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90th Meisterschaft von Zürich - Championship of Zurich - CDM
Switzerland, August 17, 2003
Results Live report World Cup standings
Cagy Nardello claims first World Cup win in Zurich
Bettini increases lead in World Cup
By Tim Maloney, European Editor
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After a clever attack in the last eight kilometres, 29 year old Daniele Nardello (Telekom) took his first ever World Cup win in the 90th edition of the Züri-Metzgete, presented by BMC Software today in Zurich, Switzerland. After his win and a hug from his wife Elenia, the delighted Nardello told Cyclingnews that "I saw that Bettini, Ullrich and Di Luca were good today so I tried to anticipate them with an attack. I had good legs too and managed to get across to Casagrande and the others on the final climb. When we were away in the final, I just went for it since I knew I couldn't win if it came down to a sprint."
Nardello's last win was almost one year ago in Coppa Bernocchi and Zurich was his 26th career victory. At this year's Tour De France, Nardello was a close third place in Stage 18 of the TDF behind Pablo Lastras but his breakthrough win in Zurich will go a long way for the likeable rider from Varese.
Nardello explained that "I've placed in World Cup races before, but after my up and down year this season, this win today is a big payback after all the sacrifices I've made."
Nardello, who recently re-signed for 2004 with Telekom had a "molto difficile" season in 2003. After a crash compromised his early season form, Nardello got a bad case of the flu that put him out of contention in the spring World Cup classics. His only decent ride was at Paris-Roubaix, where the 29 year old Telekom rider was 8th.
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Third placed rider in Zurich and current World Cup leader Paolo Bettini Quick.Step-Davitamon looks unbeatable in the season long competition. "I always ride well in Zurich," said Bettini, "but I woke up this morning with a sore throat from the hotel air conditioning...anyway, I was hoping to get a good place today so third is OK. I'm really happy for Nardello; he really deserved to win today."
As for runner up Jan Ullrich, Bettini observed diplomatically that "he's a great rider; really strong with so much power...he just needs to work on his timing."
How it unfolded
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On a beautiful late-summer day along Zurichsee and the rolling hills southwest of the Swiss financial capital, the 90th edition of the Züri-Metzgete got under way at 11:30 with 189 riders from 24 teams taking the starting shotgun for 236km of World Cup racing. Europe's heatwave had finally broken and temps would 'only' reach the upper-80's in Zurich today. The course consisted of one large lap of 71km and four finishing laps of 41km. The main difficulties of the day were the Forch (2km at 5%) and Pfannenstiel (2.9km at 10%), plus a short, steep climb of Wetzwil (400m at 12%), to be climbed on the big and small laps. Situated with 17km to go, the tough Pfannenstiel would be the decisive climb on the 2003 Züri-Metzgete.
The day's main break of four riders got away about halfway through the first large lap, with Ratti (Lampre), Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Elmiger (Phonak) and Lefevre (Delatour) the fugitives du jour. Their maximum lead was 10'00 after 150km, but with Ullrich's Bianchi team powering away on the front, the quartet had 2'30" lead with 70km to go. 23 year old Wegmann was coming off a win last month in the Niedersachsen Rundfahrt, but it was the experienced climber Laurent Lefevre who was doing most of the forcing in the break.
As the penultimate lap of the 90th Züri-Metzgete unfolded, the gap began to drop as the chase increased and Fassa Bortolo sent their man Gorazd Stangelj out front in search of the break. Stangelj bridged up to the now three man break on Pfannenstiel and his next move on the steep Wetzwil blew the front-runners apart after 150km of liberty.
With the break absorbed, Stangelj stayed out front on the long, sinuous descent back to the shore of the Zurichsee as Gerolsteiner's Ronny Scholz powered the chase. Stangelj sat up and there were 70 riders together as the final lap of the Züri-Metzgete commenced. Quick.Step-Davitamon countered Fassa's move by sending Kashechkin as the road pitched upward towards the Forch climb.
