Giro d'Italia Cycling News for May 22, 2005Edited by Anthony Tan & Jeff Jones Giro Stage 13 wrap-up: A new world order
The second mountain stage of the 2005 Giro d'Italia created a new world order, as 2002 champion Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) displaced Ivan Basso at the top of the leaderboard, and now leads the race by almost a minute from his two closest competitors. Featuring three Cat. 1 mountains over a 218 kilometre-long parcours and over 5,000 metres of vertical climbing, Stage 13 was one for the climbers. However, it was an early breakaway that won the day, as Selle Italia-Colombia's Ivan Parra countered a move from team-mate and mountains leader Jose Rujano on the final climb to Pontives, and stayed away to take the biggest win of his career. "I am very grateful [my team manager] Gianni Savio gave me the opportunity to be here at the Giro," said an emotional Parra, who held up a picture of his son as he crossed the line in Ortisei yesterday. "I am happy because this victory is the most important of my career, and also because I won in front of my wife and son." Added Selle Italia-Colombia's directtore sportivo Savio to Cyclingnews: "I am very happy that my team, a small team that is invited as one of only two wildcards, can win one of the biggest and most important stages of the Giro. "I am also happy for Ivan and Jose [Rujano], who rode very well for third and continues to wear the green jersey of best climber. We work very hard - all year round, I work very hard and the Giro is the event that is most important to our team. I am very proud."
Basso, seemingly invincible on Stage 11, was seen labouring on his bike almost the entire stage, and didn't have the legs to respond to the numerous attacks thrown at him - including Savoldelli's. Despite having the best team around him that lead him to the foot of the final climb, Dave Zabriskie in particular doing an sterling job for his team captain, the 27 year-old Team CSC rider finished five minutes behind Parra, and is now second on the classifica generale. Previous maglia rosa Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi), who continues to impress, finished 11th on the stage and is just three seconds behind Basso in third overall. The Lampre duo of Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego attempted a two-up break on an earlier climb of the Passo di Sella, but strong team riding from CSC brought them back, with Simoni eventually finishing 10th, just ahead of Di Luca, and is now fourth on GC. Also see:Stage 13 Full results
& report Selle Italia-Colombia riding highNext year: maglia rosa
With Ivan Parra winning a magnificent stage in the Dolomiti and José Rujano coming third and moving into the top 10 overall, the team from Selle Italia-Colombia is literally and figuratively riding high. Speaking of his winning move on the slopes of the final nine kilometre climb to Pontives, Parra said: "Rujano and I were in the break and both of us we feeling really good. We tried to break away [together], but unfortunately he [Rujano] couldn't come with me." The Colombian and his directtore sportivo Gianni Savio also made no secret of their ambitious future plans: "Every year, our team sends a great team to the Giro, and I hope next year we can come to win [the race]," said Parra. Added Savio: "Next year, I hope to have at my disposition a budget large enough to try and aim for the maglia rosa. [José] Rujano is a real talent; if he continues this way, he will end up winning a very important race in the future." CSC looks on the bright side
Despite relinquishing the maglia rosa on Stage 13, Team CSC's star rider Ivan Basso said his less than expected performance was largely a result of enduring stomach troubles for the entire stage, and given the circumstances, he doesn't consider his losses to be all that bad. "It was a very difficult stage for me. I felt sick and had a stomach ache right from the start, but I hoped it would get better as the stage went on. Well, it didn't and I really suffered on the last climb," said Basso on the team's website, team-csc.com. "I tried to limit the damage, and compared to how bad I felt, the time loss wasn't too bad. I've always known you can't take anything for granted in a race like this, and anyone can have a bad day for one reason or another, and today it was my turn. Now, I'm hoping for a speedy recovery, so I can attempt to recapture the jersey," he said. "Today was a really bad day for us, but compared to his troubles, the time loss is more than bearable," said team manager Bjarne Riis. "He really suffered out there today, and I'm actually surprised he didn't lose more time. This is a good sign, and there's no doubt he's still in great shape. We're hoping for him to get better soon, because we have a tough stage ahead of us tomorrow." Post stage commentsBy John Trevorrow in Ortisei
Rory Sutherland (Rabobank, 82nd at 31'23) How was it? "Can I really say? F***ing hard. Unbelievable. I think they found every climb in Italy today. Tomorrow we've got to do it again." You look OK.. "I'm not OK, I'm screwed. I think it's pretty normal when you race for seven and a half hours. I looked at my computer and we had climbed for 5500 metres of climbing. I'm not trying to whinge about it but it gets a bit ridiculous. You could do half the climbs and have the same result. Now you just make people pull out of the race and that's a shame. "But it's a good experience and that's what I'm here for - the future and to get a better base for next time.
Antonio Cruz (Discovery, 83rd at 31'23) Was it harder than expected? "Yeah it was. It felt like we did ten climbs not five. I feel the best of all the climbing days, but that's probably because Paolo has taken the jersey. But we will have our work cut out for us now."
Christian Vandevelde (CSC, 108th at 36'36) Tough day out there? "Yeah I'll say. What happened up there?" Savoldelli took the jersey from Basso by about 50 seconds. "50, oh that's a little disappointing, not what I thought it was. But there is still some climbing, still some nasty stages to go - like tomorrow."
