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 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
88th Giro d'Italia - PT
Italy, May 7-29, 2005
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 11 - May 19: Marostica - Zoldo Alto, 150 km
Commentary by Kristy Scrymgeour, with additional reporting from Jeff Jones, John Trevorrow and Tim Maloney
Complete live report
14:33 CEST
Welcome back to the live coverage
of the Giro d'Italia and to the mountains. Today's race starts in Marostica's
Piazza dei Scacchi and travels 150km to Zoldo Alto. The climbing game begins
with two small ascents of the Salita della Rosina and the Scale di Primolano,
then a long, gradual ascent up to the first GPM at Passo di Cereda (1369m) then
another at Forcelle Aurine after 105.km. After a descent to Agordo, it's the
steep 13km ascent to Passo Duran (1601m.), a 8km descent and then the final
12km ascent to the finish at the ski resort of Dolomiti Stars in Zoldo Alto.
The action started at kilometre one this morning with Benoît Joachim (Discovery)
going on the attack. After 58km of racing so far he has a 3'17" lead on the
field as the riders reach the Intergiro of the day.
14:41 CEST 64km/86km to go
Of course Joachim
took the sprint in Fonzaso. Taking second was Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step), followed
by Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner). Leonardo Scarselli (Selle Italia) is away now
and he now has 45" on the field at the 64km mark.
14:45 CEST
The average speed so far in the stage
is 43km/h and riders have about 15km before the feed zone where they will pick
up their desperately needed sustenance for the climbs ahead. They will hit the
top of the first major climb, up Passo di Cereda 13km after that.
14:48 CEST 68km/82km to go
Joachim is powering
away all alone up the road. He now has 2'40" on Scarselli and 4'40" on the bunch
as they wind through a beautiful green valley. He still looks very smooth.
14:52 CEST
Of course so far is this Tour, in
only eleven days of racing, we have travelled all the way from the southern
tip of Italy's mainland all way up to the famous Dolomiti in the very north.
In a couple of days the race will hit Livigno which climbs up to the border
between Italy and Switzerland.
14:57 CEST
Climbing up to 2758m on Passo Stelvio
in stage 14 is the highest point in the Giro. Today we don't climb quite that
high, the highest point being on the penultimate climb up Passo Duran at 1610m.
14:58 CEST 78km/72km to go
Lampre is on the front
of the peloton at the moment with Discovery tucked in right up there. Joachim
now has two minutes on Scarselli and four minutes on the peloton.
15:00 CEST
Joachim steadily powering away as
he sees the mountains looming ahead. Its still flat here as they wind through
a town.
15:01 CEST 84km/66km to go
Its a beautiful day,
the sun is shining as the riders reach the feed zone.
15:04 CEST
As Joachim passed through Fiera di
Primiero, a huge crowd greeted him. Back in the front Lampre are still on the
front with the green jerseys of the Liquigas team all sitting right up there.
15:05 CEST
The road is starting to climb now
and gets out of the saddle to stretch his legs a little. He now has 1'30" on
the bunch.
15:07 CEST
It looks like Daniele Nardello (T-Mobile)
has retired from the race. We are not sure why at this point but he has crashed
at least once in the tour so far.
15:08 CEST
Joachim goes around a small switch
back and heads to another. The climb at this point in a nice wide road and not
that steep yet, but it looks hard for Joachim at this point.
15:10 CEST
It is a category two climb and is
7.6% for 8.5 km. You can see its starting to get steeper now. Joachim keeps
his rhythm.
15:12 CEST
Joachim is out of the saddle now
and takes a quick look behind him. Scarselli is getting closer and is at 1'28".
He looks good.
15:14 CEST
The gap to the field is still over
four minutes right now and we can see the peloton riding fairly easily so far
through the wooded climb.
15:15 CEST
Its 14 degrees, which is quite a
nice temperature for climbing and we have winds of 14km/h from the south east.
15:16 CEST
The gap is falling gradually. The
gap to from Joachim to the peloton is 3'21" and Scarselli still placed in the
middle at 1'30".
