March 28, 2007

Ventoso scores again!

Castilla y Leon: Ventoso wins

Ventoso makes it two in a row, Riccò second in Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali.

Francisco Ventoso was the fastest man in stage 3 of the 22nd edition of Vuelta a Castilla y León, a 157km race from Salamanca to Valladolid. The SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR rider took his second straight victory in the Spanish stage race. Ventoso was the strongest in the final uphill stretch, where he outsprinted all his rivals.

Today, there was a small breakaway group that formed early in the stage, including Adrian Palomares (Fuerteventura-Canarias), Luis Pérez (Andalucía-Cajasur) and Ivan Gilmartín (Viña Magna-Cropu). After leading for more than 100 kilometres, they were caught by the chasing peloton, with Rubén Lobato working for teammate Ventoso. The 24 year-old sprinter from SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR, born in Reinosa, Cantabria, showed his skills in the final kilometre, proving especially strong in the last 250 metres and grabbing his second victory this season and his sixth in four years as a pro.

Tomorrow, the queen stage of the race will take the riders over 154 kilometres from Valladolid over category one Alto de Navacerrada, with the finish line on the mountain top.

Riccò almost made it in Settimana Coppi e Bartali Italian Riccardo Riccò was just about to take the honors and bring the second victory of the day to the yellow team, who have won seven times this year. This is quite a remarkable fact, since by the same time last year, SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR hadn´t notched any victories. The big revelation of the world peloton came in 2nd in stage 2 of the 2007 Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, covering 175 kilometres between Castel San Pietro Terme and Faenza. Riccó was the second best of a group of six leaders created on the Monte Trebbio, with 20 kilometres to go, only overpowered by Michele Scarponi (Acqua & Sapone).

Riccò was one of the front men, also including Scarponi, Michael Rogers (T-Mobile), and Morris Possoni (Lampre-Fondital), who chased Kanstantsin Siutsou (Team Barloworld) and Massimo Giunti (Miche), who had attacked and opened a gap. With just a few metres to go, the yellow squad left it to Ricco to make the headlines, realizing that he was the fastest man on the team. But Scarponi took advantage of the situation: he made a surprisingly smart and timely move and took the honours from the young man in yellow. Nevertheless, our man´s outstanding performance gave him a lift to the fourth place in the GC, while Luca Pierfelici (Aurum Hotels) moved atop the overall standings.

Tomorrow, riders will cover 165 kilometres from Scandiano to Serramazzoni. The stage will end in a challenging climb, and Riccò will surely seek to wear the leader's jersey.