Russell Van Hout (Selle Italia, 114th at 36'36) "It was so hard out there all day that I didn't get to eat. I'm so hunger flat and finished - completely finished. I gave about 150%."
Trent Wilson (Selle Italia, 152nd at 41'56) "Don't touch me. I've got skin off everywhere." Did you fall on a descent? "No, 15 km from the finish I went back to get a coke, took the coke off my director and touched the brake and I went down. Somersaulted across the road and hit the guard rail. Actually went under it. Henk saw it and thought I would have broken my arm or something. He said I went down like a sack of crap. "Other than that it was just a hard day. I felt alright early but just joined the gruppetto when it formed."
Mark Renshaw (Francaise des Jeux, 153rd at 41'56) "Bloody long day - seven and a half hours. Probably the longest, hardest mountain day I've ever had. It's going to be good to get a massage and get some food, but tomorrow is going to be hard again so I've got to try and get through tomorrow."
Brett Lancaster (Panaria, 155th at 41'56) "I went hunger flat five times today. It is one of the hardest stages I've ever done. Bronchitis isn't too good, got a real sore throat. Hopefully I can come up for tomorrow and if I can then I can finish the tour."
Henk Vogels (Davitamon-Lotto, 166th at 42'41) "Crashed and banged my knee and now it's killing me. I felt fine before that, but I had to finish on a spare bike. Hopefully Leon (brother and physio) can fix me up tonight." Garzelli a non-starterAs well as sprinters McEwen, Vierhouten, O'Grady, Cooke and Kirsipuu, Liquigas-Bianchi's Stefano Garzelli wasn't anywhere near the startline at the beginning of yesterday's stage in Mezzocorona. "I hurt my back and my leg when I crashed last week [on Stage 7] and for the last few days, I've been riding in pain, especially in my lower back," Garzelli explained. "We did a scan that showed there is a lot of bruising there. My kidneys have been sore as well, so we think it's better to abandon and get better than risk my health." Garzelli now has the Tour de France on his program. A forgettable day for Liberty SegurosThe Giro's hardest day to date was also the worst for Liberty Seguros-Würth, with Joseba Beloki abandoning and GC rider Michele Scarponi conceding almost six minutes to stage winner Ivan Parra (Selle Italia-Colombia). Scarponi's stage result of 26th also saw him drop out of the top 10 on the overall classification, from 7th to 12th place. Said a disappointed team manager Manolo Saiz: "The general is now bad for us, though still it is necessary to wait until tomorrow, because my hope is that this Giro has many alternatives and I am under the illusion that Scarponi could change this current trend. Beloki was also hoping to change his current trend of poor form, which has been the case ever since coming back from his accident at the 2003 Tour de France. "It has been my worse day in the Giro, that is clear, because I was already dropped on first climb, which I was not counting on," said Beloki. "I managed to get back on in the descent", he continued, "but by the second climb, I couldn't hold [the pace] any more. I was suffocating with pain in the legs, and I decided to abandon before starting the Passo Sella, because the race was going fast and I wasn't going anywhere." Despite yet another setback in his progress, Beloki shows signs of optimism: "Still, it's very early to draw conclusions; I must go home and wait to see if these two weeks of the Giro and the Tour de Romandie has given fruit," he said. However, Saiz appears to be losing a little patience with him. "My worry with Joseba Beloki is that he is not ending any race. He needs to do a definitive test. Still, the first thing is that he returns home to take advantage of the competition of these two weeks and, most likely, he will have to race the Tour of Switzerland to see if he has the necessary level to do the Tour [de France]." As a result of Beloki's withdrawal and Scarponi's slide down the general classification, Saiz added his team will have to change it plans over the next week and a half. "We still have a week's racing, but already we have to play differently. Until today, we were working on a high finish with Scarponi, but now we will have to look for the breakaways," he said. White critical of Nas raidsBy John Trevorrow in Mezzocorona The recent raids by the Nas (Nucleo Anti-Stupefacente) Carabinieri on the Davitamon-Lotto and Saunier Duval teams have been met with almost universal condemnation from the riders, teams, organisers and other officialdom involved with the Giro d'Italia and cycling in general. The products seized, which include an Alti-Trainer (a hypoxic device for simulating high altitude) and sugar solution, are not illegal under UCI/WADA rules, but Italian law is apparently stricter with regard to any performance enhancing methods for sports. Cyclingnews spoke to Cofidis team member Matthew White at the start of Stage 13 about the latest raids, and White's opinion was clear. "They're chasing these little things, like the medications for certain things. The [altitude] machine equates to if you go to high altitude. So if you live in Ethiopia, you're not allowed to race? When you come in after a six hour stage, glucose is the best way to recover. "Some of these medications in Italy are only for sick people. Is a doctor not allowed to carry these on tour? When you are starting to get a bit tired, aren't you getting a bit sick? Bike riders get sick same as everyone else. "It's very vague on what you can take, and what you can't take. They're saying you can't take injections, but the rule is very vague. They should be getting serious and getting the test right for the serious drugs in sport, not fiddling around on the edges, chasing things that aren't important. It's absolutely ridiculous. Where's the line? They certainly don't know where it is."
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