Gerolsteiner's Markus Zberg countered the Quick.Step-Davitamon man and then Sylvain Chavanel (Brioches La Boulangčre) bridged up to Zberg. As the Forch climb continued, Bianchi upped the pace, but a sharp attack by USPS-Berry Floor rider George Hincapie went after Zberg and Chavanel. This drew a massive attack by Jan Ullrich to cover George's move, which turned into a dangerous break with 33km to go. Along with Ullrich and Hincapie, Chavanel, Verbrugghe (Lotto-Domo) and Daniele Nardello (Telekom) got a gap, but with no Fassa or Quick.Step riders up front and a 2 km downhill, the break was doomed.
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All the action reduced the front group to 40-odd riders on the rolling roads approaching the base of the Pfannenstiel as Jan Ullrich played his final few cards. His Bianchi teammates Garcia Casas and Casero rode super-hard tempo up to the base of the first part of the Pfannenstiel, where Jan The Man launched a huge attack. But Ullrich wasn't 100% today and his move was covered by Bettini, Boogerd and Basso.
As the remaining 20 front-runners slowed from a case of the looky-loos, Rabobank rider Michael Rasmussen flew the coop in an audacious solo attack. Affectionately known as "Chicken" for his skinny legs, the 1999 World MTB champ blasted away and gained 15" on the chasers by the summit of the final climb of the Pfannenstiel. Rasmussen missed the Tour de France this year due to a broken bone in his hand from a training crash in May, and was trying to salvage something from his 2003 season. Chicken's perfectly timed flight allowed his teammate Michael Boogerd to follow the chase and put himself in position to score valuable World Cup points.
With a disorganized chase behind Rasmussen, it looked like the lanky Dane might get away with the race win for a while, but a massive effort by Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) on the final steep slopes of Wetzwil pulled the Rabobank man back for good with 11km. The front break was now five strong, with Boogerd, Rasmussen, Basso, Casagrande and Nardello 10" ahead of the chasing group, powered by an incredibly strong Ullrich that streamed down the 3km descent to the Zurichsee.
As the break made the right-hand turn along the Zurichsee, with 8 km to go, the junction was made between the break and the chase, and that's when Nardello made his winning move. The Telekom man got a gap on the disorganized chase and with 5 km to go, Nardello had 13". Ullrich was pulling back many of the counter-moves and finally rode off the front in pursuit of Nardello with 2 km to go, but it was too little, too late.
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Nardello maintained his narrow advantage to win the biggest race of his career, while Ullrich was runner-up in Zurich once again, 6" behind the Italian. World Cup leader Paolo Bettini took the sprint for third, just ahead of Boogerd and both scored valuable points toward the final World Cup classification.
In this eighth World Cup of the 2003 season it's the fourth to go to an Italian rider. Paolo Bettini further increased his lead over now second placed Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) and Peter van Petegem (Lotto-Domo), with Italian rider Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) in 4th and yet another Italian, Mirko Celestino (Saeco) in 5th.
Photography
Images by Chris Henry/Cyclingnews
- Defending champion Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo) puts on his game face
- Frigo's teammate Michele Bartoli, looking for results in the second half of the season
- Former Zurich winner Laurent Dufaux, happy to be racing on home soil
- "Come on, Peter... you've checked it three times already."
