Belletti wins G.P. Costa degli Etruschi

Manuel Belletti scored the Southeast team's first victory in Europe by winning the bunch sprint of the GP Costa degli Etruschi. Belletti topped an all-Italian podium with runner-up Davide Vigano (Team Idea 2010 ASD) and Niccolo Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida) in third.

The Southeast team was motivated to capture an early victory on home soil, and the former yellow fluo, now blue-grey team laid down a steady tempo to control the early escape of four riders, Jacopo Mosca (Italy), Ricardo Tomas Creel (Roth - Skoda), Michele Gazzarra (Mg.Kvis-Vega), and Mattia Frapporti (Unieuro Wilier).

The quartet had been let out on a long leash, most of the peloton seemed uninterested in chasing, but two riders Artem Nych (Rusvelo) and János Pelikán (Utensilnord) were unwilling to miss the move, and spent the better part of 40km making the bridge.

Now with six, the breakaway clicked off a maximum advantage of almost 14 minutes before Alessandro Petacchi came to the front and decided to lay down the law. Soon other teams began to pitch in to help the chase, and the gap fell quickly. With 60km to go, cracks were forming in the breakaway, and Frapporti and Creel were jettisoned.

The chase was so effective that with 25km to go the breakaway was only a minute ahead, and the peloton slowed down to delay the catch. Mosca and Pelikan had been dropped on the ascent of the Torre Segalari, leaving just Nych and Gazzarra up ahead.

Their time came to an end on the last trip over the Torre Segalari, and the action began to heat up with an attack from Damiano Cunego (Niippo), Fabian Wegmann (Cult Energy) and Rodolfo Torres (Colombia) on the climb, but the speed was too high for them to stay clear.

Wegmann persisted with Francesco Gavazzi (Southeast), but a bunch sprint was inevitable. Bardiani, Lampre and Southeast all battled for the lead in the final kilometer, but it was Belletti who picked the right timing, getting the jump on the other sprinters and never looking back. He crossed the line with Vigano and Bonifazio on his wheel, fighting for second place

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