Freire holds firm for Italian stage win
CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy (AP) — Oscar Freire of Spain won the first stage of the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday, edging out Italian sprint specialist Alessandro Petacchi.
Freire, who rides for the Rabobank team, finished the 161-kilometer course in four hours, 10 minutes, one second. Petacchi and the main group of riders finished with the same time.
The Tirreno-Adriatico, which began in the Tyrrhenian Sea port of Civitavecchia and ends in San Benedetto del Tronto on the Adriatic Sea, is a traditional warmup for the Milano-San Remo classic that will be held on March 22.
Petacchi, who rides with Team Milram, had won his last six sprints but his late surge was not enough to overtake Freire, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico in 2005 and the Milano-San Remo last year and in 2004.
This isn’t a drama and there is no need to sound the alarm, said Petacchi. The end of the race was nervous and I swerved in the last kilometer, but above all I wasn’t able to take the last curve at the head of the pack.
Spain’s Jose Rojas was third, followed by Erik Zabel of Germany. Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen, who won the first stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico last year, finished eighth.
Giro d’Italia champion Danilo di Luca, who faces a two-year doping ban, finished 57th in the main pack, with the same time as Freire. Di Luca competed in the race after being cleared to ride by the race organizers on Tuesday.
The Italian Olympic Committee is seeking the maximum punishment for an irregular test during Di Luca’s Giro victory, and a hearing on April 1 will determine whether he is banned.
Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia broke away from the pack after 38 kilometers and was joined by Ukrainian Yuriy Krivtsov eight kilometers later.
The two riders opened a lead of nearly eight minutes after about 108-km, but the pack caught them four kilometers from the finish.
Thursday’s stage is the course’s longest at 203 kilometers. E-mail to a friend
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