Giro d'Italia Live; 2007 Results, Photos and Video

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Stage 21 Results
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram
2 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
3 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep-Innergetic
4 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caff� Mokambo
5 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Predictor-Lotto

Final General classification
1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas             92.59.39
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                   1.55
3 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana                   2.25
4 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir  3.15
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital        3.49
6 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir   7.00
7 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System     8.34
8 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - Fondital     10.14
9 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas             10.44
10 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne   11.58

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Stage 18 results: Alessandro Pettachi jumps from 800m out and easily holds off the sprinter depleted field
Udine → Riese Pio X, 203k (very flat)

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Stage 18 Preview

Paolo Tiralongo (Lampre-Fondital) walks his broken bike across the line after getting caught in the final corner crash:

Stage 18 Race Summary

There was a crash at the front on the final corner, but fortunately the two riders slid out of the way just before the field came through. Ag2R rider Aliaksandr Usau caught a pedal and he'll have some sore road rash on his left thigh tonight! The race was very fast, finishing the 203k course well ahead of the expected arrival time at 4:32:51 (45.739 kph) making it difficult for the early break of seven riders to stay away. There were no relevant changes in the GC standings today. — Steve

Stage 18 Results: 203km in 4:32:51 (45.739 kph)
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram, 
2 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare
3 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC

Stage 17 results: Gilberto Simoni wins Monte Zoncolan and moves up into 3rd in GC; Di Luca is looking rosy for the overall title.
Lienz → Monte Zoncolan, 142k (mountainous)

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Stage 17 Preview

May 30th 15:12 CEST/ 9:12 EDT update:

Saunier Duval / Simoni and Piepoli crossing one-two: ( high-res victory salute photo) Di Luca and Cunego finished 31 and 37 seconds back, respectively: Gilberto Simoni celebrating his first win this year:

Stage 17 Race Summary

At the base of Monte Zoncolan, it was Saunier Duval's Iban Mayo who got the action started. Shortly afterwards, Gilberto Simoni went to the front dropping the Gruppo Maglia Rosa and passing several riders from the earlier break. If he was going to catch Danilo Di Luca in GC, he needed to make something happen early on. He did put some distance on Di Luca, but it was never that great. As Simoni settled in, an irrepressible Andy Schleck and Simoni's teammate Leonardo Piepoli joined him. Piepoli told Simoni to ease up so Piepoli could do some work. The three riders caught the remaining riders from the break in the final kilometers. With 200m to go, Piepoli accelerated while Simoni hesitated briefly until it was clear Schleck had nothing left. Simoni and Piepoli raised their arms as they crossed the line together. Di Luca only lost 31 seconds or 51 seconds with Simoni's time bonus and still has a solid lead of 2'24" over Andy Schleck. Simoni has now moved into 3rd overall since Eddy Mazzoleni has slipped from 2nd to 5th in GC as a result of finishing 13th today, 2'26" back of Simoni's winning time.

Andy Schleck is a better time-trialer than Di Luca, but 2'24" is too much time to make up in Saturday's 43k time-trial. Simoni is only four seconds back of Schleck, but he's probably more focused on keeping his podium position since Damiano Cunego and especially Mazzoleni are better time-trialers. Damiano Cunego is one-minute back in 4th and Eddy Mazzoleni is 1'18" back in 5th. — Steve

Full Results — Cyclingnews
Full Report — VeloNews
The Archived Live Text
Graham Watson's Stage 17 Photos
Roberto Bettini's Stage 17 Photos
Cyclingnews/Luc Claessen Stage 17 Photos

Stage 16 results: Stefano Garzelli gets his 2nd Giro stage win this year with a solo attack 35k from the finish in Austria
Agordo → Lienz, Austria. 189k (hilly then flat)

Stage 16 Preview

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Stage 16 Race Summary

Stage 16 Results 1 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 2 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Ag2r Prevoyance 3 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Tinkoff Credit Systems 4 Jose Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 5 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 6 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 7 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems 8 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Quickstep-Innergetic

