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With Pellizotti in the climber’s jersey, Liquigas is starting to find its footing this Tour.

by Andrew Hood

• July 17, 2009
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By Andrew Hood

2009 TdF, stage 13: Martinez and Pellizotti marked each other during much of Friday’s stage.

Photo: Agence France Presse

The Italians are already making their mark on the 2009 Tour de France, with Rinaldo Nocentini enjoying his seventh day in yellow after defending it over the Vosges on Friday through the rain and cold.

Incredibly, Nocentini is the first Italian in yellow since the 2000 Tour, when Alberto Elli wore the maillot jaune for a few days before the Pyrénées.

Franco Pellizotti is another Italian making headway in Friday’s five-climb stage when he bounced passed Basque climber Egoi Martínez to claim the polka-dot climber’s jersey.

“The day was awful with the cold and rain, but it’s a fabulous day because I claimed the climber’s jersey,” Pellizotti said. “It was something that I really wanted. It gives me a lot of emotion. I hope to hold it all the way to Paris.”

Pellizotti and Martínez sparred for the second straight day, but the curly-haired Italian scored enough points to claim the distinctive jersey, with a great surge at the first category Col du Platzerwasel and the Cat. 2 Col du Firstplan to take the lead, 98-95, to Martínez.

Pellizotti is trying to become the first Italian since Claudio Chiappucci in 1992 to win the jersey.

“I have a lot of respect for Egoi as a climber, but the climber’s jersey is my big goal for this Tour,” he said. “I’d love to win a big mountain stage as well. I’m not here to fight for the GC, but after finishing on the podium at the Giro (with 3rd), a spot on the podium in Paris would make my season complete.”

While Pellizotti is chasing polka dots, the team’s GC hopes will lie with a pair of up-and-coming riders who hope to finish among the top 10.

Vincenzo Nibali (9th at 1:54) and Roman Kreuziger (13th at 2:40) both hope to surge near the favorites once the race turns into the Alps later this week.

An excellent performance by Liquigas in the team time trial has kept the two young guns right in the thick of things.

Nibali was impressive in his Tour debut last year, riding quietly to 20th overall at 28:33 back, and hopes to improve on that.

“This year I would like to finish among the top 10. I didn’t race the Giro to prepare entirely for the Tour,” Nibali said. “The first half has gone well enough. I am keen to see how I can do against the best in the true mountains. The white jersey is also a goal.”

Liquigas’ second option is Kreuziger, winner of last year’s Tour de Suisse and 13th overall. The lean climber faltered up the Arcalis climb, but he expects to hit his stride in the Alps.

“I am ready for the bigger mountains. I like a long, hard climb when I can get at a high pace,” he said. “I am riding into fitness into the third week. I wasn’t at my best at the start of the Tour, but that was part of our idea, to be the strongest in the final week.”

While Liquigas might have a free ride and riding under the radar a little bit this year, the stakes should raised dramatically next year if Ivan Basso returns to the Tour as expected.

The Italian climber, who rode to second in the 2005 Tour before being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal in 2006, raced to a solid fifth in his grand tour debut at this year’s Giro d’Italia.

If Basso races the Tour next year, it will be to win.