Italian rider Franco Pellizotti won the 17th stage of the Tour of Italy on Wednesday, an 83km ride from Chieti to Blockhaus.
Russia’s Denis Menchov retained the overall leader’s pink jersey with a 26 second advantage over Italian LPR rider Danilo de Luca.
Pellizotti’s win on the day was a reward for an audacious solo run over the final 14km as he crossed the line at Maiella national park with compatriots Stefano Garzelli and Di Luca in pursuit at some 40 seconds adrift.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Menchov came in fourth as he lost 5 seconds to Di Luca in the stage.
“That’s a very important victory for the team,” Pellizotti said. “We have been going well since the start of the Giro. I’m still a long way off the pink jersey but anything is possible.”
Lance Armstrong tried gamely to keep 41-year-old Pellizotti in his sights over the final climb of 18km at a 6.9 percent gradient, but was unable to keep with the leaders.
“When Armstrong was chasing me down I asked myself what I should do,” the Italian said. “As he didn’t come back I just kept on going and did the climb solo.”
Armstrong’s Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer finished almost two minutes off the pace.
Johan Bruyneel, the Astana manager, said of Armnstrong’s showing: “It was not really the plan that Lance would attack so early. If his legs felt okay he would try to get away as he was no threat anymore for the general classification.”
“At the beginning of the climb he saw that there was some hesitation and he tried to attack. Unfortunately, Pellizotti was with him and it was clear that he was going for the stage win,” Bruyneel said.
“Obviously, it was clear that he was the strongest man of the stage. It was good to see that Lance tried and he was able to maintain a good rhythm,” he said.
Menchov denied on Wednesday he was in involved in a doping case after Austrian investigators spoke to his Rabobank team.
Reports said authorities in Vienna wanted to speak to Menchov following a probe into Bernhard Kohl, who was caught using drugs in last year’s Tour de France and quit cycling earlier this week.
“This story has nothing to do with me, I don’t know anything about it,” he told a news conference, confirming his team had been contacted. “I have no problem with responding to any questions.”
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