15:19 CEST
It is switch back after switch back
at this point as Scarselli gets a little closer to Joachim, now 1'22" behind.
An Italian sits on the side of the road with a big sign hanging from the trees
that says. "Coppi is still present."
15:20 CEST 91.5km/58.5km to go
Joachim is three
kilometres from the summit now and 2'35" in front of the peloton. Lampre still
setting the pace back there.
15:20 CEST
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15:22 CEST
Only 1'15" between Joachim and Scarselli
now and falling. There are a few riders falling off the back of the bunch. Volodymyr
Bileka (Discovery) is one of them as well as a few of the Fassa riders.
15:24 CEST 92km/58km to go
Petrov and Sabaliauskas
are up at the front of the peloton working hard for Lampre. Thomas Dekker (Rabobank)
is also up there.
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15:25 CEST
Less than two kilometres to the top
of the climb now. Not as many trees at this point and you can see the road winding
up before you as you climb.
15:26 CEST
The gap is really starting to fall
now. There is an attack. Its Rujano. He's flying.
15:27 CEST
He has already caught Scarselli.
What an amazing attack.
15:28 CEST
Joachim looking back, Rujano is coming
fast behind. He should take the mountain points.
15:29 CEST
Rujano is 48kg, 1.62m - perfect for
climbing. It's going to be close at the summit, but Joachim might get it.
15:30 CEST 93.5km/56.5km to go
Yes, he gets it
and Rujano takes second.
15:31 CEST
Rujano is a bit stuffed now. Gil
sprints for third place (1 point) but loses it to a Credit Agricole and a Banesto
rider. The leaders have 45 seconds to peloton at the top.
15:31 CEST
Rujano is letting Joachim go on the
descent. He's waiting for the bunch. Halgand was third on the climb.
15:34 CEST
Joachim hammers on the descent, which
is fairly technical. Lampre leads the peloton at 50 seconds. As soon as they
get to the bottom of this, they start climbing again with the next GPM, Forcelle
Aurine at 105km.
15:36 CEST 100km/50km to go
Rujano has been caught
as the race reaches 50km to go. Joachim is still in front but only by 18".
15:38 CEST 101km/49km to go
Joachim has been
caught, exactly 100km after attacking. Sabaliauskas is still chasing hard for
Lampre.
15:40 CEST
So its all back together as they
head for the second categorized climb of the day. Bettini (in the lead group)
signals for a bidon. It looks like we have about 40 riders remaining in the
front group after that first climb.
15:45 CEST
We are on the next climb. The road
is narrower on this climb and still Sabaliauskas leading! He is setting a very
fast pace and it is strung out single file already.
15:47 CEST 103.3km/46.7km to go
It is not that
steep at the moment. We are about two kilometres away front he summit of this
climb, Forcelle Aurine, which is a category two climb.
15:48 CEST
Rujano goes again on this climb.
He flies off the front with Halgand on his wheel.
15:48 CEST
Actually it is a category three climb
so the points at the top will be 3,2,1.
15:48 CEST
Halgand wins the sprint, so Rujano
gets 2 points. Sabaliauskas takes third. Gil looks like he's been dropped.
15:49 CEST
Halgand continues on the descent,
but Rujano sits up again to wait for the bunch.
15:50 CEST
There is a long descent now. After
15 kilometres of descending, they immediately start climbing again up Passo
Duran, which reaches the highest point in the race.
15:52 CEST
The peloton is strung out going down
the climb. Halgand leads solo by about 15 seconds. He is really riding through
some beautiful countryside with snow covered mountains in view.
15:53 CEST 113km/37km to go
He gets out of the
saddle to get into a rhythm on a slightly flatter section of the decent and
now goes through the small mountain town of Voltago Agordino. He has 16 seconds.
15:54 CEST
In the peloton, it is still the four
Lampre riders leading. Di Luca is in fifth wheel.
15:56 CEST
Halgand looks very smooth on the
descent. His lead has increased to 25 seconds. Back in the field, it looks like
riders are rejoining the group. There are about 60 riders in the front group
right now.
