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87th Giro d'Italia - Grand Tour
Italy, May 8-30, 2004
Main Page Results Stage profile Live report Next Stage
Prologue - May 8: Genova ITT, 6.9 km
Superb McGee takes Maglia Rosa in Genova
87th Giro now ready to roll
By Tim Maloney in Genova
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As he climbed the podium to accept the winner's bouquet and the Maglia Rosa of Giro d'Italia race leadership today in Genova, 28 year old Sydneysider Brad McGee (FDJeux.com) cradled his young daughter Tahlia in his arms. The blonde tot was wearing a pink jumper just like her daddy's new jersey and a beaming McGee was clearly proud to share his special podium moment with his daughter.
"It's great for me - she really understands what's going on, she knows when it's a big day", McGee told Cyclingnews after the stage. "She really encourages me!" His delighted daughter was happily clutching her new Estathe' Giro mascot doll that daddy had won for her in Genova.
Just as he did last year at the Tour de France, McGee gave it his all in the prologue in Genova, collapsing after the finish into his soigneurs from the intense effort. Once he got back his breath, McGee told Cyclingnews that, "It's fantastic for me to win here today. I started my European career in Italy with the AIS squad and the last time I did the Giro was four years ago."
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McGee joked that he had a different jersey the last time in the Giro, the maglia nera, which signifies last place on GC at the Giro. When Cyclingnews asked McGee his how his win today compared to his surprise win in last year's Tour prologue, he responded that, "I think I rode better today than at the Tour. I was the favourite and that brought a lot of pressure, but I was able to respond well so that's great."
Tomorrow the challenge for McGee and his young, motivated FDJeux.com team is to try to defend his Maglia Rosa for as long as he can from the onslaught of the Italian sprinters' squads. With his healthy 35" lead on Cipollini and 38" on Petacchi, McGee will likely be pretty in pink until Monday's difficult Stage 3 with it's mountaintop finish in Corno alla Scale.
Saeco's Gilberto Simoni may have surprised himself today with his fast ride of 9'05" for 15th place, well ahead of riders who might be considered better at a short prologue. Although his form was somewhat of a mystery before the Giro, Simoni has now already gained 11" on his major rival Garzelli, but he lost 15" to last year's third place Yaroslav Popovych. Simoni said that, "Today was hard and there was a lot of wind, but in the end I'm happy with the way I rode."
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Last year's Giro runner-up Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) was only 57th today with a 9'16", and he seemed happy to get through the twisty 6.9km percorso without any problems. "I was pretty tense before the race, so what was most important for me today was just to get rid of this tension. Yeah, I lost some time in the turns today but anyway, the Giro starts tomorrow. But I thought I would do better today."
Third place Yaroslav Popovych (Colnago-Landbouwkredeit) was his usual calm self after an excellent effort today. Best of the GC contenders in today's prologue, Popo wasn't even that winded at the end of his all-out prologue effort. "Yeah, I went pretty good today! I'm happy with my ride. I had some problems in that last corner, but otherwise it went well."
In fifth place was Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), who ended 27 seconds down on McGee, demonstrating his excellent form and showing that he is a real chance to take the Maglia Rosa in the first week.
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Super Mario Cipollini was pleased with his 11th place effort at 9'05". Always the flamboyant showman, Cipollini rode in a white and gold skinsuit with the baroque motif of a lion, for which he and his team were fined a total of 700 Swiss francs. His rival for super-sprinterdom at this year's Giro, Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), said after today's prologue that, "It was harder than I thought it would be today. It was difficult to get a rhythm with so many turns but I'm satisfied with my performance.
How it unfolded
Starting from the Arco della Vittoria in the Italian port city of Genova, the prologue of the 87th Giro d'Italia was raced on a tricky, technical course lined with huge crowds that separated the fit from the fakes at this year's Giro. After exiting the start house under the arch, there were three fast turns, then a long slog up via XX Settembre, then past the elegant fountain in Piazza Ferrari. Down the narrow, cobbled via Garabaldi, through Piazza di Santa Sabina and into the headwind along the Porto Vecchio after 2.5km. Then the course climbed up via San Lorenzo, back to Piazza Ferrari and then made a sharp left at the halfway point.