Full Results — Cyclingnews Full Report — VeloNews Live Text Report Graham Watson's Stage 16 Photos Roberto Bettini's Stage 16 Photos Cyclingnews/Sirotti Stage 16 Photos

Stefano Garzelli broke free on the stiff little hills 35k from the finish and stayed away:
Five guys couldn't reel in Garzelli or get within 30 seconds:

Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne) urging his breakmates (Lastras Laurent Mangel (Ag2r Prevoyance), Ricardo Serrano (Tinkoff Credit Systems), Jose Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel), Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) to pick up the pace but they had heavy legs; however, the heavy leggers did find the energy to cross the finish line ahead of Pablo Lastras:

Stage 15 results: Saunier-Duval's Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli cross one-two; Simoni loses time again to Di Luca
Trento → Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 184k (very mountainous)

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Stage 15 Preview

Yesterday's thrilling race will be hard to top, but as Velonews puts it succinctly: "Sunday's [today's] monumental mountain stage from Trento [Simoni's hometown] to Tre Cime Di Lavaredo in the Dolomites will be even more selective, and Simoni will be expected to use his superior climbing to test Di Luca to his limits." Simoni accomplished Saturday's result while saving his super-domestique, Leonardo Piepoli. — Steve

Stage 15 Results
1 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir         5:47:22 (184km @ 31.781kph)
2 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir            st
3 Ivan Parra (Col) Cofidis                             0.10
4 Julio Perez (Mex) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare          0.32
5 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana                          1.29
6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas                        2.53
7 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir           3.30
8 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                 3.36
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                          3.52
10 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare      6.03
11 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                 6.07
12 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana                         st
13 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank                    6.27
14 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas                    6.59
15 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit System           7.11
 
General classification after stage 15
1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas                    68h00'55"
2 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana                          1.51"
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC                          2'56"
4 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir           3'19"
5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital                 3'23"
6 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir            3'39"
7 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                  6'05"
8 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare       7'02"

It may have been rainy and cold, but it was clear on the last climb that the winner would come from this group of four early escapees: L-R: Julio Perez (Mex) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, Ivan Parra (Col) Cofidis, Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir, Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir: Saunier Duval-Prodir's Leonardo Piepoli and Riccardo Ricco surged in the final 200m: Riccardo Ricco crosses first: Saunier Duval can celebrate but Simoni lost time: Eddy Mazzoleni (5th) tried to bridge up on the last climb, but found himself in no man's land neither gaining or losing time: Maglia Rosa, Di Luca, had more energy than Simoni all day and dropped him in the final 4k: The winner keeping warm while waiting for his interview:

Stage 15 Race Summary

Early on, Gilberto Simoni's domestiques, Leonardo Piepoli and Riccardo Ricco, along with others broke away from the gruppo Maglia Rosa. The group of 12 or so thinned out to four on the last climb to Tre Cime Di Lavaredo before the Saunier Duval teammates crossed one-two. They were most likely out front early to help Simoni build a lead over Danilo Di Luca if Di Luca faded. But, Di Luca didn't fade; in fact, he dropped Simoni on the final climb and crossed 34 seconds ahead of him. Clearly, Simoni's hard effort yesterday cost him today where as Di Luca relied on his teammates to chase. Today, Di Luca's Liquigas teammates were nowhere in sight, but he did fine without them. Anybody else surprised at how well Di Luca climbed the steep sections which is suppose to be his weakness?

