Giro d'Italia - Ventoso pips Petacchi for win
Spain's Francisco Ventoso held Italy's Alessandro Petacchi at bay to win stage six of the Giro d'Italia in Fuiggi.
In quite bizarre scenes at the end of the 216-kilometre stage in central Italy, Lampre veteran Petacchi looked certain to pass Ventoso to take the win but pulled up with metres to spare, allowing the Spaniard to triumph for team Movistar.
Both riders had reacted to an early attack from Katusha's Danilo Di Luca, who used the slightly uphill finish as a launch pad for an attempted trademark ride to glory.
Ventoso led the counter attack and the pair passed the 2007 Giro champion with 100 metres to spare. But just as the 37-year-old Petacchi appeared to be coming around the side of his rival, the Italian stopped pedalling and looked over his shoulder, as if to throw in the towel.
Ventoso maintained his momentum to take the fifth win of his season - and his biggest since 2006, when he won stage three of the Vuelta a Espana.
Dutchman Pieter Weening of Rabobank retained the leader's pink jersey ahead of the race's first mountain top finish on Friday.
Under hot sun in Umbria and Lazio, the stage was animated early on by a five-man breakaway which included RadioShack's Yaroslav Popovych.
The escapees built up a lead of just over five minutes but were reeled in bit by bit by the bunch before a series of counter attacks saw numerous riders try their luck.
Local rider Stafano Pirazza (Colnago) twice attempted to break clear, while Britain's David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) tested his legs less than 24 hours after losing the leader's pink jersey. There was also a brave effort from Italian climber Emanuele Sella of Androni Giocattoli.
Belgian Kristof Vandewalle (Quick Step) was the last rider from the initial five-man breakaway to be caught, just 2km from the finish.
The uphill finish looked ideal for the likes of Di Luca and points leader Petacchi but neither Italians had the strength showed by Ventoso, who collapsed on the tarmac in a heap after his win.
Roberto Ferrari of Androni Giocattoli took third ahead of Di Luca.
Friday's undulating stage seven concludes with a second-category summit finish at Montevergine di Mercogliano.
Comment 2 - 21 of 21
Yesterday (Thursday) evening I posted a clip from Lequipe with Petacchi's own words, which were basically "I was pooped 40m from the line". If anyone's still interested go and have a look. Though why my posting (which was informative and relevant) was removed by Yahoo yet they allow through mountains of garbage by one cretin in particular is beyond me.
Petacchi looked as though he was struggling to breathe afterwards (more than you would expect) he does suffer from asthma (remember his ban for salbutamol use) , anyone who has asthma knows it can stop you dead in your tracks, another possible explanation?
If you wait in a finish like that, you risk slowing down too much and not being able to get going again. When I chased Ventoso down, I was hoping that he would slow down, but in the last 30-40 metres, I understood that I wouldn't be able to catch him"
No mention of a mechanical, he just didn't have the legs.
about doping, paul merson was saying how arsenal used to inject players with a yellow liquid at a travel lodge hotel before games! arsenal say it was vitamins, i was wondering why players wouldnt get that at training, why do it away from the stadium and training ground? cycling has alot of dopers because cycling wants to catch them unlike other sports. i hate how cycling gets singled out by people who know little of cycling
Not sure I agree it was a fix. Looked like he did unclip (who knows ?). I was v.impressed with Popovych though.
Wow! Just look at the top 6 on today's stage - dopers dream team. If sella had won it would have been comical. Ale jet gets better with salbutamol/age/epo - take your pick. Cav was not in the mix because he is clean, very reassuring. Lots of Spanish/Italian riders in the final group, never a good sign for the good of clean sport. Hope lovkist can keep top 10
After the sprint Petacchi sit down dead tired on ground and not able to answer any interviewer's question for at least one minute. Then he said he couldn't go any further. He's 37 yrs old, the sprint was so long and after an ascent. I take my hat off to him ... chapeau ... tanto di cappello !
And congratulation to Ventoso !!!
If you look at the replays it appears that Petacchi suffered a mechanical failure just before the finish. The way that his pedals were turning over so easily looks more to me like a broken freewheel and not throwing in the towel as the writer suggests. But that's how sprinting goes when these guys are exerting so much force on the equipment in the final push for the line.
he just slowed..that's all..only he and god knows why..
There is no story here, he was obviously completely wrecked at the finish. This sort of rubbish reporting belongs to the tabloids, come on Eurosport!!!
Fix.
Certainly Maxx- it was a cynical post #1 cynical after the recent snooker and cricket betting fixes.
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Petacchi is in formidable form this Giro: a tall 37 yr old nearly winning an uphill sprint?
# 1 could very well be true. However, why work yourself to the point of passing out when the check is already on the way. Very creative finishes creating some awesome racing.
we dont need anymor eccidents.
keep yer hans on tha handol bars boss.
"Petacchi's right pedal unclips" - - Really? Petacchi has incredible reactions not have fallen off his bike at the height of a sprint with an unclipped foot. Not even a twitch of his front wheel to correct any imbalance.
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Surely more likely is that he just gave up, which is understandable given that both of them practically collapse afterwards.
Petacchi's right pedal unclips - he didn't give up or cramp up
You'd be hoping that Cav could look comfortable, just once, on an uphill drag, by now!
Not expecting him to win this one, but he's got to start getting into the mix more often if a green jersey is going to happen.
Pettachi, Boonen & Hushoved are coming to the end of their time but EBH, Farrar & Co will be looking at them before long!
Petacchi attended Tour of Turkey that had 8 stages and that was great for him to be ready for Giro
I don't think anybody saw a bunch sprint coming there. If they were all like that nobody would complain we have so many of them. The sort of finish we've so rarely seen since the likes of Argentin and Kelly retired.
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