Team Katusha and Luca Paolini will today decide if the Italian is able to continue in Tirreno-Adriatico, basing that assessment on how he is feeling after a bad crash yesterday.
The 34 year old hit the deck 40 kilometres from the finish line. He suffered bad bruising to his knee, to his hand, his right side and to his chest. He managed to complete the stage, crossing the line five minutes 33 seconds back in last place.
He was assessed in the hospital in Arezzo and there fractures were ruled out. His decision to continue will be based on how stiff he is feeling prior to today’s start in Terranuova Bracciolini. The 189 kilometre stage to Perugia is flat and this may help his chances.
Paolini was third in the 2006 edition of Milan-Sanremo, crossing the line just behind Filippo Pozzato and Alessandro Petacchi. He will hope to be in the best possible shape for this year’s edition of La Primavera, and his decision to continue or not will also have that in mind.
Yesterday’s stage to Indicatore was won by the American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo), who had a superb leadout from world champion Thor Hushovd. He took over the race lead from Lars Boom as a result.