Di Luca – We should have known
- By VeloNews.com
- Published May. 28, 2007
We should have known.
Ever since the opening day of Giro in Sardegna, when the Liquigas leader shouted at his team-mate Enrico Gasparotto to peel off the front of the train so that he could take the first maglia rosa, we should have known Danilo Di Luca really wanted to win the race more than anyone.
The events on that day were downplayed somewhat, with Di Luca saying: “I was not upset, it is important that we as a team win.”
But out of all the pre-race favorites – Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, Paolo Savoldelli, and Di Luca – it is the latter who has arguably the weakest team.
Each of the aforementioned boasts at least one super-strong right-hand man for the mountains: Simoni has Leonardo Piepoli and the prodigious Riccardo Riccò; Cunego has Marzio Bruseghin; and Savoldelli has Eddy Mazzoleni, who, after ‘Il Falco’ faltered last Sunday, has now taken on the role of leader.
True, Franco Pellizotti and Andrea Noè were there for Di Luca on the slopes to Montevergine Di Mercogliano on Stage 4, when ‘Il Killer di Spoltore’ (Di Luca’s nickname) took the maglia rosa for the first time. But in these last few days of ‘balls-to-the-wall racing,’ (to borrow an oft-used phrase from Discovery Channel’s Matthew White), Pellizotti and Noè have clearly tired, and cannot be relied upon in this vital, final week.
Di Luca relinquished his hot pink tunic to T-Mobile’s Marco Pinotti two days after the stage to Montevergine Di Mercogliano, though it was all part of the plan, Stan, and a smart one at that.
Pinotti, a mildly popular, but largely unheralded, rider with just three victories to his name, made the time in the spotlight over the next four days, until Noè, also profiting from that long break on Stage 8, enjoyed a brief spell in pink himself.
However, until the Giro’s excursion en France to Briançon, the Giro had not really started for real.
Again, we should have known. That first real test, over the Colle dell’Agnello and up the southern face of the mighty, 2360 meter-high Col d’Izoard, was, in retrospect, a pretty accurate indication of how the future was to unfold.
The first five then – Di Luca, Simoni, Schleck, Mazzoleni and Cunego, in that order – who all finished two minutes ahead of the next placed rider, could well be the final five come Sunday in Milano.
Last Friday’s Stage 13 mountain time trial was not particularly selective. In some ways, Bruseghin’s victory in Santuario Di Oropa and Piepoli’s second place gave something of a boost to the Cunego and Simoni camps, even though both men finished behind Di Luca.
After that stage, Cunego said “the Giro is still long, there are still some big days to go,” while Simoni, although admitting he expected more from himself and conceded Di Luca was so far going very well, added, “today’s time gaps won’t jeopardize anything.”
But if anything gave false hope, it was Saturday’s thrilling stage to Bergamo. As Acqua & Sapone, Saunier Duval and Astana went à bloc (all out) and on the offensive. Veterans Garzelli, Simoni and Bettini’s 1-2-3 finish had everyone believing the maglia rosa to be vulnerable, and about to crack any moment.
Everyone bar Di Luca.
Sunday last, on the final ascent to Tre Cime Di Lavaredo, as the Saunier duo of Riccò and Piepoli danced a mountain tune only two others could follow, we were all expecting to see a Simoni-Di Luca-Cunego-Schleck showdown back in the gruppo maglia rosa.
But never developed. Instead, with apparent ease and without teammates, Di Luca rode away as if he were mocking an attack on a training ride.
1:51 is the distance between the maglia rosa and his closest rival, Astana’s Mazzoleni. Schleck, Simoni, Cunego and Riccò are some three minutes behind. The rest don’t stand a chance.
If Di Luca is to be dethroned, it must happen on Stage 17, and on the feared climb of Monte Zoncolan. Its mythical status is up there with the Angliru, Mortirolo and l’Alpe d’Huez, even though it may not be as well known – but the slopes are a force to be reckoned with.
Only 10.1 kilometers long, the Zoncolan gains 1203 meters for an average grade of 11.9 percent, with sections over 20 percent. It’s enough to cause mules to fall backwards.
In 2003, Simoni, at his brilliant best, won here alone, before going on to record his second Giro victory; come Wednesday, he’ll need to do all that and more if he’s to have any hope of making it number three.
Di Luca’s time trialing has improved to the extent that, should he go into the Verona TT with a minute-and-a-half’s lead or more, he will hold the 90th Giro d’Italia trophy in his hands.
“In this Giro, it will be hard to beat Di Luca,” said Eddy Merckx last Sunday.
He’s not the only one who thinks so. We should have known two weeks ago.
FILED UNDER: Road