Roman Kreuziger wins final stage and Michele Scarponi takes overall lead at Giro del Trentino
Roman Kreuziger of Astana team won the fourth and final stage of the Giro del Trentino on Friday, April 22, 2011. Kreuziger covered the distance of 161.5 kilometres in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 3 seconds. The race started in Madonna and ended at Madonna di Campiglio.
Emanuele Sella of the Androni Giocattoli team finished as runner-ups. Yaroslav Popovych of the RadioShack team was also part of the winning break and grabbed the third position with a difference of eight seconds.
After winning the last stage Kreuziger said "Maybe victory came by accident but I don’t care and I feel happy for myself and the whole team.” Previously, Kreuziger was placed ninth overall in the Tour de France race and attained the fifth spot in the Amstel Gold Race.
After the Paris-Nice race, Kreuziger was not in action anymore. He needed to keep the competition at pace but after winning this stage he felt confident to start the next Giro d’ltalia race.
In the beginning of the race, a group of five riders consisting of Roman Kreuziger, Emanuele Sella, Yaroslav Popovych, Montaguti and Vicioso got away from the rest of the pack. All of the five riders worked really hard to maintain their five minutes advantage but in the final climb, Roman take a lead to the peloton and a victory ahead of the other riders.
Michele Scarponi of the Lampre-ISD team showed a brilliant performance in the stage and took the leader’s jersey. He took the overall classification with the timing of 13 hours, 54 minutes and 7 seconds. Taigo Machado of the RadioShack team was runner-up with a difference of 7 seconds while Luca Ascani was in third place with the difference of 33 second.
After taking the overall classification Scarponi said, "My aim in the Giro del Trentino was to test my fitness approaching the Giro d'Italia. I think that I'm good and the victory in the overall standings indicates a consistency in good performance." Scarponi also added that he felt confident that the entire team was very strong and that they could face all types of situation in the future.
In last climb of the race, Michele Scarponi and his teammates worked hard to cover the gap. Scarponi especially had to watch out for Tiago Machado of the RadioShack team because he was only seven seconds behind the GC leader. After a few kilometres, Scarponi flew past Machado and crossed the finish line ahead of the Portuguese.
A quick view of the top five in the Giro del Trentino so far, is as follows
1. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana, 4hrs:09min: 03secs
2. Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli team
3. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack team, 8secs
4. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Europcar team, 24secs
5. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack team
A quick view of the overall standing is as follow:
1. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD team, 13hrs:54min: 07secs
2. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack team, 7secs
3. Luca Ascani (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci – Nippo team, 33secs
4. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox team, 35secs
5. Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team, 38secs
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