|
|
RACE REPORTS: 92ND GIRO D'ITALIA STAGE 7: HAGEN DOES THE RAIN DANCE
Road Bike Action & AFP
May 15, 2009
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Boasson Hagen of Norway, riding for Columbia, won the seventh stage of the Tour of Italy on Friday at Chiavenna, with LPR's Danilo Di Luca retaining the leader's pink jersey. Hagen emerged the winner from a five-man late escape over the final 20 kilometers launched coming off the Passo Maloja climb to win the 244km rain-hit stage from Innsbruck as the race came back over the border from Austria. The win, his first in Italy, was an early birthday present for the Norwegian, who turns 22 on Sunday.
South African Robert Hunter came in second ahead of Russian Pavel Brutt with Italians Davide Vigano and Alessandro Bertolini completing the top five on the day. Already the winner of the Ghent-Wevelgem Classic this spring at the age of just 21, Hagen said: "Both victories, in Belgium and here in Italy, are very
important and you can't really compare them.
"I'm just really happy to be winning. I had great support from the team because I knew they were blocking behind when the break went clear. I didn't start the final sprint too early, I tried waiting for as long as possible for the other guys to go. But I felt strong and it worked out well. "It was dangerous on that last descent in the rain. I was lucky that I didn't crash."
Bertolini had made a break going into the final handful of kilometres and established a one-minute lead on the nerve-wracking descent towards Chiavenna - but he was reined in before Hagen just stole it ahead of Brutt. Four riders made an early move just outside Innsbruck as Mauro Facci, Bartosz Huzarski, Serguei Klimov and Vladimir Isaichev raced nine minutes clear by the 24km mark and they held on until the final climb as the rain made the conditions increasingly slippery. Bertolini tried in vain to anticipate the sprint as Brutt and jockeyed for supremacy over the final dozen kilometres and made for the line.
Winner of last month's Gand-Wevelge race, Hagen scored his first Giro stage success just 24 hours after he placed second behind Michele Scarponi in the sixth stage to Mayrhofen im Zillertal. Saturday's eighth stage is a 209 km affair from Morbegno to Bergamo.
Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong's Astana team admitted on Friday they have been forced into desperate measures in a bid to publicise a never-ending financial dispute with their key sponsors. Seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong and his Astana teammates started the Tour of Italy's seventh stage with new shirts and the name of key sponsor, Astana, virtually blocked out. Currently one of the most successful teams in the peloton, Astana face an uncertain future following reports their Kazakh sponsors have failed to pay team wages several times this year. On Friday, Armstrong finished 58sec behind Hagen and now stands 25th overall, 4min 31sec off the lead.
92nd Giro d'Italia
Italy, May 9-31, 2009
Stage 7: Friday, May 15 Innsbruck (Aut) - Chiavenna, 244km
1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/THR) 5hr 56min 53sec.
2. Robert Hunter (RSA/BAR) @ s.t.
3. Pavel Brutt (RUS/KAT)
4. Davide Vigano (ITA/FUJ)
5. Alessandro Bertolini (ITA/SDA)
6. Andriy Grivko (UKR/ISD) @ 0:31.
7. Matthew Goss (AUS/SAX) @ 0:40.
8. Allan Davis (AUS/QST) @ 0:40.
9. Robert Förster (GER/MRM) @ 0:40.
10. Ben Swift (ENG/KAT) @ 0:40.
Selected:
26. Michael Rogers (AUS/THR) @ 0:40
60. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) @ 0:40
84. Levi Leipheimer (USA/AST) @ 0:40
94. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) @ 0:40
98. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) @ 0:40
110. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/LPR) @ 0:40
142. Lance Armstrong (USA/AST) @ 0:58
Overall classification after stage 6
1. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/LPR) 28h08:48
2. Thomas Lövkvist (SWE/THR) @ 0:05
3. Michael Rogers (AUS/THR) @ 0:36
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA/AST) @ 0:43
5. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) @ 0:50
6. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) @ 1:06
7. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) @ 1:16
8. Chris Horner (USA/AST) @ 1:17
9. Franco Pellizotti (ITA/LIQ) @ 1:27
10. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) @ 1:41
Selected:
21. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) @ 3:29
25. Lance Armstrong (USA/AST) @ 4:31
Win A Silca Pump Every Day Of The Giro d'Italia
 Win a Silca SuperMini Pump every day of the Giro d'Italia. Drop us an email and tell us why you ride your bike to
whyweride@roadbikeaction.com. Entries will be judged by our in-house
Italian staff and will be chosen for their honesty, humor, inspiration
and effort. If you send in photos of riding, your entry will be
considered twice. Write in and win. We will list the winners on Monday
morning each week!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|