Rebellin beats Pozzovivo at Tre Valli Varesine
Pinot takes fine third place finish
Davide Rebellin (Miche-Guerciotti) took his first victory since his return from suspension at the Tre Valli Varesine on Tuesday. The Italian, who tested positive for CERA at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, had too much for Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox) on the final climb to the line at Campione d’Italia.
The duo broke clear inside the final kilometre, just after a searing but short-lived acceleration from Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) shattered the leading group under the red kite. Ultimately, however, Nibali’s attack served only to eliminate his teammate Peter Sagan from contention and hand the initiative to Rebellin and Pozzovivo.
After Nibali’s effort fizzled out, the diminutive Pozzovivo took up the reins on the climb and sallied ahead with Rebellin in tow. In spite of the best efforts of Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) to make it across, the leading pair maintained their advantage into the final 300 metres, and it was here that the wily Rebellin sensed his opportunity.
The Italian turned 40 last week, but he carried his years lightly as he ripped past Pozzovivo and quickly opened out a sizeable gap to take an emphatic victory. Pozzovivo held on for second place, while young French talent Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) gave yet another glimpse of his arsenal of talent by zipping clear of Gasparotto to take third.
“When I was alone with Pozzovivo with 300 metres to go, I knew I could win,” Rebellin said afterwards. “It was a finish that suited me and I knew I was in good condition.”
Rebellin maintained that his victory justified his decision to return to the sport after his suspension. Considering the length of his lay-off, the veteran has been in remarkable form this summer, and he had come close to victory at both the Trofeo Matteotti and the GP Città di Camaiore in recent weeks.
“I came back because I knew I could still win big races, and hopefully I can still do more between now and the end of the season,” he said flatly.
Liquigas lose out
The big losers of the day were Liquigas-Cannondale, as their leaders failed to make the anticipated impact on the sharp uphill finish at Campione d’Italia, in spite of the team controlling the race for much of the day by placing Mauro Finetto in the early break with Pavel Brutt (Katusha).
When that pair was swallowed up in the final 30 kilometres, the lime green squad took over the pace-setting at the head of the peloton in support of the in-form Peter Sagan. Thanks largely to the efforts of Valerio Agnoli, they succeeded in distancing a number of favourites including Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) on the undulating run-in to the finish.
In the final 4km, as the road began to pitch up towards the line, Ivan Basso put in a selfless stint of work at the front of the leading group, with Sagan perched imperiously on his rear wheel. Basso succeeded in controlling attacks from Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Gianluca Brambilla (Colnago-CSF Inox) and entering the final kilometre, Sagan seemed well-placed to add to his ever-burgeoning palmares.
It was at that point that Nibali opted to make his solo effort, however, and Liquigas’ race fell apart when Sagan lost contact as the leading group scrambled to get on the Sicilian’s wheel. To compound matters, Nibali was unable to continue in his forcing, and instead Rebellin and Pozzovivo gratefully took advantage to carve up the spoils between them.
1 | Davide Rebellin (Ita) Miche - Guerciotti | 4:41:30 |
2 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | 0:00:04 |
3 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:07 |
4 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana | |
5 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Pro Team Astana | |
6 | Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha Team | |
7 | Federico Canuti (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
8 | Simone Stortoni (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
9 | Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | |
10 | Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Katusha Team | 0:00:17 |
11 | Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:00:22 |
12 | Paolo Bailetti (Ita) De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia | |
13 | Fabio Taborre (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
14 | Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | |
15 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
16 | Patxi Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia | |
17 | Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli | |
18 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ | |
19 | Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | 0:00:36 |
20 | Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
21 | Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Miche - Guerciotti | 0:00:48 |
22 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
23 | Alessandro Proni (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
24 | Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
25 | Davide Torosantucci (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | |
26 | Daniele Ratto (Ita) Geox-TMC | 0:00:57 |
27 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | 0:01:04 |
28 | José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
29 | Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team | |
30 | Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Pro Team Astana | |
31 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:01:11 |
32 | Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | 0:01:28 |
33 | Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Pro Team Astana | |
34 | Jonathan Monsalve (Ven) Androni Giocattoli | |
35 | Juan Sebastian Tamayo Martinez (Col) WIT | |
36 | Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Katusha Team | |
37 | Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
38 | Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
39 | Sander Armee (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
40 | Junya Sano (Jpn) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | |
41 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:01:38 |
42 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | 0:01:42 |
43 | Alberto Contoli (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
44 | Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
45 | Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ | |
46 | Arkimedes Arguelyes Rodriges (Rus) Katusha Team | |
47 | Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Miche - Guerciotti | |
48 | Mauro Finetto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:02:03 |
49 | Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli | |
50 | Antonio Santoro (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
51 | Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ | |
52 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
53 | Edoardo Girardi (Ita) De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia | |
54 | Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | 0:02:24 |
55 | Fortunato Baliani (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | 0:02:35 |
56 | Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 0:02:41 |
57 | Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:02:49 |
58 | Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
59 | Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
60 | Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
61 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
62 | Oleg Berdos (Mda) De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia | |
63 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
64 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team | |
65 | Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Pro Team Astana | |
66 | Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Acqua & Sapone | |
67 | BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto | |
68 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre - ISD | |
69 | Charles Wegelius (GBr) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | |
70 | Gian Marco Di Francesco (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
71 | Steven Van Vooren (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
72 | Henry Frusto (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | |
73 | Aristide Ratti (Ita) WIT | |
74 | Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
75 | Mirko Tedeschi (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:03:08 |
76 | Alexander Zdanov (Rus) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo | 0:03:32 |
77 | Giuseppe De Maria (Ita) De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia | 0:03:38 |
78 | Damiano Margutti (Ita) De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia | 0:03:43 |
79 | Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha Team | 0:03:48 |
80 | Dariusz Batek (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | 0:04:23 |
81 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Geox-TMC | 0:04:32 |
82 | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | 0:04:40 |
83 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Katusha Team | |
84 | Marco Corti (Ita) Geox-TMC | |
85 | Noè Gianetti (Swi) Geox-TMC | |
86 | Diego Alejandro Tamayo Martinez (Col) WIT | |
87 | Jack Bobridge (Aus) Team Garmin-Cervelo | |
88 | Luca Solari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
89 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
90 | Leonardo Giordani (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | 0:05:15 |
91 | Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ | |
92 | Michel Kreder (Ned) Team Garmin-Cervelo | 0:05:28 |
93 | Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
94 | Michele Gaia (Ita) Miche - Guerciotti | 0:05:34 |
95 | Luca Zanasca (Ita) WIT | 0:05:51 |
96 | Christian Meier (Can) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 0:06:21 |
97 | Thomas Bertolini (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
98 | Elia Favilli (Ita) Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli | |
99 | Gianluca Randazzo (Ita) Miche - Guerciotti | |
100 | Zico Waeytens (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
101 | Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:07:03 |

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