Giro jury disqualifies sprinters for holding onto team cars

The Giro d’Italia race jury pulled Robert Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda), Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini), Dominique Rollin (FDJ-BigMat) and Iban Velasco (Euskaltel-Euskadi) from the race today for holding on to team cars.

The incident happened after the Passo del Tonale at kilometre 32. A jury communiqué called it a “fatto grave” or “serious fault.”

Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) was fined 50 Swiss Francs (or 33£) for drafting and penalised 20 seconds in the classification.

Savio upset with Rujano

Gianni Savio, team manager of Androni Giocattoli, is furious with his rider, José Rujano. The Venezuelan, winner of two stages last year, abandoned on Friday to the dismay of Savio.

“It’s a good thing his contract ends this season,” Savio said to a group of journalists yesterday afternoon.

He explained that overnight, Rujano complained that he didn’t feel well. He added that the team doctors found nothing wrong.

“He’s done nothing this Giro. He told everyone he was going to win stages and race for the win, but…”

Rather, Savio said he was impressed with Miguel Rubiano Chávez and Roberto Ferrari, both stage winners. He added that José Serpa, racing with a broken bone in his hand, and Emanuele Sella, on antibiotics, also made him proud.

Savio helped Rujano come to Europe and to third in the 2005 Giro. He also won the mountains jersey in 2005. Afterwards, Rujano switched teams and suffered for several years. Only after re-joining Savio’s team last year did he find his legs again.

Savio said, this time there will be “no second chances.”

Stetina: Hesjedal relaxed in role

Peter Stetina and Christian Vande Velde led Hesjedal through the mountains in the Giro. Stetina helped Hesjedal move closer to the overall race win and, at the same time, discovered something about his leader.

“Ryder’s showing he’s got the legs to win this thing,” Stetina told Cycling Weekly. “Ryder is getting more and more confident every day. It’s fun to see. At the start of the race, back in Denmark, you could tell he was nervous. He was keyed-up, but he was unsure. Each day, he relaxed a bit more. After the team time trial, he relaxed a bit more. Then he took the pink jersey. Now he’s just riding on cloud nine. He’s getting stronger. It’s amazing to see.”

The other classifications…

The Giro d’Italia podium girls awarded the pink jersey today to Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) on top of the Passo dello Stelvio. They also awarded the blue, red and white jerseys. However, there are many other classifications worth noting. Have a look…

Fuga Pinarello (Most number of kilometres in escapes):
1 Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) 633km
2 Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) 656
3 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 475

Stage combativity (Jury awards points):
1 Mark Cavendish (Sky) 44pts
2 Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini) 39
3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 37

Intermediate Sprints (Points gained during stage, not the finish):
1 Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) 25pts
2 Mark Cavendish (Sky) 18
3 Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) 13

Azzurri d’Italia (Points – 4, 2, 1 – to top three finishers):
1 Mark Cavendish (Sky) 14pts
2 Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 12
3 Andrey Amador (Movistar) 5

Super team (Points gained for placing rider in top 20)
1 Garmin-Barracuda 326pts
2 Sky 316
3 Katusha 298

Winning team (Times of best three riders):
1 Lampre
2 Movistar 8’53”
3 Sky 38’53”

Fair Play (points for “breach of regulations”):
1 Omega Pharma-QuickStep 20pts
2 Katusha 40
…
22 Farnese Vini 1115

Brown back on top

With one stage to go, our own Gregor Brown maintains a slim one-point lead in the Pronostico Giornalisti or the journalists’ Giro d’Italia. He jumped ahead in yesterday’s crucial stage to Alpe di Pampeago and defended his lead today on the Stelvio with smart bets.

Brown leads by one point over VRT-Sporza’s Jose De Cauwer and Andre Meganck. The overall lead comes down to tomorrow’s time trial and wise picks for the top five finishers.

The “Walter Gallone” Pronostico GC:
1 Gregor Brown (Cycling Weekly/Cycle Sport) 127
2 Andre Meganck (VRT-Sporza) 126
= Andre Meganck (VRT-Sporza) 126

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