CAROVIGNO, Italy, 18 May 2004 — American Fred Rodriguez showed that Alessandro Petacchi can be beaten in the sprint finishes at the Giro d’Italia when he won the ninth stage from Policoro to Carovigno in the heel of the Italian peninsular.
Colombian-born Rodriguez won his first ever Giro stage by outfoxing Petacchi and the other sprinters at the end of yesterday’s 142 km stage by jumping first about three hundred meters from the finish line.
He opened up a slight gap and held off the Italian’s strong sprint by half a bike length to take the victory. Angelo Furlan of Italy was third with Robbie McEwen of Australia fourth. Damiano Cunego of Italy retained his 10-second overall race lead on his compatriot and team mate Gilberto Simoni after they finished 16th and 15th respectively. Franco Pellizotti of Italy is third 28 seconds behind after coming home in 19th place.
“In the last few days I felt good but always struggled to do a good sprint for one reason or another,” Rodriguez explained.
“Today I was very determined to win and in the pre-race team meeting we talked a lot about how to beat Petacchi.
Born in Bogota but raised in America, Rodriguez won the US national road race title in 2000 and 2001 and is nicknamed ‘Fast Freddy’ for his sprinting skills.
During his nine-year professional career he has won 30 races and finished second behind Mario Cipollini of Italy in the 2002 Milan-San Remo World Cup race.
Alessandro Petacchi had been looking to win his fifth stage of the 2004 Giro in Carovigno but had to admit that Rodriguez outsmarted him with his early move.
The short 142 km stage was characterized by a strong head wind that slowed the riders in the first two hours.
Race leader Damiano Cunego and the main contenders for overall victory had a quiet day as the sprinters took centre stage. Immediately after the stage the riders transferred north by plane to the central Italian city of Pescara for the first rest day of the Giro today.