The slow pace of riders crossing the finish line is an indication of the steep severity of Tre Cime Di Lavaredo and not from enjoying the spectactular Dolomites scenery. — Steve

Full Results — Cyclingnews
Full Report — VeloNews
Live Text Report
Roberto Bettini's Stage 15 Photos
Graham Watson's Stage 15 Photos
Cyclingnews: Bettini/Sirotti Stage 15 Photos

Stage 14 results: A sensational race and finish in Bergamo, the most thrilling this year... Garzelli denies an aggressive Simoni who picks up 38 + 12 seconds in GC
Cantu' → Bergamo, 192k (mountainous)

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Stage 14 Preview

Simoni attacked the seven man break in the old city: only Garzelli could stay close on the steep hill: Garzelli taking advantage of a poorly positioned motorcycle: the sling-shot effect helped reel in Simoni with 350m to go: a sharp 90 degree turn before the head home: The finish wasn't close enough for Simoni: Garzelli catches Simoni in the last 50m: Italian kisses...

Stage 14 Race Summary

As expected, the longest climb of the Giro, Passo di San Marco, ripped apart the peloton. Going over first were Fortunato Baliani (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) and then Sylvester Szmyd (Lampre-Fondital), Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), Ivan Parra (Cofidis), Jose Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel) and Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile). But, they were simply the rabbits.

The real action started when Astana boys Eddy Mazzoleni and Paolo Savoldelli attacked the Maglia Rosa on the difficult descent... Savoldelli's specialty. They were chasing the lead group which was joined by Paulo Bettini and Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo). Meanwhile, more strong descenders were attacking Danilo Di Luca, including Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir).

Near the end of the hairy descent and before the run up to the next categorized climb, all three groups merged into a big, all-star threat to Liquigas and Lampre. (Liquigas had Franco Pellizotti sitting, strategically, in the back of the lead group).

Up the category 2 climb, La Trinta-Dossena, the leaders' advantage hovered around one minute. Iban Mayo buried himself for his team captain, Simoni. The pace was too much for Michael Rasmussen, the reigning Tour de France King of the Mountains, who soon went out the back. Simoni then led much of the way up the rest of the climb. Liquigas's Pellizotti was told to fall back and pull the gruppo Maglia Rosa, which he did quite easily. At the top, the lead was still around a minute and it remained that way when the break and chase hit the flats. On the treacherous descent of La Trinta-Dossena, Andy Schleck (CSC) took a spill on one of the sharp corners, but was able to chase back on.

Throughout the entire run into Bergamo, the lead continued to hover around one minute. Up front, the group of seven (Bettini, Parra, Mazzoleni, Savoldelli, Garzelli, Simoni and Baliani) were in team time-trial mode with Savoldelli taking big pulls and Simoni doing more than his share. Behind, team captains, Di Luca and Damiano Cunego were cracking the whip on their Liquigas and Lampre teammates.

The excitement in this race escalated even further when the riders hit the steep hill called Strappo della Boccola in the old city of Bergamo. Simoni attacked the break and put a sizable gap on all six except for Garzelli. On the descent and flat stretch through the tricky streets in the new city of Bergamo, Garzelli was gaining ground. Once the riders rounded the final 90 degree corner, it was apparent Garzelli was going to catch Simoni. The finish line, indeed, wasn't close enough and Simoni lost in the final meters. But, Simoni gained 38 seconds on Di Luca plus the 12 second time bonus. Again it was a thrilling, thrilling race. Be sure to watch the archived RAI stage video.

In fact, if you view the video closely, you'll notice Garzelli was able to catch Simoni thanks to a draft behind a RAI motorcycle (see video still above-left). "Bravo, you helped him win!" Simoni shouted at the motorcycle driver shortly after crossing the line. Simoni may rightly feel he was denied a great win, but race fans will remember his efforts during one of the greatest Giro stages. — Steve

Full Results — Cyclingnews
Another Report — VeloNews
Live Text Report
Roberto Bettini's Stage 14 Photos
Graham Watson's Stage 14 Photos
Cyclingnews: Bettini/Sirotti Stage 14 Photos

Stage 13 results: Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital) is the surprise winner in 28'55", one second ahead of Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval-Prodir); Simoni loses more time
Biella → Oropa, 12.6k TT (mountainous)

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Stage 13 Preview

Final Results: 12.6km in 28:55 (26.144kph)
1 Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre-Fondital)                  28'55" (26.144kph)
2 Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval-Prodir)             28'56"
3 Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas)                           29'03"
4 David Zabriskie (Team CSC)                          29'14"
5 Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas)                        29'19"
6 Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone-Caff� Mokambo)     29'24"
7 Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana)                             29'28"

A surprise winner by one second... Di Luca is still sitting pretty... ... The Maglia Rosa finished third just 8 seconds back... Zabriskie was the intermediate leader... Simoni fell further back in GC with his 13th place finish...

