Giovanni Visconti took season win number five when he outsprinted Giuseppe De Maria (De Rosa – Ceramica Flaminia) and Simone Stortoni (Colnago – CSF Inox) on the fourth and final stage of the Settimana Lombarda between Gorle and Bergamo. But the bigger news developed around Thibaut Pinot, who came in seventh and ran away with the overall title. The second-year pro, riding for FDJ, took his sixth win since the end of July. Pinot got the better of Stortoni and Davide Rebellin in the four-day race.
Pinot is having an excellent summer. He won the final stage on a mountaintop finish and the overall of the Tour Alsace on July 31. This was followed by two stage wins in the Tour de l'Ain - one of them again a mountaintop finish up to Le Grand Colombier. The latest was the stage one win in the Settimana, which he followed up by taking the overall.
Visconti was equally happy that the race came down to a sprint, which was not certain when over 30 riders went away in the final. But his Farnese team delivered and Visconti was able to use his sprint skills to take the final stage of this year's race.
After 17 kilometers, the break of the day formed with Manuel Fedele (D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo), Edoardo Girardi (De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia) , Daniele Colli (Geox-TMC), Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1 - Sanofi), Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcara Pro Cycling), Danilo Napolitano (Acqua & Sapone).
Napolitano, no stranger to fast moves, took the first intermediate sprint after 41km. The group raced 50 kilometers in the first hour, with a maximum advantage over the peloton of 3'45 (km 45).
At the second sprint (km 75), it was Girardi who bested Van Poppel and Napolitano. Girardi also too the third sprint (km 106), ahead of Bodrogi and Fedele. AT the start of the climb to Berbenno (km 115), the gap had shrunk to 1'42. Girardi showed his worth, topping the climb in first, ahead of Colli and Van Poppel. This was at km 124 and only a kilometer later, the peloton had reached the break.
A large group of 32 split off to try and stay away to the finish. With less than 15km to go, the group of 32 was ahead of a group of 21 riders. But seven kilometers from the line it was gruppo compatto and the sprinters got ready.
Results stage four
1. Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli) 149km in 3h13'45, avg 46,204 km/h
2. Giuseppe De Maria (De Rosa – Ceramica Flaminia)
3. Simone Stortoni (Colnago – CSF Inox)
4. Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (D’Angelo & Antenucci – Nippo)
5. Davide Rebellin (Miche-Guerciotti)
6. Josè Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli – C.I.P.I.)
7. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ)
8. Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (D’Angelo & Antenucci – Nippo)
9. Fabio Taborre (Acqua & Sapone)
10. Sergey Firsanov (Itera-Katusha)
Final GC
1. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) 693km in 16h00'35, avg 43,322 km/h
2. Simone Stortoni (Colnago – Csf Inox) at 0'19
3. Davide Rebellin (Miche) 0'33
4. Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli – C.I.P.I.) 0'37
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago - Csf Inox)
6. Sergey Firsanov (Itera-Katusha) 0'38
7. Antonio Santoro (Androni Giocattoli – C.I.P.I.) 0'53
8. Luca Mazzanti (Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli) 0'58
9. Paolo Bailetti (De Rosa – Ceramica Flaminia)
10. Riccardo Chiarini (Androni Giocattoli – C.I.P.I.) 1'00