Mark Cavendish scored his second win at the 2008 Giro d'Italia of Friday with a commanding two-bike length sprint finish at the walled city of Cittadella.
The 23-year-old UK cyclist passed 3-stage winner Daniele Bennati in the sprint. Teammates on High Road, which is now a US-based team, led out the peloton in the final kilometers.
Although the overall leaders remained unchanged, with Italy's Giovanni Visconti in No. 1, Saturday's stage from Verona to a mountaintop finish at Alpe di Pampeago might shake things up.
Flat
There was no terrain whatsoever in Friday's flat stage. Two cyclists, Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis – Le Crédit par Téléphone) and Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Euskaltel – Euskadi) had an early breakaway that survived until about 6 miles to go.
On the loop around Cittadella, High Road took a turn at the lead, as well as AG2R and Milram. CyclingNews describes Bennati attacking early, Cavendish grabbing his wheel instead of his teammate's, and the two battling to the finish line.
Erik Zabel, Milram's sprinter, couldn't quite make it a three-man battle and was passed by Euskatel's Koldo Fernandez at the finish.
Cavendish also won Stage 4, again passing Bennati.
Mountains
Stage 14 marks a return to the mountains on Saturday and Sunday. I had predicted a major reshuffling in an earlier mountain stage, but that didn't materialize.
It seems that this would be the time for the major contenders to make their moves, although Visconti has proven to be very resilient in the pink jersey over the past eight stages.
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