Blel Kadri wins Roma Maxima
AG2R wins Italian one day race
Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale) won the Roma Maxima race alone in the centre of the Eternal city after being in the break of the race and spending a total of 127km out front.
The Frenchman fought like a gladiator as he held off a chase group on the fast run-in to Rome and was able to cross the line alone, with the Coliseum and the Fori Imperiali ruins offering a stunning backdrop to his surprise but well–deserved victory.
Kadri finished 37 seconds ahead of Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) and Grega Bole (Vacansoleil-DCM). Pozzato threw his arms in the air thinking he had won the race but quickly realised his mistake and was left to rue yet another missed opportunity.
Kadri had won only a stage of the Route du Sud in 2010 before his success in the centre of Rome, but won after a pulling out superb performance. He had been a late replacement for a teammate for the Italian weekend of races but won in style.
"I wasn’t going to ride but Steve Chainel was ill, he couldn’t come, so the team asked if I was motivated to ride. I could have gone home this morning but I spoke to my coach and he said yes," Kadri explained in the winner's press conference.
"On the podium I thought that, sometimes, you work hard and going for it pays off. Luck doesn't often smile on you but it did this time. I’m very, very happy."
The last gladiator standing
The 180km race started with a long ride south, some tough climbs in the Roman hills, including the steep Campi di Annibale climb, and then a fast run in to the finish near the Coliseum.
Kadri was part of the five-rider break that got away after 53km of fast racing. Also in there were Andre Cardoso (Caja Rural), Christophe Premont (Crelan-Euphony), Pim Lightart (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Albert Timmer (Argos-Shimano) and they worked well together, opening a lead of up to eight-minutes.
The climbs took their toll on the break, with Movistar doing much of the work to perhaps set up Alejandro Valverde. However Kadri seized the initiative on the Campi di Annibale climb and powered on alone after dropping Cardoso and the others.
It seemed like an audacious move, with 40km still to race but the Frenchman never gave up and looked strong. A chase group of five riders emerged on the steep slopes of Campi di Annibale, including Vincenzo Nibali (Astana). However Kadri was a minute clear and managed to hold the gap all the way to the outskirts of Rome.
Pozzato and other sprinters got back onto the main peloton and then eventually caught the other four with a kilometre to go but Kadri was out of reach and able to celebrate on the paved road of the Fori Imperiali. He was the last gladiator standing after a breakaway of 127km.
"I knew I had to believe I had a chance and just gave it 100 per cent. I said if I blow or not, tant pis! The fast roads to the finish helped me but I was surprised to make it to the finish," he said, overjoyed to have won a big race.
With no race radio allowed at Roma Maxima, Pozzato and most of the chasers did not know that Kadri was still away in the finale. The Italian charged down he cobbled finishing straight and thought he'd won. He was wrong. Kadri had been stronger and was awarded the olive wreath crown as the new emperor of Roma Maxima.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 4:26:27 |
2 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:37 |
3 | Grega Bole (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
4 | Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
5 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
6 | Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Colombia | |
7 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team | |
8 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | |
9 | Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
10 | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Katusha | |
11 | Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
12 | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
13 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
14 | Amets Txurruka (Spa) Caja Rural | |
15 | Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha | |
16 | Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
17 | Francois Parisien (Can) Team Argos-Shimano | |
18 | Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
19 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
20 | Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
21 | Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Katusha | |
22 | Riccardo Chiarini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
23 | Omar Fraile Matarranza (Spa) Caja Rural | |
24 | Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli | |
25 | Francesco Reda (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
26 | Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
27 | Christophe Premont (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
28 | Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
29 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team | |
30 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
31 | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
32 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
33 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
34 | Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
35 | Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia | |
36 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
37 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
38 | Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural | |
39 | Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:46 |
40 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:48 |
41 | Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha | 0:01:30 |
42 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 0:02:07 |
43 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:03:12 |
44 | Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
45 | Francesco Lasca (Ita) Caja Rural | |
46 | Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Argos-Shimano | |
47 | Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
48 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
49 | Francisco Javier Moreno Allue (Spa) Caja Rural | |
50 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
51 | Gilles Devillers (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
52 | Rémi Cusin (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
53 | Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team | |
54 | Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
55 | Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col) Colombia | |
56 | Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
57 | Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
58 | Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha | |
59 | Michael Rodriguez Galindo (Col) Colombia | |
60 | Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
61 | Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
62 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha | |
63 | Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
64 | Darwin Atapuma (Col) Colombia | |
65 | Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano | |
66 | Juraj Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
67 | Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale | |
68 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
69 | Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
70 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
71 | Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida | |
72 | Patrick Schelling (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
73 | Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
74 | Francesco Failli (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
75 | Stefano Agostini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
76 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
77 | Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
78 | Fabio Taborre (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
79 | Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
80 | Alessandro Proni (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia | |
81 | Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Caja Rural | |
82 | Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
83 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
84 | Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia | |
85 | Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
86 | Angelo Pagani (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
87 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team | |
88 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox | |
89 | Daniel Petrov (Bul) Caja Rural | 0:04:51 |
90 | Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | 0:06:37 |
91 | Fabio Duarte (Col) Colombia | |
92 | Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Katusha | |
93 | Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) IAM Cycling | |
94 | Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
95 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | |
96 | Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
97 | Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling | |
98 | Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team | |
99 | Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC Racing Team | 0:09:50 |
100 | Klaas Sys (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
101 | Jeffry Johan Romero Corredor (Col) Colombia | |
102 | Joeri Bueken (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
103 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
104 | Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
105 | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
106 | Stijn Steels (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
107 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
108 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
109 | Reinier Honig (Ned) Crelan-Euphony | |
110 | Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
111 | Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team | |
112 | Federico Canuti (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
113 | Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
114 | Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
115 | Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural | |
116 | Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Argos-Shimano | |
117 | Donato De Ieso (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox |
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