Sunday, October 18, 2009

2009 Giro di Lombardia





The Giro di Lombardia, also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves", which concludes the pro-racing calendar in Italy was won by Belgian one-day specialist Philippe Gilbert. Damiano Cunego could not obtain his 4th victory in the race (his third in a row). Gilbert, arriving with Samuel Sanchez at the finish, was just too strong in the dual sprint. Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev won the sprint behind for third place seven seconds later while Cunego finished 14th.


World Champion Cadel Evans worked hard for Gilbert on the final climb of the day, the San Fermo della Battaglia, which set-up Gilbert for his victory. On the other hand, Cunego failed for what he believes was lack of team Lampre support. "I need someone there to help me, I practically did it all on my own," Italy's Cunego told La Gazzetta dello Sport.


Photos: the peloton with Cadel Evans passes the Ghisallo chapel, the route takes riders along Lake Como, Gilbert attacks on San Fermo della Battaglia (Bettini photos); Gilbert wins the dual sprint (photo by Sirotti)


Stories, including cycling trip stories, for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact veronaman@gmail.com. See here for a chance to win a T-shirt for submitting a story; contest ends October 31st.

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