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Via Fieschi was next, a steep 400m climb lined five deep with screaming tifosi and no barriers - it resembled a major mountain climb. At the top, it was a left hand bend through Piazza Carignano, then back down Corso Andrea Podesta, a loop back through Largo Pertini and then the final sharp left hand corner back onto via XX Settembre for the fast final kilometre.
Early fast man with 9'11" was Australian Brett Lancaster (Panaria-Fiordo), world team pursuit champ, who told Cyclingnews that "I felt alright today, but could have gone better on the cobbles then I did."
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Lancaster's time lasted until Domina Vacanze's Andrus Aug came across 1" faster and knocked him out of the hot seat. The next fast times were set by Dario Cioni and then Marzio Bruseghin of Fassa Bortolo at 9'00 flat, but when Gerolsteiner's Olaf Pollack crossed the line at 5:48pm, his speedy 8'40" was the first under the formidable bar of 9 minutes.
Pollack's time held and held for more than an hour until Brad McGee stopped the finish line clock at 6:27pm with 8'30", powering to the stage win at 48.705 km/h average, taking the first Maglia Rosa of the 87th Giro d'Italia.
Stage 1 - May 9: Genova-Alba, 143km
The Giro's first road stage heads west along the coast, then climbs up into the Ligurian and Langhe hinterlands before the finish in the truffle and wine capital of Alba. This stage could be a dangerous one for the Giro favourites because a break could go away early, but with the last climb 50km from the finish, look for the sprinters to have their say in truffle-town. Stage 1 finishes with four 5km finishing circuits in Alba.
Photography
Images by Olympia Photo
- Andrea Ferrigato Acqua & Sapone) at the top of the course in Genova
- Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) in his special baroque lion themed skinsuit. Why? Because he can.
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) lets the bubbly fly
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) on the podium with his pink-clad daughter Tahlia
- Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) had a very respectable ride in the prologue, finishing 15th
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- The prologue started under Genova's Arco della Vittoria
- Your machine is ready, Your Highness
- Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) ready to start
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) ready to start
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) straps the battle helmet on
- Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) sets off
- Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) ready to go
- Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) on the pave
- There is only one Mario Cipollini and there's probably not enough room for another one!
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) gave it everything, and it was more than enough to win
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) drives it home
- Franco Pellizotti (Alessio-Bianchi) was solid and ended 17th
- Yaroslav Popovych (Colnago-Landbouwkrediet) had a great ride to end up third, 20 seconds behind McGee
- Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) rode well to finish 5th
- Igor Astarloa (Lampre) was well off the pace in 75th
- Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) gave a lot of gas, but only finished 57th
- Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) goes for it
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) salutes from the podium
- Take a big gulp!
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) pretty in pink
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) kisses his wife Sharni after winning the prologue
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) gets a kiss from Tahlia
Images by Tim Maloney/Cyclingnews.com
- After the stage finished Brad McGee collapsed into his soigneurs in a world of pain
- Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com) explained how his ride went, once he got his breath back
Results
1 Bradley McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com 8.30 (48.705 km/h) 2 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.10 3 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 0.20 4 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 0.24 5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.27 6 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.30 7 Marco Velo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.32 8 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi 9 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.33 10 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.34 11 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 0.35 12 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com 13 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 14 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 15 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saeco 16 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 17 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 0.36 18 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) FDJeux.com 19 Ondrej Sosenka (Cze) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 20 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Saeco 21 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.38 22 Andris Nauduzs (Lat) Domina Vacanze 0.39 23 Serguei Gontchar (Ukr) De Nardi 24 Marlon Alirio Perez Arango (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 25 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 0.40 26 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 27 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 28 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 29 Andrus Aug (Est) Domina Vacanze 30 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 31 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 32 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco 0.41 33 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi 34 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 35 Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 36 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre 37 Russell Van Hout (Aus) Colombia-Selle Italia 38 Crescenzo D'amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 0.42 39 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Domo 40 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 0.43 41 Juan Manuel Garate Cepa (Spa) Lampre 42 Florent Brard (Fra) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 43 Denys Kostuk (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 44 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner 45 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Saeco 46 Giuseppe Di Grande (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 47 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Alessio-Bianchi 0.44 48 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 49 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 50 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 51 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 