First Edition Cycling News for May 23, 2005Edited by Anthony Tan Giro Stage 14 wrap-upParra powers to #2; Di Luca closes in
In a carbon copy to the previous day, 29 year-old Selle Italia-Colombia rider Ivan Parra won his second stage in almost identical fashion, leaving his early breakaway companions behind on the steep slopes of the Passo di Foscagno to claim yet another historic day in the Dolomiti. 2005 has become a breakthrough year for the brother of Tour de France star Fabio Parra, who waited six years before his moment of glory in Ortisei on Saturday. However, not only is it a breakthrough for Parra, but also for his team, who were awarded one of just two wildcard entries in the 2005 Giro - the other being Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, they too enjoying a buon Giro. "I didn't hope for this win; last night, I was very emotional and I slept little," said Parra after the stage, who was naturally overwhelmed with his recent spate of success. "The objective of the day was to guarantee [José] Rujano's victory in the mountains classification. I suffered a little on the [Passo dello] Stelvio due to the strong rhythm of Rujano. On the final climb, I was very tired indeed, but I found a little energy and I attacked. A special salute to everyone of Colombia; I am very proud to be a Colombian," he said.
The other big news of the day was the fall of Team CSC's Ivan Basso, whose stomach problems deteriorated overnight, sapping his energy for the second 200 kilometre-plus day in the mountains. In a show of team spirit, however, his team-mates did not desert their leader, and escorted Basso to the finish over half an hour in arrears, as the 27 year-old battled mind over matter. A last-ditch effort by Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Cafitta) on the final climb, taking Juan Manuel Garate (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) with him - and notably leaving behind the isolated maglia rosa of Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) - also caused a small but significant stir on the classifica generale. By the finish in Livigno, the quartet distanced themselves over the gruppo maglia rosa by 27 seconds, allowing Di Luca to move to within half a minute of the lead. Also see:Stage 14 Full results
& report Basso battles through illness
It was obvious from very early on Team CSC leader Ivan Basso was in trouble on yesterday's stage of the Giro. The 27 year-old Italian was dropped on the lower slopes of the Passo dello Stelvio, and by the top of the 25 kilometre climb, he was already more than 18 minutes behind the lead group, with 60 difficult kilometres left to ride. "I suffered like never before, but I had to pull through. At the top of the first climb, I tried to eat something, but I couldn't do it. I didn't manage to eat anything at all during the stage, so I was completely drained of energy," said Basso on the team's website, team-csc.com. "Continued Basso: "I had no strength in my legs and it was pure willpower along with my team-mates which kept me going. I got through today, because I still want to try to achieve something in this race. Maybe stopping would've been the sensible thing to do, as I was in a lot of pain, but I couldn't," he said. It was a sorry sight seeing team manager Bjarne Riis get out of his car to help put a rain-jacket on their fallen leader, who was determined to finish the stage despite his condition worsening overnight, leaving him without energy for a cruel day ahead. "It was very hard to sit in the car and watch him suffer like that," said Riis. "On the Stelvio, I asked him if it wouldn't be better to abandon the race - but he just said that he couldn't. A bit further up he told me that he already has set his mind on a stage win. It was a tough day for the whole team. I'm so sorry on Ivan's behalf, because I know how much he had counted on winning the Giro d'Italia." CSC team doctor Piet Daneels said that Basso drank a lot of cold water last Friday, which really upset his stomach. That same evening, he started having problems with digestion, and had to go to the bathroom quite a few times that night; after Saturday's mountain stage, Basso vomited in the team bus. "Now we'll have to take it one day at a time, but of course he has to recover from that bug to be able to carry on," said Riis. "There's no point in suffering unnecessarily. He insisted on finishing the stage today, and that is only because he has a willpower like few others. Tomorrow morning, we'll make the decision of whether it's possible for him to go on. If he continues, it's because he still has a chance of winning a stage." Selle Italia simply sensational
Not only did Selle Italia-Colombia take their second successive stage victory yesterday, Gianni Savio's tenacious team also cemented their lead in the mountains classification with José Rujano, which was in fact their only objective at the start of the day. The winning break, which began 176 kilometres from the finish in Livigno, enabled the 48 kilo Rujano, whose build resembles that of a young boy, to take first two GPM sprints at Frassineto and the 'Cima Coppi' atop the Passo dello Stelvio, before Ivan Parra won the third mountain prime as he crossed the Passo di Foscagno en route to another solo victory. As a result, Rujano now holds a virtually unassailable lead in the competition, having accumulated 107 points so far, with team-mate Parra in second on 55 points. In addition, Rujano also leads the most combative classification, and is 17 points clear of his nearest competitor, Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step). "The Giro is not finished yet" says Lampre