Stage 13 Race Summary

Marzio Bruseghin beat his Lampre teammate, Damiano Cunego, and everyone else to the top of Santuario di Oropa just one second ahead of Stage 7's mountaintop winner, Leonardo Piepoli. Bruseghin is the current Italian Time Trial Champion, but given today's 12.6k mountain profile with an average grade of 5.8%, he is considered a surprise winner. The intermediate leader at all checkpoints, Danilo Di Luca, lost time at the end and finished 8 seconds back in third. David Zabriskie using stubby aerobars held the intermediate lead before getting bumped down to fourth. Gilberto Simoni had a bad day finishing over one minute back in 13th and lost more GC time to Di Luca. — Steve

Full Results — Cyclingnews
Full Report — VeloNews
Live Text Report
Graham Watson's Stage 13 Photos
Roberto Bettini's Stage 13 Photos
Cyclingnews/Sirotti Stage 13 Photos

Stage 12 results: Di Luca, Simoni, one-two in a terrific battle; Di Luca back in Maglia Rosa
Scalenghe → Briançon (FR), 163k (mountainous)

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Stage 12 Preview

High-res finish line photo

Stage 12 Race Summary

The real action was just behind the break. Saunier Duval sacrificed their super-domestiques Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli on the Cima Coppi, hoping to get some separation between their captain Gilberto Simoni and many of the GC contenders he needs to gain ground on. By the time the live video started, it looked like less than 20 guys were in the race. Piepoli did a great job dropping everyone except six riders. Unfortunately for Simoni, Danilo Di Luca was among the "select group of climbers" in the Piepoli train. In fact, Di Luca looked like the strongest guy all day and even won the Col d'Izoard KOM before being reeled in by Simoni, the better descender. Simoni also looked good softening up the group .

It was clear on the Col d'Izoard descent that the winner of the race would come from the lead group of Di Luca, Simoni, young rising star Andy Schleck (Team CSC), Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital). Cunego was dangling off the back on several occasions and it seemed certain he wouldn't have any pop for the power climb finish in Briancon. When the race charged through the narrow and sometimes pavé streets in Briancon, it was Di Luca and Schleck up front just ahead of Simoni. When Di Luca gave a dig for the last time, Schleck fell back and Simoni took his place. Di Luca was too strong though and Simoni lost by a bike length. Di Luca now has three Giro wins this year.

From this point on, we can resume a meaningful GC discussion. There is still lots of climbing left, but Di Luca is looking really good. Simoni will hope Di Luca encounters a bad day because that's what he'll need to make up 2'34". In between Di Luca and Simoni, are six guys with young Andy Schleck sitting smartly in third, 1'25" back. — Steve

Stage 11 results: Petacchi's 3rd victory is overshadowed by a slippery finish line crash
Serravalle Scrivia → Pinerolo, 198k (flat)

Stage 11 Preview

Stage 11 Race Summary

Stage 11 Results: 198k in 5h46'59"... slow 1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram 2 Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 5 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital

Archived live text report Full results — Cyclingnews Full report — VeloNews Graham Watson's Stage 11 Photos Roberto Bettini's Stage 11 Photos Cyclingnews/Sirotti Stage 11 Photos

Stage 10 results: "Proper climber" Leonardo Piepoli attacks with 4k to go and wins the hot, steep, painful mountaintop finish; Saunier Duval-Prodir looking strong
Lido di Camaiore → Santuario Nostra Signora della Guardia, 250k (mountainous)