15:59 CEST
Halgand is now is a more wooded area
again.
16:00 CEST
It is a nice narrow road. Very twisty.
He takes the corners well and holds his lead of twenty seconds.
16:02 CEST 120km/30km to go
Some heart rate data
from the bunch. Ivan Parra (Selle Italia) is at 125/198 and Fabio Baldato (Fassa)
is at 63/180 on this descent with 30 kilometres of racing remaining.
16:04 CEST
The peloton reaches the big town
at the bottom of the climb. Just out of time they will start climbing again.
16:05 CEST
Halgand is increasing his lead now.
He now has 38 seconds on the peloton.
16:05 CEST
He is really pounding on the pedals
as the road already starts to go up.
16:07 CEST
This is a long climb. It climbs for
13km and reaches 1601m. The average gradient is 7.7% but it reaches 14% at its
maximum. There are huge crowds on the side of the road already.
16:08 CEST
Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) is up
there in the group.
16:09 CEST
|
CN also asked Riis about how he saw the situation on Stage 11 and he said that, "I think, and I hope it's going to be a spectacular day...how it's going to end I don't know, but I think we'll see some surprises. A nice battle." We also asked Riis what he would tell Basso in his earpiece when Simoni attacks and his simple, elegant reply was, "Be ready...stay close."
16:09 CEST
Halgand is out of the saddle now,
his gap is falling again. It is now 30 seconds. Lampre still doing all the work
on the front of the peloton.
16:11 CEST 125km/25km to go
25 kilometres to
go now. Halgand's gap is 20 seconds. The road travels through some nice little
mountain villages. The huge rocky mountains faces loom in the background.
16:12 CEST
Lampre still gathered at the front
pushing the pace. Heart rate updates for Parra is 181/198, whilst Baldato is
only at 119/180.
16:13 CEST
Petrov pulls off, Patxi Vila leads.
16:14 CEST
Dekker has been dropped, along with
about half of the gruppo. The pace is fast.
16:14 CEST
Tonti now riding preparing for an
attack by Gibo.
16:14 CEST
There goes Gibo!
16:15 CEST
Basso and Di Luca after him.
16:15 CEST
Savoldelli and Scarponi going after
them. Sella Italia are leading the peloton.
16:16 CEST
The group is splitting to pieces.
16:16 CEST
Cunego in second group at about ten
seconds.
16:16 CEST
He's gradually getting back up with
the help of Tonti, Tiralongo, Schleck.
16:17 CEST
Baranowski leading front group. It
looks like Garzelli has been dropped.
16:18 CEST
There are about 20 riders in the
front group. Simoni, Di Luca, Basso, Savoldelli, Scarponi, Baranowski, Sella,
Savoldelli, Cunego, Rujano, Ardila, Cioni are all up there. Garzelli is definitely
in the second group.
16:19 CEST
Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Davitamon
- Lotto) is taking over at the front!
16:19 CEST
Garzelli being dropped from Cunego's
group!!
16:21 CEST
Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare)
takes a fall. He can't get into the pedals. He loses 15 seconds.
16:21 CEST
Basso attacks!
16:22 CEST
But he doesn't get far. The twenty
riders are still together.
16:23 CEST
Basso still setting the pace with
the Maglia Rosa on his wheel.
16:24 CEST
Basso's name is painted on the road
as he leads the race over it.
16:25 CEST
Basso has really lifted the tempo.
Di Luca can hold him, Savoldelli and Ardila next - about 12 riders in this group
now.
16:26 CEST
Ardila and Van Huffel have been dropped.
Basso is splitting up this group with his fast pace.
16:26 CEST
Now Basso, Di Luca, Scarponi, Simoni,
Rujano, Caucchioli,. Basso goes again!!
16:27 CEST 129km/21km to go
Basso, Simoni, Savoldelli,
Di Luca, Atienza, Rujano now. They are at about 17km to go
16:28 CEST
Still a couple of kilometres to go
to the top of this climb. The lead group is only five riders now. Basso in the
lead with Simoni on his wheel.