- Tyler Hamilton (CSC) has a pre-race chat with Jim Ochowitz
- Eddy Merckx quizzes Alexandre Vinokourov on his tactics for the race
- Frank Vandenbroucke (Quick-Step) was free of pressure at Zurich
- The early break (Ratti, Lefevre, Wegmann, Elmiger) passes through the start/finish area
- Elmiger leads the break into the fourth lap of the Zurich circuit
- Saeco drove the field, quickly shutting down the break's 10 minute advantage
- Daniele Nardello (Telekom) glides to a stop after claiming victory
- Jan Ullrich (Team Bianchi) comes in for second as Paolo Bettini (r) leads home the rest
- Normally a selfless team worker, Nardello could enjoy a well-earned win
- Danilo Di Luca cools off after a hard day in the Swiss sun
- Bobby Julich (Telekom) was rewarded for a day of teamwork by Nardello's win
- Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) inspects some scrapes after the finish
- Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) put in one of the race's more convincing attacks
- The race podium (l to r): Ullrich, Nardello, Bettini
- Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step) gets a fresh World Cup leader's jersey from Eddy Merckx
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) rode smartly in Zurich, doing enough to extend his lead in the World Cup by taking third place
- A very happy Daniele Nardello (Telekom) crosses the line in triumph
- Telekom's Daniele Nardello celebrates his win
- Jan Ullrich (Team Bianchi) had to be content with yet another second place in Zurich (his fourth altogether)
- Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Davitamon) comfortably won the sprint for third and increased his World Cup lead
- World Cup leader Paolo Bettini (R) congratulates his friend and former teammate Daniele Nardello on his victory
- Daniele Nardello (Telekom) gives a victory salute from the podium
- Daniele Nardello (Telekom) shows the trophy and flowers on the podium
- The podium (L to R): Jan Ullrich (2nd), Daniele Nardello (1st) and Paolo Bettini (3rd)
- World Cup leader Paolo Bettini salutes from the podium
- World Cup leader Paolo Bettini congratulated by Eddy Merckx on the podium
Images by AFP Photo
- Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) leads Martin Elmiger (Phonak) in the early part of the race
- The peloton rides past the Zurichsee during the 90th Championship of Zurich
- World Cup leader Paolo Bettini (R) congratulates his friend and former teammate Daniele Nardello on his victory
- Jan Ullrich and Daniele Nardello clasp hands on the podium as second and first place getters in Zurich
Results - 236.6 km
1 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Team Telekom 5.55.30 (39.932 km/h) 2 Jan Ullrich (Ger) Team Bianchi 0.06 3 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.11 4 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 6 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) iBanesto.com 7 Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 8 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 9 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 10 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Alessio 11 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre 12 Eladio Jimenez Sanchez (Spa) iBanesto.com 13 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick Step-Davitamon 14 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco 15 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 16 Richard Virenque (Fra) Quick Step-Davitamon 17 Ivan Basso (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 18 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.17 19 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 1.09 20 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Lotto-Domo 21 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 1.12 22 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Domo 1.18 23 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 24 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) iBanesto.com 25 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 26 Christophe Oriol (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance 27 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Saeco 28 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Alessio 29 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 30 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Quick Step-Davitamon 31 Felix M Garcia Casas (Spa) Team Bianchi 32 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 33 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 34 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 35 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco 1.37 36 Bobby Julich (USA) Team Telekom 37 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 38 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 39 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Jean Delatour 40 Daniel Atienza Urendez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 41 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 42 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 43 Peter Lüttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 44 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal Service-Berry Floor 2.02 45 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 3.46 46 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 4.14 47 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick Step-Davitamon 48 Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Jean Delatour 49 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 5.50 50 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 51 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service-Berry Floor 52 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 53 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 54 Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 55 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal Service-Berry Floor 8.06 56 Angel Luis Casero Moreno (Spa) Team Bianchi 9.11 57 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 9.36 58 Andrea Ferrigato (Ita) Alessio 59 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Saeco 11.27 60 Gilles Bouvard (Fra) Jean Delatour 61 Francisco J Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre 62 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 63 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 64 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance 65 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 66 Thomas Grönqvist (Swe) Team fakta 67 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Quick Step-Davitamon 68 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 69 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 70 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 14.18 71 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco 15.19 72 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 73 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 74 Manuel Calvente Gorbas (Spa) Team CSC 75 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team fakta 76 Grégory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 