CYCLING/ TOUR OF IRELAND: COMING OUT on top in an epic battle for the final yellow jersey of the race, Italian rider Marco Pinotti soloed clear on the last of four gruelling finishing laps in Cork city yesterday to win the Tour of Ireland.
Pinotti, a triple Italian national time trial winner and victor on the concluding stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, used his ability against the clock to superb effect when he took 33 seconds out of overnight leader Russell Downing (Pinarello CandiTV) plus several others.
Together with the four-second bonus for placing third on the stage, he ended the five-day, 900-kilometre event 19 seconds clear of Downing in the general classification.
It was a day of double celebration for Pinotti's Columbia team due to the stage win of Frantisek Rabon, and capped off a stunning week. The team won the first three stages via the sprinting ability of Mark Cavendish, a quadruple stage victor in this year's Tour de France, and only Downing interrupted a clean sweep.
"I am very happy, especially as this is the first stage race victory of my career," said 32-year-old Pinotti, an outspoken critic of doping in sport. "This was already my best season to date, and this makes it even more so."
He, like many others, commented on the difficulty of the final stage, which took the riders 143.6 kilometres from Killarney to Cork. The riders completed four laps of a leg-breaking finishing circuit there, which included St Patrick's Hill plus several other steep ramps.
"It was very hard," he stated. "It was not just St Patrick's Hill, but also a couple of other climbs. As soon as we reached the circuit, I knew it was going to be very difficult today."
Rabon, Ilya Chemetskiy (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and the Swede Fredrik Ericsson of the Irish-registered Pezula Racing team were part of a five-man move that moved clear 10 kilometres into the stage. These three were still together the first time up St Patrick's Hill, but Chernetskiy was dropped on the next climb. The other two rode strongly to stay clear to the finish; Rabon surged clear with three kilometres to go and hit the line 15 seconds ahead.
"It is great. Now we won four stage and the overall, so it is perfect for Team Columbia," he stated.
Saturday's stage victor Downing was stung on the tongue by a bee early yesterday, and then came under a different sort of attack later on.
Dean had started the day just two seconds behind, while Pinotti and Barry were 18 back; Downing rode with great determination to keep Dean under control, brought back a long solo break by Barry, but finally cracked when Pinotti surged.
"I am disappointed, but the guy who won was world class," he said.
"To ride like I did in the yellow jersey was great . . . I was under attack from the start and I defended it right on to the finish."
Roger Aiken was best Irishman on the gruelling 143.6-kilometre stage. He rode with aggression and confidence on the hills, despite not being a full-time competitor, and eventually finished one minute 59 seconds back in 20th place. He was also top home rider in the overall classification, finishing 22nd there.
In addition to that, the Irish-registered An Post M Donnelly Grant Thornton Seán Kelly team finished sixth overall, while Pezula rode prominently.
Final Details
STAGE FIVE: Killarney - Cork: 1, Frantisek Rabon (Team Columbia 144 kilometres in 3.27.04 (40.60 km/h); 2, F. Ericsson (Pezula Racing) at 15 secs; 3, M. Pinotti (Team Columbia) at 1 min 4 secs; 4, R. Downing (Pinarello Racing Team) at 1 min 37 secs; 5, L. Petter Nordhaug (Joker, Bianchi); 6, J. Dean (Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 ); 7, M. Barry (Team Columbia ) all same time. Irish: 20, R. Aiken (Irish National Team) at 1 min 59 secs; 43, C. Power (Pezula Racing) at 9 mins 7 secs; 44, P. O'Brien (An Post, M. Donnelly, Grant Thornton, Sean Kelly Team ); 51, M. Cassidy (An Post, M. Donnelly, Grant Thornton, Sean Kelly Team ) at 12 mins 25 secs; 54, M. Concannon (Irish National Team) at 16 mins 43 secs; 55, P. Griffen (Irish National Team); 56, S. O'Sullivan (Irish National Team) both same time.
Final general classification: 1, Marco Pinotti (Team Columbia) 21 hours 43 mins 16 secs; 2, R. Downing (Pinarello Racing Team) at 19 secs; 3, J. Dean (Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30) at 21 secs; 4, M. Wilson (Team Type 1) at 33 secs; 5, M. Barry (Team Columbia) at 36 secs. Other: 13, D. Fleeman (An Post, M. Donnelly, Grant Thornton, Sean Kelly Team) at 52 secs; 15, D. Lloyd (An Post, M. Donnelly, Grant Thornton, Sean Kelly Team) at 56 secs Irish: 22, R. Aiken (Irish National Team ) at 5 mins 9 secs; 34, M. Cassidy (An Post, M. Donnelly, Grant Thornton, Sean Kelly Team) at 13 mins 29 secs; 37, C. Power (Pezula Racing ) at 17 mins 2 secs; 52, P. O'Brien (An Post, M. Donnelly, Grant Thornton, Sean Kelly Team) at 35 mins 10 secs; 54, P. Griffen (Irish National Team) at 39 mins 17 secs; 56, M. Concannon (Irish National Team) at 43 mins 6 secs; 57, S. O'Sullivan (Irish National Team) at 56 mins 52 secs.
Points classification: 1, Russel Downing (Pinarello Racing Team) 64 pts; 2, J. Dean (Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30) 54; 3, A. Kristoff (Joker - Bianchi) 45. Mountains classification: 1, Matthew Wilson (Team Type 1) 87 pts; 2, D. George (Team MTN) 37; 3, F. Ericsson (Pezula Racing) 36. Teams classification: 1, Team Columbia, 65 hours 9 mins 29 secs; 2, Tinkoff - Credit Systems, at 2 mins 36 secs; 3, Topsport Vlaanderen, at 3 mins 1 sec; 4, SouthAustralia.com/AIS, at 10 mins 24 secs; 5, Team Type, at 10 mins 37 secs Irish: 6, An Post Sean Kelly Team, at 12 mins 21 secs; 11, Pezula, at 35 mins 48 secs; 13, Irish National Team, at 1 hour 7 mins 50 secs.
More details in Sports Round-Up
