45th Trofeo Laigueglia - 1.1

Italy, February 23, 2008

2007 Results Results Past Winners

Paolini prevails in tight affair

Paolini celebrates immediately
Photo ©: Sirotti

Luca Paolini of Team Acqua Sapone - Caffè Mokambo won the 45th edition of the Trofeo Laigueglia in a bunch sprint, relegating his compatriot Daniele Pietropolli (LPR Brakes) and Argentinean Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) to second and third, respectively. The sprint was a tight affair, with only millimetres separating the three front runners. It was the first victory of the season for Paolini, who had moved from Liquigas to Acqua Sapone at the beginning of this season.

Paolini's team manager, Palmiro Masciarelli, was very satisfied with how the race played out and congratulated the team for "the hard work and that everyone was able to find the right motivation."

Third place finisher Richeze was also very happy, despite narrowly missing out on the win. "The guys were working very well. After the last GPM there were still the best riders around and I felt in the condition to participate in the sprint. The last kilometres were very animated; then Lampre controlled things at the front. I took the wheel of [Mirco] Lorenzetto, while [team-mate Tiziano] Dall'Antonia was marking [Filippo] Pozzato." Richeze added that "with 180 metres to go I started my sprint, but there was a strong headwind and Paolini was strong enough to jump around me in the last 80 metres. Nonetheless, I am satisfied that I was able to contest for the victory in a classic as important and tough as this one; it's a sign that my condition is more than good." Dall'Antonia ended up in tenth place and completed a good result for CSF Group Navigare.

The race was marked by the attack of Frenchman Yoann Le Boulanger (Française des Jeux) after 49 kilometres. He was quickly joined by Lithuanian Dainius Kairelis (Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce). The duo got an advantage of almost ten minutes, before the peloton finally reacted. But it took a long time to catch the two, who ended up in front for about 120 kilometres, only sucked in by a reduced peloton of about 50 riders ten kilometres from the finish.

The directeur sportif for Kairelis, Massimo Podenzana, commented that "it is a pity their action wasn't crowned with a success." Podenzana concluded that it was mostly the stiff headwind that prevented the two from staying away.

Once the break was caught there was a flurry of short-lived attacks, before the field settled in for a sprint.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

The sprint in full swing.
Paolini celebrates immediately despite the close call.
But on the podium all riders could smile for their good performances (l-r with Pietropolli, Paolini and Richeze)
A happy winner, Luca Paolini (Acqua Sapone-Caffè Mokambo)
Alessandro Ballan (Lampre)
The peloton in full flight
Linus Gerdemann (High Road)
The peloton speeds past the views of the sea.
Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni) in his new team's kit.
Garzelli leads the chase on the climb.
Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone) puts the hammer down.
Di Luca hurting on the climb.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre) tries to shake the sprinters.
Danilo Di Luca (LPR) on the attack.
Emanuelle Selle (CSF Group Navigare)
Leonardo Bertagnolli (Liquigas)
The break of two Yoann Le Boulanger (FdJ) and Dainius Kairelis (Ceramica Flaminia)
Boulanger and Kairelis gained 9'35 on the peloton before being reeled back in for the sprint.
The bike throw to the line… and Paolini gets it over Daniele Pietropolli (LPR)
Paolini realizes he's won.
Luca Paolini (Acqua & Sapone) celebrates on the podium.
Sergei Gonchar is back racing for Preti Mangimi after being canned from T-Mobile for irregular blood values.

