2011 is De Clerq’s first full season as a professional, and this is his first Giro—an impressive start by the
Stage Seven was short (110 km) with two Category Two climbs, the Serra della Strada just past midway and the 17.1 km Montevergine di Mercogliano at the very end. The final climb has an average gradient of six percent, ramping up to ten percent at the finish line.
The stage was too short and the climbs too easy to spark any battles among the serious GC contenders, but some of them— notably Lampre’s Michele Scarponi and Astona’s Roman Kreuziger—wanted the stage win.
The peloton ignored the first break which started ten kilometers in, growing and shrinking until, after 25 km, had sorted itself out to five riders: Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini,) Lars Bak (HTC,) Federico Canuti (Colnago,) Jerome Pineau (Quickstep,) and Matteo Montaguti (AG2R.)
Montaguti was the virtual leader for part of the race, as the break opened a lead of threree minutes. No one cared; the peloton assumed any serious moves would come on the final climb.
Just past halfway, few riders tried to bridge across to the break: Lotto’s Sebastian Lang, Euskaltel’s Pierre Cazaux, and most notably Vacansoleil’s Johnny Hoogerland, celebrating his 28th birthday with a strong ride.
Hoogerland labored alone for 20 km before finally catching the lead group, at which point he attacked them, he couldn’t sustain that after his huge effort, but it earned him some TV time for his birthday.
Acqua & Sapone, Lampre, and Liquigas pushed the peloton up the final climb, shedding riders as they went. Sprinters Mark Cavendish and Alessandro Petacchi were among the first to fall back.
12 km from the top, Lars Bak left his breakaway companions to be swallowed up, and charged ahead alone. He didn’t last. A few solos riders attacked, but by 8 km, the peloton was together.
Not for long. De Clerq apparently felt better than anyone could have guessed. He attacked, insisted, struggled, and finally opened a 30-second gap over the peloton with four km to go.
Carlos Ochoa of Androni and Stefano Pirazzi of Colnago had a go then, but Lampre, leading the pack, pushed the pace, riding them down a kilometer out.
Too Late for the Big Names
The big guns—Michele Scarponi, Roman Kreuziger, Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador—massed at the head of the peloton, trying to gauge the moment to make their moves. They waited a fraction of a second too long.
Michele Scarponi started his sprint, with Roman Kreuziger and Vincenzo Nibali on his wheel. Acqua & Sapone’s Stefano Garzelli joined, with Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez. Alberto Contador, invincible in the past two seasons, seemed to be struggling to hang on.
Scarponi charged hard for the line, while De Clerq, who had been visibly suffering for the final there kilometers, labored uphill towards the line. It seemed the powerful Italian would steal De Clerq’s win, but De Clerq held on to cross the liner first by a wheel-length.
Scarponi looked outraged as he flew past the slowing Belgian—probably angry with himself for missing the opportunity.
Rabobank’s Pieter Weening finished 19th, part of the peloton and granted the same time as the leader, preserving the pink jersey for at least one more day. Likely he will hold on until the serious Cat One climbs and mountain top finish of Sunday’s Stage Nine, when, surely, the top-tier contenders will unleash their legs and try to open gaps before Monday’s rest day.
Stage Eight: Sprinters Last Chance
Stage Eight, 217 km from Sapri to Tropea, is one of the final sprinters’ stages of the Giro—long, flat, with no obvious launching point for a successful breakaway. There is a bit of an obstacle in the final two kilometers: a steep 700-km rise followed by a more gentle rising slope.
This is not the punishing finish of Stage Five; if the sprinters stay together up that final climb, they will not be hindered by the slight incline of last kilometer. But they might be winded by that short, steep climb.
Look for some young and crazy rider to make a solo attack here, forcing the peloton to up the pace and tire the leadout trains. This could be another sprint won not by the premier sprinting stars, but by some of the less-specialized sprinters who might have a bit more range.
Giro d’Italia Stage Seven Results | |||
| 1 | Bart De Clercq (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 2:54:47 | |
| 2 | Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre | 2:54:47 | |
| 3 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana | 2:54:47 | |
| 4 | Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 2:54:47 | |
| 5 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | 2:54:47 | |
| 6 | Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Katusha Team | 2:54:47 | |
| 7 | José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Androni Giocattoli | 2:54:47 | |
| 8 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team | 2:54:47 | |
| 9 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard | 2:54:47 | |
| 10 | Christophe Le Mevel(Garmin-Cervelo) | 2:54:47 | |
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| General Classification after Stage Seven | |||
| 1 | Pieter Weening (Rabobank) | 23:09:59 | |
| 2 | Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Highroad) | 0:00:02 | |
| 3 | Marco Pinotti (HTC-Highroad) | 0:00:02 | |
| 4 | Christophe Le Mevel (Garmin-Cervelo) | 0:00:05 | |