The team from Lampre-Cafitta rode a very solid Stage 14, with defending champion Damiano Cunego doing much of the pace-setting for their leader Gilberto Simoni. On the final climb of the Passo di Foscagno, Cunego's strong tempo riding provided a perfect launch-pad for Gilberto Simoni's attack, where he and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) made up valuable time on the maglia rosa of Paolo Savoldelli. "Damiano did a great job and for this I am grateful," said Simoni. Added directtore sportivo Giuseppe Martinelli: "We are now under due minutes on the classifica generale, the morale is high and the Giro is not finished yet. We hope to continue having Gibo like he was today. "We will attack in the mountains, as we have always done. The stages in Piemonte [region] will decide the final classification," added Martinelli. Simoni is still lying third on the overall classification, 1'48 behind Savoldelli and 1'23 behind Di Luca. Van Huffel hopes for top 15Davitamon-Lotto's Wim Van Huffel was again in the final mix today, finishing 11th at 3'43: "It was a downhill sprint, it didn't matter if I was 11th or 15th. [Team manager] Herman Frison told me from the car that I had to try, that I had nothing to lose," he told Sporza. "He yelled out 'go' when we saw Simoni go. I tried, but I came up a bit short still. I don't feel wasted today; yesterday, it was harder for me. I had no power left, but today it went easy. We'll see what comes, we're looking at things from day to day, if we can do something, we won't hesitate. "If I can finish top 20 in my first Giro, that wouldn't be bad. Today was good; with the hard days that are coming, a few more might drop out - maybe I will too. Top 10 isn't possible, but top 15, just maybe..." "Christophe Brandt was better today. I didn't see him anymore on the last climb though; don't know what happened [30th at 12'03 - ed.]. I'm still fresh enough, the morale is good. The masseur said: 'Hell, your legs are feeling really good'; so that's good." Kessler improvingPart of the 19-man break on Saturday's stage to Ortisei, T-Mobile Team's Matthias Kessler finds his form improving each day, and his sixth place on Stage 13 leapfrogged the 26 year-old from 21st to 15th place overall. "It was a really tough stage, but it went great for me again," said Kessler on the team's website, t-mobile-team.com, after the stage. Added directeur sportif Valerio Piva: "Matthias rode a great race. He is an out-and-out climbing specialist. Such a good placing is a morale booster for the team, particularly after losing Daniele Nardello through back problems. But the mood in the team is good, and the riders are in good form." Unfortunately on Stage 14, Kessler didn't have the day he was hoping for, finishing the day in 29th place, and as a result, the German slipped back to his previous position, 21st on the overall classification. Bruyneel: "Today he rode like a champion"Discovery Channel's team manager was full of praise for Paolo Savoldelli's performance on Stage 13, which saw him attack the maglia rosa of Ivan Basso and take the race lead off his fellow Italian. "The stage win from the other day [Stage 11] was great but today I think he rode like a champion," said Bruyneel in a team statement. "He went with Simoni and he attacked without any doubt, he just went with him. When he saw Basso was in trouble, he took over and then dropped Simoni. He said after he had a great day, had very good legs. If you now look at it, if he didn't lose all that time in the beginning behind that crash [on Stage 4], his lead would be around one and a half minutes." However, Bruyneel maintained that the team is still not thinking about winning overall: "It's better to be ahead than behind, but we have to remain realistic and just think about the podium. That's been my goal since the start, the podium, and it's still like that. We are not thinking about winning the Giro," he said. Assistant sports manager Sean Yates also said with that increased pressure that comes with the maglia rosa, coupled with the loss of Tom Danielson early last week and Ryder Hesjedal on Saturday, the team will have to take things day by day. "We'll have to make the best of what we have," said Yates. "Our main rivals are obvious and the peloton has to look out for them. Everyone else will stare at us. There is still a long way to go to Milan and the team we have now is not the strongest at the moment. We'll have to take it day by day. One thing is certain - they have to make up the time, so we're in the driver's seat." Savoldelli finished Stage 14 in 10th place, 3'42 behind stage winner Ivan Parra (Selle Italia-Colombia), and kept his lead in the race by 25 seconds from Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi). Bad news for ArdilaDavitamon-Lotto team manager Marc Sergeant informed Belgian TV on Sunday's Giro stage to Livigno that their Colombian rider, Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano, had to listen to some terrible news yesterday. After losing his father years ago in a murder, Ardila found out his uncle was also murdered yesterday. Cyclingnews sends our deepest condolences to Ardila and his family. Davitamon-Lotto announces TdF pre-selectionMarc Sergeant, directeur-sportif for the Davitamon-Lotto team, spoke with Hugo Coorevits, reporter for Belgian Newspaper Het Volk, where he revealed 11 names on the team's pre-selection for the upcoming Tour de France. Like the Giro, it appears the team will go to the Tour de France with a mixed bag: "The seven riders won't all be riding for McEwen or Evans," said Sergeant. "With Van Bon and Rodriguez, Robbie will have his two personal locomotives. Merckx, Aerts, Brandt, Baguet, Vansevenant, Mattan, Van Summeren and Roesems are also included in the pre-selection. The Giro has taught us that it's better to take publicity on different terrains." Farrar to CofidisAccording to Cyclismag, US espoir time trial and criterium champion Tyler Farrar, currently riding for Health Net/Maxxis, will join French ProTour team Cofidis in 2006. Directeur-sportif Francis Van Londersele told the French publication about their new signing the day before the 20 year-old won the fourth stage of the Ronde de l'Isard d'Ariège from Laroques D'Olmes to Lezat last Saturday. Farrar also won a time trial stage of the Ronde de l'Isard in 2003, the seventh stage of the Tour de l'Avenir in 2004, and was the overall winner of the Tour de l'Abitibi in 2002.
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