JJ Haedo sprints to victory in Perugia

Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-SunGard) held his nerve in the picturesque town of Perugia to take victory ahead of Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo) and Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale) in a bunch sprint on stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico.

Haedo bided his time on Farrar’s wheel in the finishing straight before coming around the flagging American in the closing 100 metres to seal a decisive win ahead of many of the men expected to figure on the Lungomare Italo Calvino in San Remo next weekend.

After already giving notice of his speed in finishing third on stage two, the Argentinean Haedo was understandably delighted with his day’s work in Perugia, and he now moves up to second place overall, 5 seconds down on Farrar, with Lars Boom (Rabobank) a further second back in third.

Haedo’s Saxo Bank team had given a firm vote of confidence by leading the peloton into the final kilometre, with Baden Cooke and Matteo Tosatto forcing the pace, but when world champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) took over 600 metres from the line with Farrar on his wheel, the stage seemed set for a carbon copy a repeat of yesterday’s finale.

However, while Hushovd’s show of strength was undoubtedly impressive, it was also mistimed, for the Norwegian had hit the front much too soon. When he swung over just after the final bend, Farrar was left exposed to the wind too early and forced to open his sprint from distance.

In spite of his fine form, it was a tall order for Farrar to maintain such an effort all the way to the line, and when he faded in the dying metres, the canny Haedo was on hand to rip past him and take the stage.

Behind, Daniel Oss finished in a deserved third place after being an active presence on the front of the bunch throughout the final 20km. The young Italian showed considerable guile to place himself ahead of the top sprinters under the red kite and his strength saw him hold his position to the end.

Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) appeared well-placed on the approach to the sprint, tucked safely on the wheel of his trusted lead-out man Danilo Hondo, but he could ultimately only manage 4th in spite of the German’s best efforts.

He fared somewhat better than Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), however. For the second consecutive day, the Manxman lost track of his lead-out man Mark Renshaw’s wheel in the finale and did not contest the sprint. As was the case on stage two, Cavendish was also briefly dropped on a climb before the run-in to the finish began in earnest.

Few hiccups in the script

In spite of the stiff climb through the centre of the Umbrian capital Perugia with 24km to go, the finish was on the flat on the outskirts of town, and it was always anticipated that the stage would end in a bunch sprint.

Nonetheless, Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was happy to battle the odds and try to stay clear, and the Spaniard wasted no time in laying down the gauntlet to the sprinters’ teams. He attacked when the stage was just two kilometres old and was granted a day pass by the slumbering peloton.

Sesma’s advantage reached its maximum extent 60km into the stage, when he was almost 10 minutes clear of the peloton, but from there on in they set about reining him back in gradually. His efforts began to tell visibly in the closing 50km, with his shoulders rocking as he struggled to keep the gear turning over

He was eventually caught with 30km to go, just after Lars Boom (Rabobank) had briefly danced clear of the peloton to peg back bonus seconds on Farrar at the second intermediate sprint.

As the road began to rear up on the approach to Perugia, the Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli team hit the front with the aim of setting up an attack from Giovanni Visconti. Although the Italian champion’s acceleration was soon brought to heel, it did have the effect of stringing out the peloton still further and Mark Cavendish was among those deposited out the back.

Like on stage two, Cavendish stuck admirably to his task and battled his way back on soon afterwards, but his subsequent failure to make an impact in the bunch finish will surely be a concern.

Up front Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Angel Madrazo (Movistar) were the next men to jump off the front, and the latter managed to stay clear and lead over the climb in Perugia before being swallowed up on the descent.

Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) was among the chasers at that point, but the uphill section failed to break up the field to any great extent. Apart from Cavendish, one of the few to be distanced was Schleck’s teammate Fabian Cancellara, but that was due to a mechanical problem, and the Swiss rider was safely back in the fold when the bunch came together in the finale.

Daniel Oss, Nicolas Castroviejo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Mikael Cherel (Ag2r-La Mondiale) were among those to attempt to slip clear on the flat run-in, while Visconti had another rally off the front, but when Saxo Bank-SunGard and Garmin-Cervélo combined to take up the pace-setting in the final 10km, there was an air of inevitability about the outcome.

The rainbow bands of Thor Hushovd were again to the fore as he shepherded race leader Tyler Farrar in the finale, but ultimately the Norwegian was perhaps too enthusiastic in his efforts, and Saxo Bank had ample reward for their endeavours in the closing stages when Haedo claimed the win.