Stage 10 Preview

May 22nd 17:30 CEST/ 11:30 EDT update:

Stage 10 Results: 250k in 6:19'07" (39.407 km/h) 1 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 0.18 3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0.27 4 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.32 5 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.41 6 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 0.41 7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.43 8 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 0.45 9 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) DSC 0.52 10 Andrea Noe (Ita), Liquigas 0.52 11 David Arroyo (Esp) Caisse d'Epargne 0.52 12 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Panaria 0.57 13 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) KOF 1.17 14 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre 1.22 15 Iban Mayo (Esp) Saunier Duval 1.41 16 Patxi Vila (Esp) Lampre 1.48 17 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 1.52 18 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Panaria 1.54 19 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua e Sapone 2.07 20 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Panaria 2.16 ... Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile 4.30 General classification after stage 10 1 Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas 2 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 3 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Fondital Full Results — Cyclingnews Full Report — VeloNews Live report: read how it unfolded Graham Watson's Stage 10 Photos Cyclingnews/Sirotti Stage 10 Photos Roberto Bettini's Stage 10 Photos High-res victory salute photo

Stage 10 Race Summary

A hard working group of six including George Hincapie spent a lot of effort as the rabbits on this day trying to stay ahead of the fast moving field. Everyone in the break faded badly on the last climb except Ivan Parra who finished 2:42 down. George Hincapie lost over eight minutes in the final 6k. Four or five sprinters, including JJ Haedo, threw in the towel less than half way through the day. — Steve

Stages 1 thru 9 have been archived

Live coverage and streaming options

  Giro d'Italia viewing options:
• Online/English: Cycling.tv/Versus — $24 U.S.
• TV-Radio/Italian: RAI Int'l — $11 U.S. (contact your cable operator )
• Online/Italian: RAI or Audio/English: Eurosport — Free
• Text/English: Cyclingnews or Eurosport— Free
• DVD/English: Pre-order the DVD from World Cycling — $49 U.S.

The pre-game show: the contenders and the course

The two top contenders were once loving teammates; Damiano Cunego & Gilberto Simoni before the split.

This year's Giro is shaping up to be a battle between former teammates Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni who are literally the odds on favorites according to Unibet. PezCyclingNews has a good preview with lots of action photos from past years. Simoni says he's stronger than last year when he placed third second first! Also, checkout John Wilcockson's route analysis: Spectacular opening, vicious finale — Steve

Official Start List with rider numbers

watch the video

Pinocchio photo courtesy of gsomar

Overshadowed in today's news was the release of the Official Preliminary Start List with rider numbers. During the week, I'll be keeping track of the revised rosters (see right). No one in the original Operación Puerto dossier including Tinkoff Credit Systems riders, Tyler Hamilton and Jorg Jaksche will be racing. (update: both riders have now been suspended by Tinkoff). The new dossier now includes 50 more riders so the dragnet is far from over. On a more positive note, George Hincapie will make his Giro debut as a replacement for the injured Tomas Vaitkus in Discovery Channel's line-up. — Steve

The 2007 Giro d'Itaila team rosters

April 24th update: Basso's Giro participation in doubt

The 2007 Giro d'Itaila Teams

This year's winner, Ivan Basso, gave thumbs up to next year's easier Giro route at the official rollout (photo: Steve Hill)

So far, we know the 2007 Giro d'Italia event dates, May 12^th to June 3^rd, with the island of Sardinia hosting the opening prologue and the first three stages. The Giro d'Italia 2007 route announcement date was rumored to be mid-November, but sportitalia.com (among others) has pegged Saturday, December 2nd as the rollout date. I'm keeping track of route rumors below as I receive/learn more details and the stage details table (see right) will be filled in when the official announcement is made. If there is something you wish to add or correct then send me an email. Each day during the Giro, we'll find and link to the best live feed. As content becomes available, the "live", "results", "photos" and "video" links will be activated.
— Steve

Giro d'Italia 2007 Route Map