Ferrari fires on all cylinders at Friuli

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Italy's Roberto Ferrari (De Rosa-Stac Plastic) won the Giro del Friuli one-day race in Italy on Wednesday with another strong sprint finish.

The 27 year-old from Brescia won the GP di Lugano on Sunday. That race was affected by traffic problems and only a handful of riders finished but Ferrari proved he is on form by beating fellow Italians Jacopo Guarnieri (Liquigas-Diomo) and Enrico Rossi (Ceramica Flaminia) at the Giro del Friuli.

Another promising young Italian Sacha Modolo (Colnago-CSF Inox) was fourth and Italian national champion Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) was fifth. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas-Doimo) both made their season debut in the one-day race in the northeast of Italy. Schleck failed to finish, while Pellizotti was 62nd, a few placed behind teammate Ivan Basso.

Pozzato had chased after a late attack on the final climb of the race but admitted he miss-timed his sprint.

"I started the sprint too far out. But to be honest I didn't have the power in my legs to win. I'm still working on my power but I felt good today, especially on the climb."

Late crash affects Lampre sprint

The 190km race started in Brugnera near Pordernone and ended in nearby Sacile after five laps of a hilly finishing circuit. Before the start a minutes silence was held to remember Italian national coach Franco Ballerini who died in a recent car rally accident.

The racing started steady as the peloton covered two circuits around Brugnera. Things heated up after Fontanafredda, with 24 riders going clear before the first passage of the finish in Sacile. The climb to Castello di Caneva lined out the break and the bunch but the gap stayed to just over a minute. The bigger teams not well represented in the move did not want to let them get away.

On the fifth of six laps, on the climb up to the castle, the 24 split under the pressure, with 19 riders going clear. Last time up the climb, neo-pro Fabio Taborre (Androni Giocattoli) surged clear and opened a ten-second gap on Pozzato. But the bunch knew the race would finish in a sprint, with the Liquigas and Lampre teams leading the pursuit.

Lampre were riding for 2009 winner Mirco Lorenzetto but he was blocked when a rider crashed in front of him with just 400 metres to go. Ferrari avoided the crash and had the speed down the middle of the road to beat Guarnieri and Rossi.