Di Luca shows early form with win

Only four days ago Danilo Di Luca said, "It is still not yet the moment for me," when asked about staking claim to victories. Saturday, on Corso Casale in Turin, he showed his form was much better than he had indicated. The Killer struck; he won the two-up sprint (Cannondale vs. Cannondale) from Colombian Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) to claim the 92nd Milano-Torino.

"In a sense, I was a little stupid on the climb," he commented after the win to La Gazzetta dello Sport regarding the race's finale, over the Colle di Superga. "On the climb, I went better than I had envisioned and I was able to make the difference. On the other hand, on the descent there were two or three types of turns I did not like. But Soler and I were able to hold a good advantage. Then in the sprint I went well."

Di Luca is building his 2007 like the miraculous 2005 season, where he won the ProTour overall after snatching Pais Vasco, Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and fourth in the Giro d'Italia. He does not think his form is coming on too strong too soon, and, in fact, he hopes to better his condition of two years past.

"I know that I am able to return to the form of 2005, or even go better. And it was two years ago in the Milano-Torino that I finished with the front-runners, fifth. Who starts well, continues even better."

He scoffed at the idea that the purpose of the win was to have his name in the lights after his newly signed teammate, Filippo Pozzato, took two big wins, and suggested that, with their diverse programmes, there are no problems. "It is not like that at all," the 31 year-old rider from Abruzzo quipped. "We have different programmes. Filippo will remain our man for Tirreno-Adriatico, where I will aim for a stage win, the Milano-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders. After it will truly be my turn; Amstel, Flèche, Liège, Giro d'Italia..."

Thinking about the Corsa Rosa, he added, "It is clear if we face an Ivan Basso like 2006 we will be racing for second; everyone, not only me. But not every year is the same. And the adversaries, myself, Cunego, from Simoni to Savoldelli, are all able to grow. ... And then, the parcours I like a lot. If I am at my best, the climbs will not worry me, and the time trial, I am not the worst at this."

The winner of the first ever ProTour competition believes that the newly designed structure promotes the best of the best in cycling. "The riders are able to do very little," he noted of the UCI/Grand Tour organizers row regarding the ProTour. "The roles of the team manager and the teams are important, like you saw. Anyway, I think that the ProTour, with the agreed best teams that have to race the best races with their best riders, is a proper idea."