Marino Palandri wins first stage of Friuli Venezia Giulia 2011 Tour
Marino Palandri of Gragnano Sporting Club Team won the first white jersey of the Friuli Venezia Giulia 2011. The race started in Udine and ended at Motta di Livenza.
Palandri took a total of 3 hours, 13 minutes and 25 seconds to cover the distance of 157.3 kilometres.
His Grangnano Sporting Club teammates kept the race under control in the closing kilometers of one of Italian’s top classics. Palandri powered across the line comfortably ahead of Italian, Massimo Graziato of the Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli team.
Patrick Bercz of the German National Road Espoirs team was in third spot behind Marino. Andrea Guderzo also showed his good performance in the race but he wasn’t able to cross the group of 20 riders and finished 21st with the difference of 5 seconds.
There are three sprints and one mountain in the race. The first sprint of the race covered 32.4 kilometres. A group of 3 riders, Nicolas Francesconi, Stefan Kirchmair and Eugert Zhupa, made an early break. But after a few kilometres, Nicolas Francesconi
took the lead and gained an advantage of 5 points.
However, in second sprint after 46 kilometres, Nicolas didn’t control the situation and Italian rider Piergiacomo Marcolina took a lead with 5 points ahead of Nicolas. When the race entered in Motta di Livenza, Marcolina maintained his lead in the last sprint
of the race.
The Palazzago team got an advantage of 55 seconds and dominated the 16 km circuit. This enabled the group to cross the finish line before the arrival of Motta. But in the final 4 kilometres, Palandri maintained his speed and crossed the group of 21 riders,
achieving an overall victory.
Palandri got the fifth victory of his career. After winning the stage, he said, "This victory pays me a very dark period. The team with which I ran last year had left me without a contract and I was tempted to drop everything, but Gragnano gave me confidence
and this is the best way to pay it off."
The next stage will start in Azzano Decimo and end at Pordenone. All the riders will cover the distance of 166.8 km.
Ranking points:
1. Palandri Marino of Gragnano Sporting Club Team, 25 pts
2. Graziano Massimo of Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli Team, 20 pt
3. Bercz Patrick of German National Road Espoirs Team, 16 pt
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