52 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 0.45 53 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Saeco 54 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 55 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 56 Matthew Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com 57 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 0.46 58 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 59 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 60 Franc Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre 0.47 61 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 62 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 63 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJeux.com 64 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 0.48 65 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 66 Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Lampre 67 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Domo 0.50 68 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 69 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 70 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 71 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 72 Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 0.51 73 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) FDJeux.com 74 Mario Scirea (Ita) Domina Vacanze 75 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Lampre 76 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) De Nardi 77 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 78 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) FDJeux.com 79 Freddy Bichot (Fra) FDJeux.com 80 Charly Wegelius (GBr) De Nardi 0.52 81 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 0.53 82 David Derepas (Fra) FDJeux.com 83 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 84 Leonardo Scarselli (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 85 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 86 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.54 87 Jacky Durand (Fra) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 88 Andoni Aranaga Azkune (Spa) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 89 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.55 90 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Domo 91 Bostjan Mervar (Slo) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 92 Juan Gomis Lopez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 93 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 0.56 94 Philippe Schnyder (Swi) Colombia-Selle Italia 95 Fredy Gonzalez Martinez (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 96 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 97 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.57 98 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 99 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Saeco 100 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 101 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 102 Mauricio Al Ardila Cano (Col) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 103 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Domina Vacanze 0.58 104 Sergey Avdyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 105 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 106 Luis Filipe Laverde Jimenez (Col) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 107 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.59 108 Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Lotto-Domo 109 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Lampre 110 Ief Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 111 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Domo 112 Dean Podgornik (Slo) Tenax 1.00 113 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 114 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 115 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 116 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 117 Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.01 118 Trent Wilson (Aus) Colombia-Selle Italia 119 Michael Albasini (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.02 120 Niki Aebersold (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 121 Nicola Loda (Ita) Tenax 1.03 122 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre 123 Simone Masciarelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 124 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 1.04 125 Renzo Mazzoleni (Ita) Tenax 126 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Saeco 1.05 127 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Saeco 128 Massimo Iannetti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 129 Igor Pugaci (Mda) De Nardi 130 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 131 Bo Hamburger (Den) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 1.06 132 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 133 Radoslav Rogina (Cro) Tenax 1.08 134 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 135 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 136 Oscar Mason (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 1.09 137 Martin Derganc (Slo) Domina Vacanze 138 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Lampre 1.10 139 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto-Domo 1.11 140 Volodimyr Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 141 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 142 Alejandro Albert Borrajo (Arg) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 143 Mario Manzoni (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 144 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 1.13 145 Oscar Pozzi (Ita) Tenax 146 Julio A. Perez Cuapio (Mex) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 1.15 147 John Gadret (Fra) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 148 Scott Davis (Aus) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 1.16 149 Zoran Klemencic (Slo) Tenax 1.17 150 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 151 Michele Gobbi (Ita) De Nardi 152 Ivan Quaranta (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 1.18 153 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) De Nardi 154 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto-Domo 1.19 155 Raffaele Illiano (Ita) Colombia-Selle Italia 1.20 156 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Domo 157 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 158 Ruggero Borghi (Ita) De Nardi 1.21 159 Ruber Alverio Marin (Col) Colombia-Selle Italia 160 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Tenax 1.24 161 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Ceramiche Panaria-Margres 162 Maxim Rudenko (Ukr) Chocolade Jacques Wincor-Nixdorf 163 Leonardo Giordani (Ita) De Nardi 1.25 164 Domenico Gualdi (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 165 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) Tenax 1.33 166 Giancarlo Ginestri (Ita) Tenax 1.36 167 Corrado Serina (Ita) Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave' 1.37 168 Alberto Loddo (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 169 Graziano Gasparre (Ita) De Nardi
