Mattia Gavazzi won the bunch sprint in stage two of the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, ahead of Roberto Ferrari and Alberto Loddo. The stage around Dalmine was 175km long. There were no changes in the overall, with Michele Scarponi still leading over Matteo Carrara by 16 seconds. Przemyslaw Niemiec is third, 20 seconds back.
It was Gavazzi’s first win of the season, having finished in the top five six times so far in 2010. “It’s destiny that I had to return to home roads in order to win,” Gavazzi said after the podium celebrations. “I am happy for myself, but also for the team, which has done a tremendous amount of work yesterday and today. Yesterday, a bit owed to the complications by the route shortening, we were unable to get the three breakaway riders. But today, Bisolti, Gaia, Stortoni and Pirazzi were exceptional all day long. Then Marangoni made the difference in the end.”
Gavazzi won 11 races last season, so he knows how to position himself in the sprint. “I looked for Ferrari’s wheel and I jumped at the right moment.”
Then sports director Roberto Reverberi confirmed the tactics. “We saved Marangoni for the end and didn’t put him on the front until five kilometers to go. His job was to keep the pace so high that nobody would manage a surprise attack. De Rosa-Stac Plastic organized its train and Gavazzi did very well to finish off the work from his teammates. Winning always feels good.”
The race was marked by a two-man break, but Giairo Ermeti and Mikhail Antonov were never allowed more than two minutes. They stayed out in front for around 100km.
Tomorrow’s race around Lumezzane is rather short, at 125.5km. The race finishes on Monday in Bergamo.
Results stage two
1. Mattia Gavazzi, 175 km in 3h52’56
2. Roberto Ferrari st
3. Alberto Loddo
4. Joeri Metloesjenko
Standings after stage two
1. Michele Scarponi
2. Matteo Carrara at 0’16
3. Przemyslaw Niemiec 0’20
4. Riccardo Riccò 0’21