Belletti takes Riccione sprint

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Manuel Belletti (Colnago-CSF Inox) took his second victory of the season on the opening morning of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. Racing on home roads in Romagna, the Italian had too much for Andrea Grendene (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) and Volodymyr Bileka (Amore & Vita) in the bunch finish in Riccione.

The peloton faced nine laps of a 9km circuit around the streets of Riccione, and in spite of the presence of a short, sharp climb on Via Scacciano, the pan flat final 3km meant that there was an air of inevitability about the bunch finish.

Nonetheless, Johan Estaban Chaves Rubio (Colombia es pasion - Café de Colombia) e Luca Fioretti (Ora Hotels Carrera) tried their luck just 2km into the stage. The duo had a lead of two minutes at one point, and managed to stay clear for over six laps. Once Fioretti had done enough to take the lead in the mountains classification, he sat up, however, and Chaves Rubio did not last much longer in front.

Once he was pegged back, there was a flurry of attacks off the front of the bunch. Only Matteo Fedi (De Rosa-Ceramica Flaminia) managed to gain any traction and he too was swallowed up in the final kilometres, as the pace rose accordingly.

In the finishing sprint, it was Belletti who emerged to take the win and the overall lead in the race ahead of the afternoon team time trial.

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