In the fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, Michele Scarponi took the day's glory, besting by one second Lampre teammate Damiano Cunego and BMC's Cadel Evans. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) was fourth, Danilo Di Luca (Katusha) fifth and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) sixth, which gave the Dutchman the overall lead with one day remaining. After the long 240-kilometer stage between Narni and Chieti, Evans sits in second place overall, ten seconds behind Gesink.
Scarponi was spent after the race and the hard-fought win. "A difficult victory," Scarponi said. "This was thanks to the help of the entire team. I was well and waited for the right moment to make my move. Then I attacked with a determined jump." The thrilling final started when a move by Fabian Cancellara, Giovanni Visconti and Dmitriy Muravyev was brought back by a group of around three dozen riders with 1.7 kilometers to go. This was exactly as the final, steep climb started.
Scarponi jumped hard and created a gap, taking advantage of his teammate in the group behind. "I knew that Damiano had the legs to control the opponents." Cunego was strong, initially shadowing Philippe Gilbert. When the Belgian dropped back with 1.2 kilometers remaining, Cunego answered a strong move by Danilo Di Luca.
The top of the climb with the King of the Mountains was still almost a kilometer from the finish. Scarponi suffered as the road remained slightly uphill. "I did a long 'sprint' until the finish, taking advantage of the curves." He was able to hold on, with Cunego now covering a surge by Evans. Cunego passed the Australian shortly before the line to make it a Lampre one-two.
Cunego laughed and happily pointed out his winning teammate. "For Lampre, this was a great stage, with a fantastic ending. I made an optimal result and confirmed my state of form," Cunego said. "For Michele, I worked efficiently, which allowed him to attack the opponents."
Their director Orlando Maini was also thrilled. "We knew that Michele and Damiano were in great form and that is why we wanted to control the race.
Winner Scarponi was told by Gazzetta TV that with all the names up there it looked like a Giro d'Italia stage ranking. "Yes, there were quite a few names," Scarponi answered. "I did well - I won, and Damiano was second, so we are very satisfied." The racing was quite active in the end, but tactics were hard to put through for the Lampre squad. "We didn't have a definite plan for the final," Scarponi said.
Scarponi said he felt quite well in the Lampre team and pointed to his jersey. "This gives me security and yes, I think, I am more determined." Scarponi said that he liked the Tirreno-Adriatico race, despite his agonizing loss last year - he was runner-up to Stefano Garzelli, with the same overall time. "But the big objective this year is the Giro d'Italia."
A long break on a long day
The break of the day formed at kilometer 24, with Mickael Cherel, Sebastian Lang and Gorazd Stangelj.Within five kilometers they have over three minutes on the bunch. The biggest gap was recorded after 65 kilometers, with 15'25. Lang lost contact with the leaders with a little more than 30km to go.
Cherel was the last man caught, with ten kilometers remaining. Cancellara, Visconti and Muravyev escaped shortly thereafter. Efforts by Thor Hushovd and Sebastian Langeveld to move up were in vain. The leading trio was then caught at the bottom of the final climb, with 1.7 kilometers remaining, setting up the exciting finale.