Translated material
Italian fiefdom
The Giro stage race was won for the 11th time in a row by the owner of the track
The second most important stage race, the Giro d'Italia, finished in Milan, second in popularity only to the Tour de France. For the 11th season in a row, the Giro remains the undivided domain of the track owners. The victory in the general classification was again won by the Italian - Danilo Di Luca from the Liquigas team. He tried on the pink jersey of the overall leader after the second stage, then gave it to his compatriot and teammate Enrico Gasparotti, after which the coveted tights went to Marco Pinotti and Andrea Noe, returning to Di Luca at the finish of the 12th stage.The current Giro marked the debut at races of this level of the Russian-Italian team of the second professional division Tinkoff, invited by wild card. Credit systems". The sports goals set for the race by the owner of the cycling group Oleg Tinkov and sports director Dmitry Konyshev turned out to be exceeded. A performance in which one of the team members could reach Milan in the top 10 of the overall standings was to be considered successful. Tinkoff leader Evgeny Petrov showed the total time of seventh, that is, thanks to the support of his partners, he coped with his functions “excellently.” The dream of winning one of the stages turned out to be unfulfilled, but the Olympic champion of Athens in the track points race, Mikhail Ignatiev, received a prize for the most aggressive rider at the end of the entire Giro. It is awarded to the participant who was in the lead more often than others. The race commissioners counted 469 km for the St. Petersburger, spent in escapes at various stages, provided that the leading group does not exceed a dozen cyclists. Ignatiev was more than 104 km ahead of the second in this category, Frenchman Michel Buffaz.
“Tinkovites” showed maximum activity in the flat stages and held firm in the mountains. It is very important for the debut team that eight of the nine starting riders were able to complete the entire route. The only loss was the death of 19-year-old Ivan Rovny. The most difficult 17th stage with a mountain finish to the top of Zoncolan turned out to be triumphant for Konyshev’s team. The Spaniard Ricardo Serrano took third place, the seventh result was shown by the Italian Salvatore Commesso, and as a result, Tinkoff won two team trophies at once - according to the time of the three best riders and according to the sum of points scored in the sprint and mountain awards.
In addition to Petrov, the impressive company of Italians in the top ten of the general classification was diluted by the sensational second prize-winner, Luxembourger Andy Schleck and Spaniard David Arroyo (10th position). Eddie Mazzoleni (Kazakh Astana) had the overall third time, followed by the previous Giro winners Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego in the final standings. The title of the most active rider and the crimson jersey went to the recognized sprinter Alessandro Petacchi. The Italian won five of the 21 stages, including the last one on the streets of Milan. The best "miner" of the Giro is also the owner of the track - Leonardo Piepoli.
The Giro coincided with a number of scandalous confessions made by famous riders of the present and past. To name only the most famous, the leader of the world peloton in terms of the number of victories at individual stages and in one-day races, German sprinter Erik Zabel, and the 1996 Tour de France triumphant, Danish Bjarne Riis, who is now the general manager of the CSC team, were guilty of doping. Someone released information to the media that traces of doping were found in Di Luca’s “A” sample taken directly at the Giro. True, this information has not yet been confirmed. However, the situation in modern cycling is such that no revelations can be sensational.