|
Top Ten for Tayeb Masks McCartney Tears
Stephens, Braikia & Power
before Stage 1 - (125kb)
|
|
Tayeb Braikia of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team used his flying sprint
to take a great 8th place in the first stage of the Giro d'Italia, but the
overwhelming emotion of the day was one of great sadness.
Both Ben Brooks and Pascal Richard fell ill after the prologue, and after a
restless night, the pair were deemed unfit to start the first stage after
being examined by the team doctor, Roger Palfreeman.
"It's hard to take in," admitted team manager Sean Yates. "We arrived here
with nine riders at the top of their form, and we find ourselves going into
the first stage with only seven men. That said, the boys really pulled
together and rode very well indeed today."
Ciaran Power was a tower of strength as the race from Rome to Terracina
entered it's closing stages. He attacked the bunch, then when he had been
caught he put in a huge turn on the front that had others gasping for air
behind. He still had enough to help Max Sciandri lead Tayeb out in the final
dash for the line.
"It was a very fast sprint indeed, maybe a little too fast for me to win. I
like it to be a bit harder for me to use my strength," explained Tayeb. The
winner was renowned Italian fastman Ivan Quarranta, after Mario Cipollini had
picked up the bonus seconds needed to take him into the leader's pink jersey
at an intermediate sprint earlier in the day.
"Perhaps that will go down as the worst debut in Giro history!" laughed Ben
Brooks this evening. His efforts to put a brave face on things were
commendable, as he cut a lonely figure at Rome Airport, waiting for a flight
to take him back to Toulouse. Pascal Richard was no happier. He had planned
to wear a special jersey bearing the Olympic Rings for the first time this
year, but instead was wearing an Asics polo shirt and trainers for his flight
back to Aigle in Switzerland.
"We don't know what's caused the illness yet," said general manager Julian
Clark. "It could be a bug, or something they ate, or even too much sun at the
prologue yesterday. I've got a cold now too, so we're taking no chances and
I'm staying away from the riders. If the Pope was watching again today, I
hope he'll have a word with the big guy upstairs to try and give us a bit of
a break! The rest of the team responded superbly today, and are all convinced
that we can still make an impact here. Let's hope they all stay ok."
Tomorrow will be a test: 237 kilometres down the coast to the outskirts of
Napoli will find out anybody not completely on top of his game.
Report by John Deering
|
