Giro d'Italia - Pellizotti wins on Blockhaus

Eurosport - Thu, 28 May 09:48:00 2009

Liquigas' Franco Pellizotti pulled off a superb solo victory to win stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia on Blockhaus.

CYCLING 2009 Tour d'Italie Franco Pellizotti - 0

The 31-year-old Italian attacked early on the one and only climb of the 83 kilometre stage, and maintained his tempo all the way to the summit where he finished 42 seconds ahead of second-placed Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone).

LPR's Danilo di Luca finished third, five seconds ahead of race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank), while Cervelo's Carlos Sastre and Levi Leipheimer of Astana finished almost two minutes off the pace.

Though a nine-man breakaway initiated by Bouygues Telecom's Thomas Voeckler had gone away early, the relentless tempo set on the front of the peloton by LPR and then Cervelo ensured their lead barely grew over the three-minute mark.

As the 18-kilometre, 6.9% climb to Blockhaus began, the breakaway group were swallowed up while the peloton was suddenly reduced to an elite group of 30 riders.

Lampre leader Damiano Cunego's disappointing race continued as he fell off the pace early on while Pellizotti launched his decisive attack shortly after team-mate Sylvester Szmyd had gone up the road.

Apparently freed from his duties as domestique to Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong set off in pursuit of Pellizotti, though neither he nor Szmyd could match the Italian's pace.

With 11 kilometres to go and Pellizotti gradually extending his lead, Di Luca attacked from the chasing group and only Menchov, Basso and Garzelli were able to go with him.

Having been unable to respond to the initial attack, Sastre desperately tried to bridge the gap, though the form that took him to victory atop Monte Petrona was clearly eluding him.

Armstrong tried in vain to latch onto the back of the pink jersey group as it came past, before eventually taking Sastre's wheel along with Szmyd and Gilberto Simoni (Diquigiovanni).

Though on the climb he knows best, Di Luca was unable to shake off Menchov, whose expressionless face was in stark contrast to his rival's constant grimace.

Pellizotti's fine ride was evidenced by the fact that his advantage grew steadily all the way to the finish, where Di Luca was able to put Menchov into difficulty for the first time over the final few metres.

He launched a big dig for the line, only to be passed by Garzelli, though the five seconds he took on Menchov, together with the eight bonus seconds for finishing third, saw him move to within 26 seconds of the big Russian on the general classification.

Pellizotti's win saw him move into third, two minutes back, while Basso is now fourth at 3:28. Sastre's bad day saw him slip to fifth at 3:30.

Thursday's 18th stage takes the peloton 182 kilometres from Sulmona to Benevento, though in truth only two genuinely decisive stages remain in the race. Di Luca knows he must take more time on Menchov on Friday's stage to Vesuvius, ahead of Sunday's time-trial around the streets of Rome, where the Russian is likely to have the advantage.

Giro d'Italia: LIVE on Thursday at 3pm on British Eurosport 2 (Sky 411 / Virgin Media 525); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Michael FitzGerald / Eurosport

Comment 3 - 22 of 22

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  1. Ha ha - can't help notice last few posts have not­ mentioned Evans as a tour favourite.
    Oversight or­ shrewd judgement ?

    From ffogil, on Thu 28 May 11:53AM

  2. Sorry people but Lance is second division nowadays. If­ he gets a top 10 in the tour he'll do well. ­ He's done a superb job but I can't see him­ getting that much fitter. Lets face it he was wheel­ sucking Sastre all the way up yesteday and Sastre had a­ bad day.

    From si1268, on Thu 28 May 11:29AM

  3. I agree with comment 19 'ai' Andy Schleck will­ be there or there abouts in the TDF, along with Sastre,­ Menchov, Contador and maybe Armstrong as a dark horse.­ Lance looks pretty wasted after those mountain stages­ due to the lack of training and is using the Giro as a­ training platform for TDF because of the crash. I hope­ egos and personalities don't get the better of each­ other and end up with a similar incident that happended­ in the last 2kms of the Tour of Turkey, where Theo Bos­ deliberately threw Darryl Impey into the crowd control­ barriers. Have the authorities dealt with this yet?

    From shabs1, on Thu 28 May 11:20AM

  4. andy schlek for the tour time for some new blood

    From ai, on Thu 28 May 10:27AM

  5. the TDF is gonna be great this year!! lance is back­ he's proving him being here isnt some sort of­ joke!!! poor contador isn't gonna have a seconds­ peace!!
    i think levi has just proved he doesnt have­ what it takes to win a pro tour....
    i really did think­ he was gonna do it though!!
    i think its benn a good­ giro!! very exciting and the TDF will be even better!!

    From noni, on Thu 28 May 9:25AM

  6. Smurf - Nope, Armstrong is giving everything - if he­ had a chance to win a stage and add that to his CV he­ would take it. TDF will be even tougher and Contador is­ still the one to beat - he is now a very strong­ time-trialist as well as the best pure climber in the­ pack.

