general

Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) took the sprint victory in Frosinone, steering clear from a crash in the final turn to take the win ahead of Fabio Felline (Androni Giocattoli) and Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack-Nissan).  Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini – Selle Italia) took out Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge), as well as Mark Cavendish (Sky) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank).

Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel), Brian Bulgac (Lotto-Belisol) and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil) established a 4 minute break early in the stage.  Keizer was the last rider to succumb to the chasing peloton in the final 20km.  Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) launched a solo attack in the final 7km.  He was initially joined by 3 other riders, but dropped them with another attack.  Liquigas-Cannondale and Garmin-Barracuda chased Rodriguez down – once he was caught, Pozzato lauched an attack, but was brought back in.  Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) was next to try his luck, but he too was unsuccessful.  The GC remains unchanged, with Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin – Barracuda) leading 9 seconds ahead of Rodriguez, and 15 seconds ahead of Paolo Tiralongo (Astana).

Photos from SteepHill.

Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) won the opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California, sprinting ahead of Heinrich Haussler (Garmin – Barracuda) and Fred Rodriguez (Team Exergy).

Maxime Boulet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Jeff Louder (UnitedHealthcare), David Boily (Spidertech-C10), Andrew Dahlheim (Bissell), Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell), Sebastian Salas (Optum pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategies), Josh Atkins (Bontrager-Livestrong) and Sam Johnson (Team Exergy) formed the break of the day – the break quickly gained 5 minutes over the peloton, and capped their lead at 11 minutes.  RadioShack-Nissan chased back in the peloton, bringing the gap down to 5:20 by the time the break hit the bottom of Coleman Valley.  Boulet, Louder and Jacques-Maynes accelerated ahead away from the other riders in the break.  Rabobank reeled back the break, and 20km left from the finish line, a select lead group of 70 riders rode towards the finish in Santa Rosa.  A crash in the final 3km took out Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and 4 Bissell riders.  Sagan flatted in the last 8km but was able to recover, and avoid the crash to take the win.

Photos from SteepHill.

Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF Inox) took the solo win atop the Lago Laceno, attacking 7km from the finish.  Pozzavivo finished 23 seconds ahead of Benat Intxausti (Movistar) and 27 seconds ahead of Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

Andrey Amador (Movistar), Julien Bérard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Miguel Mínguez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)formed the break of the day 29km into the race – they opened up an 11 minute lead.  After 160km raced, Marczynski accelerated, dropping Bérard and Mínguez.  With Katusha putting work back in the peloton, the gap fell rapidly in the final 35km.  Amador and Marczynski were caught with 17km remaining.  Astana led the peloton through the Colle Molella, and Liquigas-Cannondale took over shortly thereafter.  Pozzovivo placed his attack, holding his lead until the very end.  Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin – Barracuda) remains in the GC lead, with Rodriguez 9 seconds down, and Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) 15 seconds down.

Photos from SteepHill.

Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) took the steep, uphill win at the Rocca di Cambio on stage 7 of the Giro.  Tiralongo finished ahead of Michele Scarponi (Lampre – ISD), 3 seconds ahead of Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin – Barracuda).

Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM), Fumiyuki Beppu (Orica-GreenEdge) and Reto Hollenstein (Team NetApp) were the first riders off the front of the peloton – Beppu crossed the top of the Colle Galluccio first, with the peloton crossing 7:49 later.  With 64km remaining, the break had 6:40 – 40km later, at the intermediate sprint of the day, their gap was at 2:50.  Rabottini placed a solo attack on the approached to the final climb of the day, the category 2 Rocca di Cambio.  Stef Clement (Rabobank) placed an attack, but was reeled back in - Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago-CSF Inox) was the next rider to try his luck, and was able to bridge up to Beppu, Hollenstein and Selvaggi with 16km left to race.  Pirazzi passed the trio, continuing to climb by himself.  Overnight leader, Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD), began slipping back on the climb.  3km later, Pirazzi caught Rabottini – back in the peloton, Jose Herrada (Movistar) accelerated to catch the 2 riders up front with 12km remaining.  Pirazzi and Herrada dropped Rabottini, with the peloton 22 seconds down.  Pirazzi nearly took a wrong turn in the closing kilometers, while Herrada attacked.  Both were caught in the final kilometer, which cued Tiralongo and Scarponi to accelerate.

Hesjedal moves into 1st in the GC, 15 seconds ahead of Tiralongo, and 17 seconds ahead of Rodriguez.

Photos from SteepHill.

Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giocattoli) took the solo win in Porto Sant’Elpidio on stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia.  Adriano Malori (Lampre – ISD), Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana), and Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp) finished 1:10 down from Rubiano.  The main peloton finished 1:51 down.

Rubiano, Malori and Golas were the first riders to attack, 40km into the race.  Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Jack Bauer (Garmin-Barracuda) and Luke Roberts (Saxo Bank) joined the group shortly thereafter to form a break of 6.  Rubiano attacked 45km from the finish line, splintering the group.  Malori, Golas, Benedetti and Dyachenko were part of the first chase group while Bauer, Roberts and Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) were in the second.  With 27km left to race, Rubiano held one minute over the chasing group, and 4:33 ahead of the peloton.

Malori moved into 1st place in the GC – Golas is in 2nd place, 15 seconds down, while Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin – Barracuda) is in 4th, 17 seconds down.  Rubiano moved into 4th place in the GC, 30 seconds down.  Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda), Thor Hushovd (BMC) and Roman Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) were unable to complete the stage, and dropped out of the race.  Overnight GC leader, Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) finished 127th, 15:40 down from Rubiano.

Photos from SteepHill.