Bennati wins his Italian debut

Daniele Bennati took his second victory in four days at the opening stage of the Giro della Provincia di Grosseto. Just three days after a win in Mallorca, Bennati was revisiting the top step of the podium.

"I can't ask for better beginning to the season than this," said Bennati. "Today I won thanks to the great work done by the team in a difficult situation with strong wind." He commended Maciej Bodnar and Valerio Agnoli for chasing down the break and Aliaksandr Kuchynski, Murilo Antonio Fischer and Claudio Corioni for driving the pace near the end, and Sabatini for a lead out.

"We all worked together just like in an example in a cycling text book."

The stage was marred by news of Alessandro Petacchi's crash. "I'm sorry for Alessandro," said Bennati, "and I really hope that he has no serious injuries. It would have been great to race against him on the final straight. For us riders, challenges are an important motivator."

Petacchi was heavily bruised when he crashed, but he suffered no broken bones according to www.hln.be.

See Cyclingnews' coverage of the Giro della Provincia di Grosseto.