Uphill battle

Garzelli takes stage, captures pink jersey

TERMINILLO, Italy (AP) -- Stefano Garzelli beat fellow Italian Gilberto Simoni in a two-way sprint Saturday at the end of the first uphill stage of the Giro d'Italia to clinch his second leg victory and the pink jersey of overall leader.

Garzelli, of the Vini Caldirola team, took the overall lead in the race as sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, who had dominated the initial stages of the Italian cycling marathon scoring three wins in one week, slipped behind as the road climbed to the 1,675-meter high Terminillo, in central Italy.

Petacchi, of Fassa Bortolo, finished nearly 17 minutes behind.

Garzelli's win in Saturday's seventh stage came exactly one year after he had to abandon the 2002 Giro for testing positive for a banned diuretic.

The Italian cyclist then paid a 11-month suspension and returned to activity last month.

"I'm overjoyed for this victory, on a special day, and for the pink jersey," Garzelli said. "Simoni proved as strong as expected today and he made the pace in the final kilometers. But I knew I could be faster in the sprint," said Garzelli, who already had scored a stage victory at Terme Luigiane on Monday.

While Garzelli and Simoni confirmed themselves as the top favorites for the overall title in the 21-stage Giro, other potential winners suffered a bad blow in Saturday's stage.

Francesco Casagrande finished 2:33 minutes behind.

Marco Pantani, once Italy's best climber, ended nearly four minutes back. Spain's Aitor Gonzalez had a gap of about six minutes from the winner.

Garzelli completed the 146-kilometer distance from Avezzano to Terminillo in three hours, 55 minutes, 19 seconds.

Sinmoni said he lost a battle, but not the war on Saturday.

"Garzelli proved he will be my toughest rival for the overall victory. I knew he was in his best form," the Saeco team captain said.

Both Garzelli and Simoni already won the Giro in 2000 and 2001 respectively but both had to leave last year's race marred by doping scandals.

Italy's Andrea Noe placed third in the stage, two seconds behind. Russian Pavel Tonkov, the last non-Italian cyclist to win the Giro in 1996, came in fourth, 14 seconds behind.

Mexican Julio Perez Cuapio, used to do well in uphill stages, ended 1:21 minutes back, in 10th place.

Garzelli and Simoni left the competition behind in the final, steep kilometers.

Overall, Garzelli led Simoni by 31 seconds and Noe by 44.

Pantani was 4:41 minutes back. Aitor Gonzalez slipped to 31st place, 6:56 minutes behind the race leader.

Sunday's eighth stage is over a mostly flat course of 214 kilometers (132.6 miles) from Rieti to Arezzo.

World Champion Mario Cipollini, badly beaten by Petacchi in the previous sprints, can have a chance for revenge as the leg ends in his native region, Tuscany.

 

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