June 12, 2008

Capecchi wins stage and race

cyclingnews.com

Italian rider Eros Capecchi (Saunier Duval) has won the third stage of the Euskal Bizikleta. The 21 year-old beat Basque rider Igor Antón (Euskaltel Euskadi) and compatriot Luca Pierfelici from Acqua e Sapone. With the stage win, Capecchi also became the overall winner of the Euskal Bizikleta, ahead of Antón and Contentpolis Murcia's Adrián Palomares. The stage from Eibar to the Sanctuary of Arrate over 150.7 kilometers was marked by many breakaways, but ultimately the race was decided on the last climb to Arrate.



"On the last ascent, Matxin told me that I should be very calm because it was still a long way from the summit to the finish," said a happy Capecchi. "Giampaolo Caruso helped me on the ascent, but I was quite strong. I recovered well from the Giro - the three weeks there were hard but a great experience."

Igor Antón was satisfied with his second place. "I always watched this race since I was a child, so I know it very well. I began to attack 1.5 kilometers before the summit, but then I had no more strength in my legs, I was not able to follow Capecchi. I am content with my second place, even if it is a disappointment for the team. I knew that I had a lot of responsibility, but the tension was not too high."

"We can't complain," said Adrián Palomares. "Contentpolis Murcia did a great race - until today we were leading. The idea was to try to win the race with Julián Sánchez Pimienta, who would have deserved a victory. But Igor [Antón] and Eros [Capecchi] were too strong. In the last ascent I tried my legs, but it was impossible for me to win."

How it unfolded

At 13:10, 100 children from the little town of Eibar accompanied the remaining 96 riders on the first kilometers of the neutralised start, showing that cycling in the Basque country is still alive and well. Even if some showers eclipsed the sky in the morning, punctually to the start of this last stage of the Euskal Bizikleta 2008 the sun appeared and promised another great day of cycling.




The first attack occurred 9 kilometers into the race. After Mekolalde, Tinkoff's Daniele Contrini and Diego Caccia from Barloworld tried their luck. In Bergara, Karpin Galicia's Delio Fernández and Eduard Vorganov, Contrini's teammate Walter Pedraza and Manuel Vázquez from Contentpolis Murcia, joined the duo in front. But the peloton was not willing to let them go. The next group that escaped consisted of once again Caccia, Vorganov, Tinkoff's Ricardo Serrano, Extremadura's Xabat Otxotorena and Ignacio Sarabia, Luigi Sestili from Ceramica Flaminia and José Vicente Toribio from Burgos Monumental. But again, the peloton chased them down.

The first difficulty of the day, the third categorised Alto de Udana, was passed first by Euskaltel's Egoi Martínez, ahead of José Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d'Epargne).  After 36.6 kilometers the peloton passed the little town of Legazpi, the start of this year's Vuelta al País Vasco, and only four kilometers later, a group of fourteen riders escaped. Caisse d'Epargne's Imanol Erviti was accompanied by Euskaltel Euskadi's Jorge Azanza, Barloworld's Paolo Longo, Iker Camaño and Jesús del Nero (Saunier Duval), Acqua e Sapone's Massimo Codol, Karpin Galicia's David García, Iban Mayoz and Eduard Vorganov, Nikita Eskov from Tinkoff, Ceramica's Tomasz Marczynsku, Andalucia's José Antonio Carrasco and José Herrada from Contentpolis Murcia. During the next twenty kilometers, this group was able to maintain a lead of 1 minute and 38 seconds.

100 kilometers after the start, Azanza and Mayoz were able to breakaway from their mates, and Mayoz won the Meta Volante sprint in Eibar. Just after having crossed the town, the second mountain of the day, the Alto de Ixua, began to challenge the peloton. Euskaltel Euskadi lead the peloton, and so the advantage of the duet in front diminished to 1 minute. Salgueiro and Marczynski were able to reach the two in front, but Azanza could not longer stay their rhythm. The Polish Maczynski won the mountain classification of the first categorised Alto de Ixua ahead of Mayoz, Salgueiro, Adrián Palomares and Manuel Vázquez (Contentpolis Murcia). The same order was noted in the second category Alto de San Miguel, fourteen kilometers later.

The peloton did not allow the escapees to get more than 24 seconds of a lead. Just before the second passage of Eibar, the duet was chased down by the peloton. Then, Nikita Esckov tried to escape, but only to take the sprint in Eibar. Later on, Barloworld's Moises Dueñas tried his luck. The peloton chased him down, too. In the ascent to the first-categorised sanctuary of Arrate, Igor Antón attacked and was the first to take the mountain classification, ahead of Capecchi and Ceramica's Giampaolo Caruso. The last two kilometers were descending, and Capecchi was able to reach Antón and to win the Euskal Bizikleta.