Results - 183.3km

1 Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                        4.39.13 (39.389 kn/h)
2 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) LPR Brakes                                          
3 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) CSF Group Navigare                            
4 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Barloworld                                            
5 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                      
6 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC                                                 
7 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas                                                
8 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli    
9 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Miche - Silvercross                                      
10 Tiziano dall'Antonia (Ita) CSF Group Navigare                                
11 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank                                                   
12 Antonio d'Aniello (Ita) Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce                        
13 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                          
14 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team High Road                                         
15 Maurizio Biondo (Ita) Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce                          
16 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Mitsubishi-Jartazi                                  
17 Raffaele Illiano (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli       
18 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                         
19 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                 
20 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                      
21 Nicola D'andrea (Ita) Miche - Silvercross                                    
22 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Barloworld                                            
23 Francesco Reda (Ita) NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte                       
24 Niklas Axelsson (Swe) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli        
25 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française des Jeux                                     
26 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner                            
27 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                     
28 Federico Canuti (Ita) CSF Group Navigare                                     
29 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                    
30 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner                             
31 Nicolas Hartmann (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                     
32 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                
33 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                  
34 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                      
35 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence - Lotto                                          
36 Francesco Failli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                          
37 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Silence-Lotto                                           
38 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                        
39 Francis De Greef (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                       
40 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team High Road                                           
41 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto                                      
42 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                    
43 Morris Possoni (Ita) Team High Road                                          
44 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) LPR Brakes                                            
45 Andrea Pagoto (Ita) CSF Group Navigare                                       
46 Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Col) CSF Group Navigare                         
47 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                       
48 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes                                              
49 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas                                          
50 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli       
51 Eddy Ratti (Ita) Nippo - Endeka                                              
52 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas                                               
53 Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                             
54 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                                 
55 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                   
56 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas                                                
57 Emanuele Sella (Ita) CSF Group Navigare                                      
58 Dainius Kairelis (Ltu) Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce                         
59 Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Barloworld                                            
60 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) LPR Brakes                                               
61 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram                                              
62 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas                                                
63 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                       
64 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                          
65 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                     
66 Andrea Noè (Ita) Liquigas                                                    
67 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                
68 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) Française des Jeux                                  
69 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) LPR Brakes                                            
70 Marco Frapporti (Ita) CSF Group Navigare                                     
71 Mauro Finetto (Ita) CSF Group Navigare                                       
72 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld                                        
73 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Française des Jeux                                  
74 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua Sapone-Caffè Mokambo                       
75 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli        
76 Jyualian Atehortua Bedo                                                      
77 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                        
78 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi                                      
79 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                      
80 Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Française des Jeux                                       
81 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                 
82 Eddy Serri (Ita) Miche - Silvercross                                         
83 Riccardo Chiarini (Ita) LPR Brakes                                           
84 Paolo Bailetti (Ita) LPR Brakes                                              
85 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC                                              
86 Marco Osella (Ita) Preti Mangimi                                             
87 Slawomir Kohut (Pol) Amore & Vita-McDonald's                                 
88 Luca Barla (Ita) Team Milram                                                 
89 Krzysztof Szczawinski (Pol) Miche - Silvercross                              
90 Matej Jurco (Svk) Team Milram                                                
91 Kevin Neirynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner                          
92 Vincenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka                                         
93 Lorenzo Cardellini (Ita) Miche - Silvercross                                 
94 Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli     
95 William Frischkorn (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                           
96 Michele Gobbi (Ita) Preti Mangimi                                            
97 Michael Stevenson (Swe) Amore & Vita-McDonald's                              
98 Przemyslaw Niemec (Pol) Miche-Silver Cross                                   
99 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                       
100 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Team Milram                                        
101 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française des Jeux                                      
102 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner                          
103 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner                        
104 Koen Barbe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                        
105 Silvère Ackermann (Swi) NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte                   
106 Piergiorgio Camussa (Ita) NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte                 
107 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                       
108 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Preti Mangimi                                          
109 Michael Barry (Can) Team High Road                                          
110 Sven Renders (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                      
111 Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux                                       
112 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce                           
113 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Preti Mangimi                                     
114 Huub Duyn (Ned) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30                        
115 Nikita Eskov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                   
116 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC                                                
117 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux                                  
118 Ilya Chernetskiy (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                               
119 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram                                              
120 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                     
121 Tony Martin (Ger) Team High Road                                            
122 Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Team High Road                                     
123 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Team High Road                                        
124 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                        
125 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) LPR Brakes                                        
126 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                                  
127 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Preti Mangimi                                            
128 Craig Lewis (USA) Team High Road                                            
129 Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30

Past winners

2007 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems               
2006 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
2005 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo
2004 Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
2003 Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
2002 Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
2001 Mirko Celestino (Ita)
2000 Daniele Nardello (Ita)
1999 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita)
1998 Pascal Chanteur (Fra)
1997 Michele Bartoli (Ita)
1996 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel)
1995 Johan Museeuw (Bel)
1994 Rolf Sorensen (Den)
1993 Lance Armstrong (USA)
1992 Sammy Moreels (Bel)
1991 Pascal Richard (Swi)
1990 Rolf Sorensen (Den)
1989 Pierino Gavazzi (Ita)
1988 Paolo Cimini (Ita)
1987 Gilbert Glaus (Swi)
1986 Mauro Longo (Ita)
1985 Ron Kiefel (USA)
1984 Giuseppe Petito (Ita)
1983 Claudio Torelli (Ita)
1982 Teo De Rooy (Ned)
1981 Giuseppe Saronni (Ita)
1980 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)
1979 Pierino Gavazzi (Ita)
1978 Knut Knudsen (Nor)
1977 Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1976 Franco Bitossi (Ita)
1975 Giambattista Baronchelli (Ita)
1974 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
1973 Eddy Merckx (Bel)
1972 Wilmo Francioni (Ita)
1971 Italo Zilioli (Ita)
1970 Michele Dancelli (Ita)
1969 Claudio Michelotto (Ita)
1968 Michele Dancelli (Ita)
1967 Franco Bitossi (Ita)
1966 Antonio Bailetti (Ita)
1965 Marino Vigna (Ita)
1964 Guido Neri (Ita)