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Cipollini wins Tour of Spain stage on racing return

Mario Cipollini: "It was a close run sprint, to be sure, but then which sprints aren't?" Mark Thompson/Getty Images

MURCIA, Spain (Reuters) -- Italian sprinting star Mario Cipollini secured his first ever stage victory in the Tour of Spain on Monday.

Led out by Acqua and Sapone team mate Giovanni Lombardi at the end of the 134.2 kilometer third stage from San Vicente de Raspeig to Murcia, Cipollini won by half a bike length ahead of fellow Italian Alessandro Petacchi with Telekom leader Erik Zabel of Germany third.

World champion Oscar Freire finished fourth.

"This victory in Spain was missing from my career, but tomorrow I have another opportunity," Cipollini, who clocked a time of three hours seven minutes and 37 seconds, said.

"It was a close run sprint, to be sure, but then which sprints aren't?" the 35-year-old added.

Cipollini won the first round of the World Cup, Milan-San Remo, this year, as well as Ghent-Wevelgem and a personal record of six stages in the Giro before briefly announcing his retirement.

He quickly changed his mind but had not raced for 97 days since the end of the Giro and he dedicated his victory to his Acqua and Sapone team mates who worked hard in the final kilometers to fend off possible late attacks.

Asked why he did not raise his arms when he crossed the line, Cipollini said: "I didn't because I was worried that somebody would pass me, but tomorrow if I win I promise I will raise them very high indeed."

Cipollini's victory confirms his form in the build-up for the World Championships in Zolder next month, although he is strongly rumoured to be leaving the Vuelta, which he has already abandoned three times, in a week's time after the first rest day in Madrid.

Despite a split forming in the last kilometer of the race, with the first 20 riders taking a six-second advantage, Spaniard Joseba Beloki, who finished safely in the main pack, continues as race leader.

Barring Cipollini's dash to the line, the relatively flat stage was uneventful, with only Belgian rookie Jurgen Van Goolen willing to break away early on as temperatures soared into the high thirties.

The 22-year-old Domo-Farm Frites rider built up a maximum lead of more than seven minutes at the end of the first hour, but faced with strong headwinds and with Mapei and Telekom working hard behind he was reeled in with 40 kilometers left.

ONCE-Eroski kept the pace high until the suburbs of Murcia, when Acqua and Sapone, headed by Spaniard Santos Gonzalez, kept the peloton firmly under control.

Then in the final 200 meters Lombardi peeled off for Cipollini to take his 11th win of the season and the 178th of his career.

Tour of Spain Stage Three
134.2 kilometers from San Vicente del Raspeig to Murcia
Pos.	Rider	Country	Team	Time
1	Mario Cipollini	Italy	Acqua e Sapone	3 hrs 7 mins 37 secs
2	Alessandro Petracchi	Italy	Fassa Bortolo	same time
3	Erik Zabel	Germany	Telekom	same time
4	Oscar Freire	Spain	Mapei	same time
5	Sven Teutenberg	Germany	Phonak	same time
6	Zoran Klemencic	Slovakia	Tacconi Sport	same time
7	Angel Edo	Spain	Milanezza-MSS	same time
8	Martin Garrido	Argentina	Relax-Fuenlabrada	same time
9	Juan Carlos Guillamon	Spain	Jazztel	same time
10	Jan Svorada	Czech Republic	Lampre-Daikin	same time

 

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