This is not the year for Alessandro Petacchi at the Giro d' Italia. The other sprinters are gunning for him, and luck is not on his side.
The winner of nine stages in last year's Giro bicycle race, the Ale-Jet has been hosed at the line a couple of times earlier this week after brilliant lead-outs by his Fassa Bortolo team. On Friday, his team drove into the barricades rounding a turn in the final lap in Marina di Grosseto, leaving several on the ground and Petacchi virtually alone back in the peloton, according to the live call at CyclingNews.
Another Italian sprinter, Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step), has emerged as the main force on the first week of the three-week Giro this year.
Australian Robbie McEwen won the 95-mile stage between Viterbo and Marina di Grosseto in the Tuscany region on Friday; his second stage win in the Giro. But Bettini regained the pink leader's jersey for the overall lead in the race as he crossed the line well before Danilo Di Luca.
Bettini has won just one stage in this first week of the Giro, which started with Saturday's prologue, but he's parlayed that into gaining the pink leader's jersey for four days.
Bettini thought he had another stage win on Wednesday, but the judges ruled he had pushed Australian sprinter Baden Cooke into the barricades near the finish and awarded the win to another sprinter. Bettini at first claimed he did nothing, then he said his steering was momentarily affected by a chain slip.
In his frustration, he joined a breakaway on Thursday that was reeled in with just 11 miles to go. Today, he briefly attacked in the morning but stayed with the peloton the rest of the day.
Overall, Bettini isn't expected to survive with the pink jersey once the race enters the mountains. Two former Giro champions — Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni — are currently in 5th and 10th place respectively, well poised to take the lead.
The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team's leader, Paolo Savoldelli, is about 20 places behind but within easy striking distance.
The first 50-60 miles of Friday's stage had some hills, while the final run into Marina di Grosseto was flat. They covered the course in about 3 hours and 37 minutes.
Jaan Kirispuu (Credit Agricole) finished second and Volodymyr Bileka (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team) was awarded third place in the sprint.
Saturday's 130-mile stage is generally flat until a short steep climb about 13 miles from the end with a steep descent. In addition to live reports on CyclingNews and VeloNews, a delayed broadcast will be shown on the Outdoor Life Network from 5-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
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