SALTARA, Italy, 14 May 2006 — Belgium’s Rik Verbrugghe held off a determined chase by the overall Giro d’Italia contenders to win the longest stage of this year’s race yesterday.
The 31-year-old Cofidis rider struggled on the steep climb to the finish but stayed ahead of a late charge by Italians Paolo Savoldelli and Luca Mazzanti, who finished 14 seconds behind.
Serhiy Honchar of Ukraine finished seventh, 16 seconds behind Verbrugghe, and retook the race leader’s pink jersey he lost to teammate Olaf Pollock on Friday.
Defending champion Savoldelli is second, six seconds behind Honchar and compatriot Ivan Basso is third at 11 seconds.
Verbrugghe was part of a four-man attack that formed in the hills of the Marche region midway through the 236-km stage from Cesena to Saltara before going it alone five kilometers from the finish. It was the Belgian’s third Giro stage win of his 11-year career. He won the prologue time trial in Pescara in 2001 and a stage in Tuscany in 2002.
The three steep climbs of the stage and the uphill finish tested the form of all the Giro contenders and allowed Savoldelli gain time on his major Italian rivals. He took the 12-second time bonus for second place and moved up from sixth to second overall.
Ivan Basso and Gilberto Simoni lost 14 seconds to Savoldelli, while Damiano Cunego lost 18 and Danilo di Luca lost 32 seconds.
“This is only the opening blow. Things will get even more serious in the big mountain stages later in the race,” Savoldelli said.
Today’s 171-km eighth stage is from Civitanova Marche to Maielletta. It starts on the Adriatic coast and ends with a 12-km climb to the summit of the Passo Larciano.