    From DAVID, on Thu 28 May 2:11AM

  7. Am I the only one who things that Lance was­ deliberately not riding 100% at the previous hilly­ individual TT, perhaps only 95%? He's a master­ tactician, he knows everyone is watching his­ 'perceived' form now, just riding this Giro for­ training (fun?!) getting race fit?

    Come the TDF - it­ will be gloves off, 100% race fit, destroying everyone­ on the mountain stages and TT's?!

    From SteveJ, on Thu 28 May 12:49AM

  8. the Bos is back he'll win stage maybe friday

    From Ra, on Thu 28 May 12:33AM

  9. Re Petacchi v Cavendish - Both great sprinters buts­ lets not forget that Petacchi has fought his sprints­ all on his own this Giro! Columbia is set up for Cav­ and he has been well marshalled into all the sprint­ stages whereas Petacchi has often lost position because­ he had no support.

    I could feel Di Luca's­ frustration at not being able to drop Menchov though -­ He put in some big efforts but Menchov was glued to his­ back wheel -The Russian is a cyborg alright! I reckon­ Di Luca could have called his bluff and slowed right­ down to force Menchov to do something as Pellizotti­ could have become a danger to them both.

    From leandr0_77, on Wed 27 May 10:18PM

  10. Levi is the most disappointment, he just doesn't­ have it, he never had, Tour of California is my A$$..

    From Tamerair, on Wed 27 May 7:40PM

  11. great armstrong with sastre and rogers

    From lordbaptista, on Wed 27 May 6:32PM

  12. @keir_williams

    Frustrated or what? I can understand­ that you want to defend an attack on Cavendish. I­ already was thinking also about his track racing,­ something Petacchi is not doing but why do you conclude­ that he is a cheat like al the other cheats? Because­ using a bid to much for your asthma is something­ different then testing positive on Cera!

    But Menchov­ has done a good job although he was not able to sprint.­ It was also not surprising he was not able to do this­ but still I think Di Luca uses the wrong tactics. If he­ will do the same as the competitors earlier this year­ did with Contador than he could easily break him. Just­ let him do the dirty work. If Pelizotti was getting 2­ minutes he had to defend and after that you can attack.­ But he is not the smartest rider as we can see,

    From stam.hans, on Wed 27 May 6:25PM

  13. "Bravo Petacchi for doing what Cav did not stay to­ do.­ The work of a domestique." Worldwide, Could­ the fact Petacchi stayed be due to the fact that he is­ riding his home tour, and that he does not have a place­ in a Tour de France team due to his doping past? I am­ sure that Cavandish would do the same as Petacchi on­ home soil, and if this was his main race of the season.­ Lucky for him and for us, he is moving onto bigger,­ better and more important races later this year, unlike­ asthma sufferer Petacchi.

    From keir_williams, on Wed 27 May 6:08PM

  14. Bl00dy Menchov - the guy is a Cyborg !!!
    Bit tired at­ the end, but who can keep up with DiLuca at the­ finish?
    Well done King Lance - not top form yet but­ showed he still has huge ones (well one at­ least)
    Can't help thinking that if Basso and­ Pellizotti worked together they'd have a better­ chance. At the finish was he saying "I am the real­ number 1" ?

    From ffogil, on Wed 27 May 6:05PM

  15. Menchov has this one sewn up, Pellizotti will probably­ test positive, there's no way he is good enough to­ put time into the others for the entire stage!

    From Martin O'Brien, on Wed 27 May 5:49PM

  16. Bravo Petacchi for doing what Cav did not stay to do.­ The work of a domestique. I have gained immeasurable­ respect for Petacchi. I am still conflicted because of­ his doping past but I do like his willingness to suffer­ for his leader. I wonder how Mick Rogers is doing?

    From Worldwide, on Wed 27 May 5:42PM

  17. Menchov had a bad moment, but Di Luca is trying­ evrything to fight for the pink jersey, today he proves­ that the pink jersey is not granted yet for anybody.­ Honestlly i think Menchov is too much in contention 38­ seconds is not a big advantage he needs to atack in the­ hills with more distance to go, to dig more advantage.­ Di Luca is really strong and he may have surprises for­ the final TT

    From black_portugal, on Wed 27 May 5:21PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Go Levi, Armstrong and Danielson. Di Luca will prevail.­ Menchov slipping to fourth by Rome.

    From Mark S, on Wed 27 May 5:18PM

  19. Di Luca probably has more twitch fibre up the mountains­ and perhaps this may be expected in sprints.. but­ still just am a little concerned with one more monster­ mountain stage to go.

    From queenxpress2003, on Wed 27 May 5:03PM

  20. not really tiring as such .he just couldn't match­ di luca for pace on the last 100m .he finished about 2­ seconds back or something .Menchov looked strong all­ the way to the top of the climb though really

    From degorankin, on Wed 27 May 4:58PM
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