16:28 CEST
Atienza has been dropped. Only four
left now.
16:28 CEST
Basso, Simoni, Di Luca and Savoldelli.
16:29 CEST
Scarponi, Caucchioli and Van Huffel
are the chase group with Atienza falling back to them now.
16:29 CEST
Rujano makes it back to the group
and then gets dropped. Sav in trouble now!
16:30 CEST
Crowds line the road as they near
the top. Cunego is over a minute down!
16:30 CEST
Di Luca is also in trouble. Just
Basso and Gibo in front now.
16:31 CEST
The pink jersey just couldn't hang
on! Basso is on fire.
16:32 CEST 128km/22km to go
Actually they still
have three kilometres until they reach the summit.
16:32 CEST
Rujano and Sav get up to di Luca.
16:33 CEST
Basso looks very comfortable. The
road is very narrow here.
16:33 CEST
Di Luca is hanging on to Rujano and
Savoldelli. He needs to stay with them.
16:34 CEST
Di Luca starting to lose the wheel
of Rujano and Savoldelli.
16:35 CEST
A spectator in a pink t-shirt runs
alongside him. The crowds are massive on either side of this narrow road.
16:35 CEST
Basso and Simoni have a 15 second
lead on the chasers now.
16:35 CEST
Di Luca is now trailing the leaders
by 20 seconds.
16:36 CEST
About one kilometre to the summit
now.
16:37 CEST
15 seconds is not enough time to
hold off the chasers after the summit.
16:37 CEST
Ardila, Scarponi, Van Huffel, Caucchioli
are at 1'00.
16:38 CEST
Di Luca moves up again closer to
Savoldelli and Rujano. He makes it to their wheel.
16:38 CEST
The chasers have caught Basso and
Simoni now.
16:38 CEST
Five near the top of the climb together.
Rujano leads all the way towards the summit.
16:39 CEST
Basso is in second wheel, then Gibo,
Sav and Di Luca.
16:39 CEST
Di Luca is still hurting a lot, but
hanging in there. He's losing the wheel again slightly but he'll make it over.
16:40 CEST
Rujano takes the points, then Basso,
Gibo, Sav and Di Luca.
16:40 CEST 132km/18km to go
Then Caucchioli and
Atienza reach the GPM at 0'57". Bettini is four minutes down at this point.
16:41 CEST
Savoldelli leads on the descent and
is driving it. There is a small gap already.
16:42 CEST
A big group of riders reaches the
top now. Three minutes down on the leaders.
16:43 CEST
Cunego comes over in a biggish group
at 3'15. Gil is in that group.
16:44 CEST
The descent is narrow and also very
twisty but still fast.
16:44 CEST
Savoldelli has 10 seconds on the
group now. Rujano has been dropped.
16:45 CEST
It looks like Savoldelli has about
15 seconds on the chasing group of Di Luca, Gibo and Basso.
16:46 CEST
When they get to the bottom of this
decent, they will have 12 kilometres to go which is mostly uphill on the final
climb of the day.
16:46 CEST
Basso doing most of the chasing work
out of the trio.
16:48 CEST
The riders will finish at the ski
resort of Dolomiti Stars in Zoldo Alto. The climb proper is 8km in length and
has an average grade of 7% with a maximum of 11%.
16:49 CEST
Savoldelli is at the bottom of the
descent now and goes through the town of Dont. He has 19 seconds on the chasers.
16:49 CEST
He is on the climb now.
16:49 CEST 142km/8km to go
Basso accelerates.
Di Luca dropped. Gibo looks to be in trouble.
16:50 CEST
Di Luca's goooooone!
16:50 CEST
Basso bearing down on Savoldelli.
Simoni getting dropped too. Can't quite hang on!
16:51 CEST 143km/7km to go
Basso looks back.
Seven kilometres to go.
16:51 CEST
Ten seconds now between Savoldelli
and Basso. Then three more to Gibo.
16:52 CEST
Basso is looking very smooth. Simoni
gets out of the saddle about four seconds back.
16:52 CEST
Savoldelli takes a look back to see
who's coming. Basso is!