77 Maryan Hary (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 78 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 79 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 80 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Saeco 81 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 82 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 83 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 84 Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre TC Eric Leblacher (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo DNF Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo DNF Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Fassa Bortolo DNF Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon DNF Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal Service-Berry Floor DNF José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) US Postal Service-Berry Floor DNF Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal Service-Berry Floor DNF Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) US Postal Service-Berry Floor DNF Matthew White (Aus) US Postal Service-Berry Floor DNF Alessio Galletti (Ita) Saeco DNF Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco DNF Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Team Telekom DNF Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Team Telekom DNF Cadel Evans (Aus) Team Telekom DNF Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Team Telekom DNF Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom DNF Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio DNF Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Alessio DNF Andrea Noe' (Ita) Alessio DNF Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio DNF Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank DNF Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank DNF Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank DNF Thorsten Rund (Ger) Team Bianchi DNF Raphael Schweda (Ger) Team Bianchi DNF Aitor Garmendia Arbilla (Spa) Team Bianchi DNF Francisco José Lara Ruiz (Spa) Team Bianchi DNF David Plaza Romero (Spa) Team Bianchi DNF Sergio Barbero (Ita) Lampre DNF Simone Bertoletti (Ita) Lampre DNF Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre DNF Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Lampre DNF Eddy Ratti (Ita) Lampre DNF Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner DNF Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Gerolsteiner DNF Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner DNF Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Franck Renier (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Vini Caldirola-So.Di DNF Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di DNF Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di DNF Pietro Zucconi (Swi) Vini Caldirola-So.Di DNF Ińigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone DNF Niki Aebersold (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Alex Zuelle (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems DNF Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC DNF Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC DNF Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC DNF Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC DNF Bekim Christensen (Den) Team CSC DNF Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo DNF Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Lotto-Domo DNF Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Domo DNF Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Lotto-Domo DNF Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto-Domo DNF Claudio Astolfi (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron DNF Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Domina Vacanze-Elitron DNF Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron DNF Martin Derganc (Slo) Domina Vacanze-Elitron DNF René Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski DNF David Arroyo Duran (Spa) ONCE-Eroski DNF Angel Castresana Del Val (Spa) ONCE-Eroski DNF Mikel Zarrabeitia Uranga (Spa) ONCE-Eroski DNF Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE-Eroski DNF Rafael Diaz Justo (Spa) ONCE-Eroski DNF Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) ONCE-Eroski DNF Olivier Trastour (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Inigo Chaurreau Bernardez (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Thierry Loder (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Ludovic Turpin (Fra) Ag2R Prevoyance DNF Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF Frédéric Finot (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF Patrice Halgand (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF David Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour DNF José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Jon Odriozola Mugarza (Spa) iBanesto.com DNF Evgeni Petrov (Rus) iBanesto.com DNF Yohann Charpenteau (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Christopher Jenner (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Credit Agricole DNF Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole DNF Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole DNF Jorgen Bo Petersen (Den) Team fakta DNF Scott Sunderland (Aus) Team fakta DNF Mickael Rheis (Den) Team fakta DNF Julian Winn (GBr) Team fakta DNF Fredrik Modin (Swe) Team fakta DNF Allan Johansen (Den) Team fakta DNF Sergiy Adyeyev (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNF Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago DNS Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo DNS Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Vini Caldirola-So.Di World Cup standings after round 8 1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 350 pts 2 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 204 3 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 203 4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 187 5 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Team Saeco 139 6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Team Saeco 136 7 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Team Telekom 124 8 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre 123 9 Dario Pieri (Ita) Team Saeco 117 10 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 100 11 Ivan Basso (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 95 12 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 92 13 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Domina Vacanze-Elitron 88 14 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 86 15 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Alessio 83 16 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 82 17 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Fassa Bortolo 79 18 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal-Berry Floor 74 19 Stuart O'grady (Aus) Crédit Agricole 74 20 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Saeco 71 Teams 1 Team Saeco 68 pts 2 Quick.Step-Davitamon 63 3 Alessio 40 4 Rabobank 39 5 Fassa Bortolo 31 Full rankings
