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Linda McCartney Throw The Kitchen Sink At It!
The Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team threw everything at today's short 108kms
stage of the Giro d'Italia. From Brescia to the outskirts of Milan, the team
were constantly on the attack, and were rewarded with a great double: two
top-ten placings at the finish in Meda.
First it was the team's Italian Maurizio De Pasquale who "gave it a nudge" as
the Aussies say. He attacked and built up a lead before the fast travelling
bunch chased him down.
Next Max Sciandri moved clear with six others in one of those dangerous moves
the team leader excels at. What a fantastic race the British star is having
in this year's Tour of Italy. His constant attacking and aggression have
already brought him a superb 2nd place in Prato, and today he threatened to
take the laurels for winning the 16th stage with an audacious move. But Team
Polti and their sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens had missed the move, and they
relentlessly cut down the lead of Max's small band, until they were captured
just 2 short kilometres from the line.
But it was not over for Linda McCartney, as the twin strike force of Ciaran
Power and Tayeb Braikia wound up the big gears, deftly manoevured into
position with help from Bjornar Vestol and David McKenzie, before unleashing
a double attack in the sprint. The two shot across the line side by side in
6th and 7th place respectively, just behind winner Fabrizio Guidi.
The whole team was inspired today, as they dealt with the sad loss of Matt
Stephens, who has come to the inevitable conclusion that his Giro is over.
"The knee is getting worse every day, and a bronchial infection means it
feels like I'm breathing through a straw," explained the team's No.2 Brit. "I
could struggle through these next couple of days, but there's no way I'd get
through the Alps. Better to go home, rest, let the swelling go down at take
advantage of the good form and this race later in the month." Matt is
obviously targetting the National Championship in Solihull on June 25th.
"The team wanted to give Matt a big send off - he's been nothing short of
heroic here," said manager Sean Yates. "All 6 men were involved today, and
that's great to see. We took the race to the Italians, and we were on TV all
day." Report by John Deering |
