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McCartneys 3rd Top-Ten Place in 4 Stages!
Tayeb Braikia, the Danish sprinter with the Linda McCartney Foods Cycling
Team, took 9th on the 4th stage of the Giro d'Italia. That means that the
first ever British team to ride the Tour of Italy have scored 3 top-ten
placings in the first 4 stages of the race!
The stage left Scalea on the Tirreno coastline and crossed the toe of Italy,
scaling the Pollino Mountains in the process. A stretch along the Ionian
seafront preceded a brutally fast run-in to the finish at the hilltop town of
Matera, famous for it's ancient cave dwellings. 227kms in all, and no respite
yet for the peloton.
After a gentle ascent of the Valico di Campo Tenese, the "piano" was
abandoned, and the race was driven at high speed for the last 100kms.
Tayeb once again stayed the pace, and forced his way into the thick of the
action in the sprint finish. But there was only ever going to be one winner
on this stage. Still smarting from his disqualification at Scalea the
previous afternoon, Mario Cipollini was adamant that he would cross the line
in first place once again, and this time there would be no judge's reprisals.
The Lion King duly threw his arms in the air again in Matera, and he could
not be prevented from taking his 30th (yes, thirtieth) stage win at this
famous race.
Nevertheless, it was a fine day for the McCartney squad, with Tayeb's second
top-ten of the week, but also a great deal of press coverage. Ciaran Power's
excellent 5th place on that sprint into Scalea earned him and the team some
serious print yardage, including a piece by Jeremy Whittle accompanied by a
great photo of Ciaran battling with Cipo' and Svorada. There was a profile of
Matt Stephens in the Gazzetta Dello Sport, with Italians eager to find out
more about the man who had warmed their hearts with his courageous fightback
from a seemingly sad end to his Giro. "The vegetarian who wears the "Black
Jersey," was how they described Matt; Black Jersey being the term used
colloquially to describe the last rider in the race. They explained how Matt
was now lying last due to the 25 minutes he lost after his crash on Monday,
but that his courage and refusal to give in were appreciated by all the
Italian public.
Matt had a good day in the saddle too, the pain in his wounded knee easing
slightly, and was able to close his deficit to within 40 seconds of the
penultimate rider. Though he will not win the Giro, nobody wants to finish
last, however valid the reasons, and it will be no surprise to see Matt climb
out of the relegation zone after today's stage.
Report by John Deering
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