Sicilian Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini) won his third road race title among professionals at the end of a thrilling sprint in Acicatena, Sicily. After 208.8 km race (5h34m46s, average of 37.423 km/h), Visconti won the sprint at the end of the straight on Via Vittorio Emanuele proceeding Mauro Santambrogio (BMC Racing Team) and Simone Ponzi (Liquigas Cannondale).
"I can’t believe I’ve won at home and that I’ve kept hold of the jersey I love so much," said an elated Visconti. "At the start I was doubtful I’d win again because of the heat and the course but my teammates helped me. This win pays me back for allhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the disappointments of the last few months. It’s my third jersey and so it’s a good season. If I hadn’t been relegated in the sprint at the Giro d’Italia it would have been even better but now I’ve put all of that behind me.”
Damiano Cunego, one of the favorites, lost contact with the lead group on the penultimate lap. "Very tough race, I could not be competitive when things began to become important," Cunego explained. "I suffered due to the heat and the long climb, suddenly I had no more energies".
The last 9 minutes of the race as seen on RAI:
Top 10:
1. Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Neri)
2. Mauro Santambrogio (BMC)
3. Simone Ponzi (Liquigas Cannondale)
4. Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha)
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago CSF)
6. Paolo Bailetti (De Rosa Flaminia)
7. Ivan Santaromita at 13"
8. Alessandro Ballan at 32"
9. Fortunato Baliani at 2'36"
10. Luca Paolini at 3'22"
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