Bruseghin Wins Stage 10 of Giro

News & Results

05/21/2008| 0 comments
by Gerald Churchill

Bruseghin Wins Stage 10 of Giro

Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) has won Stage 10 of the Giro.

Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) has won Stage 10 of the Giro. Bruseghin powered over the 39.4-km time trial course from Pesaro to Urbino, winning in 56:41. Alberto Contador (Astana) finished second at 0:08, and Contador's teammate Andreas Kloeden took third at 0:20. Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) remains the maglia rosa.

Tony Martin (High Road) set the early standard with a 58:54. Martin's time was the fastest until Vladimir Gusev (Astana) posted a 58:48 90 minutes later. Gusev led the stage for five minutes until Italian time trial champion Marco Pinotti (High Road) finished in 57:17. By the time Pinotti finished, however, Kloeden and Bruseghin were on the road. Bruseghin finished first and assumed the lead, and ultimately, the stage win. Not long after, Kloeden posted his third-place time. Contador decided to ride conservatively during the latter stages of the time trial, but he was still good enough to claim the runner-up spot. The Spaniard has claimed that he is short on form because Astana received an 11th-hour invitation to the Giro, but his competitors no longer believe his assertion. He did announce that he suffered a minor elbow break in a Stage 8 crash, but the injury does not seem to hinder him. The Dolomites and the Alps, however, lie ahead.

Astana was today's big winner. Contador and Kloeden are potential Giro winners, and other teams will have to watch them when the race moves into the Dolomites and the Alps next week. Levi Leipheimer (Astana) was expected to perform well in the time trial and to contend for overall victory, but his ninth-place finish at 1:01 will probably relegate him to the role of domestique. But what a domestique!

Another winner was Visconti. The maglia rosa finished 2:57 ahead of Matthias Russ (Gerolsteiner), who is in second place overall, to tighten his grip on the race lead. The Quick Stepper will probably remain in the pink until this weekend.

Two big losers were defending champion Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes) and Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval). The former finished 19th at 2:11, while the latter crashed en route to finishing 16th at 2:04. Di Luca's hopes of repeating as Giro champion are jeopardized, while Ricco might still make the podium with a mishap-free second half of the race.

In the overall, Visconti leads Russ by 3:31 and Gabriele Bosisio (LPR Brakes) by 5:50. Stage 12 will not change matters. The rugged, 199-km ride from Urbania to Cesena will probably see escapees take the day's honors. Who will they be? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!   

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