon Perez who has been away since km 69. Perez is in
the streets of Alba, trying to keep his speed as high as possible for as long
as possible.
16:56 CEST 123km/20km to go
Perez is still 1'00 in front of the (again) Fassa Bortolo led peloton as he
crosses the finish line in Alba with four 5 km laps to ride. There are plenty
of corners per lap, which makes an organised chase harder.
16:58 CEST 124km/19km to go
Perez rides up the long finishing straight, with Fassa Bortolo on the front
of the bunch, now just 45 seconds behind the Colombian. Mario Cipollini's Domina
Vacanze men are up the front too.
The sprint looks to be very non-technical - no tricky corners with 300m to go
and no rain.
17:00 CEST 127km/16km to go
Gustov and Codol have done the lion's share of the work for the last 70 km,
and have brought back a 3 minute plus gap to just 36 seconds with three and
a half 5 km laps to go.
There are huge crowds lining the whole course today, enjoying the Sunday afternoon
sunshine.
17:04 CEST 128km/15km to go
The Fassa boys, riding like a well oiled machine, have brought back Perez to
within 35 seconds with three laps to go. The speed isn't too high yet, with
Fassa just riding tempo.
17:05 CEST 130km/13km to go
Assuming it finishes in a bunch sprint today, we can expect Alessandro Petacchi,
Mario Cipollini, Robbie McEwen, Ivan Quaranta and Jan Svorada to fight it out
for the honours (to pick five riders from 169).
Lotto-Domo and Domina Vacanze are now on the front, helping out the chase.
17:07 CEST 131km/12km to go
A Lampre rider - Daniele Righi - who crashed on the descent into Alba, is now
riding across the finish line a few minutes behind the peloton.
Lotto-Domo has taken over the pace making in the bunch now from Fassa, trying
to put McEwen in a winning position.
17:09 CEST 133km/10km to go
Perez has certainly lifted his game in these closing laps, and won't give in
easy. Nice riding by the Colombian, who has ben away solo for half of the stage.
2 laps to go...
17:10 CEST 134km/9km to go
The gap is down to 16 seconds with less than 10 km to go, and he might just
survive this lap.
Fassa Bortolo is on the front again with three men, winding the speed up gradually.
17:11 CEST 136km/7km to go
Perez has 8 km left, but there is now a strung out peloton behind him. Lotto-Domo
has two riders in front with the Fassas. McGee, in pink, is about 20th.
17:13 CEST 137km/6km to go
Perez has less than 10 seconds now, and looks behind and sees the bunch coming.
He's had a very good ride, but it's over just before the last 5 km lap.
17:14 CEST
All the time, Freddy Bichot (who crashed earlier) is on the back of the bunch.
But he's still there, and that's what matters.
17:15 CEST 138km/5km to go
We have five Fassas on the front and four Domina Vacanze riders, heading up
to the one lap to go mark. Gerolsteiner has a few riders there too, getting
Pollack and Rebellin in position.
Last lap, ultimo giro.
17:16 CEST
There's little doubt it's going to be a bunch sprint, so place your bets. I'll
pick Petacchi :-)
17:17 CEST 139km/4km to go
A De Nardi rider attempts to attack, but it goes no more than five metres.
Petacchi, McEwen, Nauduzs and Cipollini are all together. So is Astarloa. Cipo
moves up, but he's about 15 riders back.
17:18 CEST 140km/3km to go
3 km to go, and Fassa Bortolo has wound it up to a very high tempo. Fabio Sacchi
is hammering on the front. Petacchi is in about 5th wheel, with four teammates
in front of him.
17:19 CEST 141km/2km to go
Astarloa is moving up well, trying to find Petacchi. But he'll need more. Petacchi
has the best position.
Colombo (Domina) tries to take the lead, but fails. 2 km left.
17:19 CEST 142km/1km to go
McEwen looks to be on Petacchi's wheel. Four Fassas on the front with 1 km to
go.
17:20 CEST
Cipollini moves up next to Petacchi. But ends up just behind McEwen...
17:21 CEST 143km/0km to go
Ongarato leads out from a long way, as Cipollini's teammate Aug leads out. McEwen
takes the lead, but Petacchi is too strong and wins!! Olaf Pollack is second,
and takes the Maglia Rosa from McGee. An excellent sprint by the German. McEwen
finishes fourth, behind Crescenzo d'Amore.
17:23 CEST
Impressive win by Petacchi, and very good sprinting from Pollack to finish second.
McEwen went very early so as not to be boxed in (slightly impeding Andrus Aug,
but the race jury didn't deem it worthy of a relegation, as Aug wasn't in contention),
but faded in the last 100m and was passed by Petacchi, Pollack and D'Amore.
That's all from today folks. Join us for tomorrow's second stage between Novi
Ligure and Pontremoli (184 km), containing a couple of long climbs.
Results
Provisional 1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3 Crescenzo D'amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 5 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 6 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) FDJeux.com 7 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 8 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Lampre General classification after stage 1 1 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2 Bradley McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 0.02 3 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.20 4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 5 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 0.22 6 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.26
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