16:53 CEST
Simoni grinding a bit, but he's still
there. Three leaders separated by a handful of seconds.
16:53 CEST
Basso on Savoldelli now.
16:54 CEST
Savoldelli leading now with Basso
on his wheel. He looks behind to see is Basso is going to come through for a
turn. He does.
16:55 CEST
Basso, Savoldelli and Gibo now together.
Di Luca chasing alone.
16:56 CEST 144km/6km to go
Six kilometres remaining.
The three look smooth. Basso leading but rolls off now for Savoldelli to take
over.
16:56 CEST
Di Luca is at 24". He is riding solo
and looks to have a good rhythm at the moment.
16:58 CEST 145km/5km to go
Di Luca only has nine
seconds on Basso in GC. Basso is the leader on the road.
16:59 CEST
Basso on the front again now with
Savoldelli on his wheel.
17:00 CEST
Cunego looked pretty tired back there.
17:00 CEST
Basso looks good. He has a very smooth
pedaling style. He attacks!
17:01 CEST
Simoni suffering. Savoldelli holding.
Gibo gritting his teeth.
17:01 CEST
Simoni hanging in there....just.
17:01 CEST
Basso accelerates again and Gibo
is dropped.
17:02 CEST
Five seconds. Di Luca is at 0'28.
Savoldelli still holding the wheel.
17:02 CEST
Savoldelli does a turn now.
17:03 CEST
The Cunego/Garzelli group is at 5'00.
17:03 CEST 147km/3km to go
Gibo is losing ground.
The gap is now six seconds. 3km to go. Basso in is the big ring.
17:04 CEST
Now ten seconds. Di Luca at '37.
17:04 CEST
Gibo out of the saddle on a flatter
section of the climb. Basso looks powerful in front, hands on hood, Savoldelli
looks comfy though.
17:05 CEST 148km/2km to go
Thirteen seconds back
to Gibo (Simoni) now. Basso leading and setting a very quick pace.
17:06 CEST
The climb steepens. Basso still leads.
Di Luca at 0'45.
They are out of the saddle now.
17:06 CEST
The road is twisty now, the crowds
are huge. Basso driving this!
17:07 CEST
The gap to Simoni is 13 seconds and
54" to Di Luca.
17:07 CEST 149km/1km to go
1km to go Basso still
leading. Savoldelli out of the saddle.
17:08 CEST
Its very steep. Hairpins! Sav remains
on the wheel. He'll surely try to sprint.
17:08 CEST
They round another bend. Savoldelli
still out of the saddle. Basso in the saddle. Basso seems to be riding to put
as much time as poss into Gibo and the rest, rather than the stage win.
17:09 CEST
Savoldelli looks very comfortable.
17:09 CEST
Less than 500m to go. Basso still
leading.
17:10 CEST
250m now!
17:10 CEST
Basso lifts a bit , hits out at 160m
to go, Downhill finish and Sav comes around!
17:10 CEST
Savoldelli takes the win, but Basso
will be happy to move into the race lead.
17:11 CEST
Simoni comes in at 21 seconds. Di
Luca fourth at 1'01.
17:12 CEST
Atienza comes in to take fifth place.
17:12 CEST
Van Huffel sixth, Caucchioli seventh,
Gonchar 8th and Scarponi 9th.
17:13 CEST
So Basso takes the maglia rosa with
Savoldelli moving into second overall. Rujano takes over the mountains jersey.
Thanks for following the 11th stage with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the 12th stage between Alleghe and Rovereto, which has a hard climb at the beginning but is mostly downhill.
Results
Provisional 1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 4.13.43 2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 3 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.21 4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.01 5 Daniel Atienza Urendez (Spa) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 1.50 6 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.03 7 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 8 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 9 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Liberty Seguros 2.17 10 Jose Rujano (Ven) Selle Italia 2.19 11 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto 2.24 General classification after stage 11 1 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 49.05.20 2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 0.18 3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.04 4 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 2.27 5 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 3.45 6 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4.34 7 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 5.25 8 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 5.58
