Tuesday,
September 26, 2006
The ANNOTICO Report
Paolo Bettini hands
"The Italian
team were superb. We tried for over 100km to eliminate
a lot of our rivals with attack after attack, and in the end it came down to
the final bend."
======================================
The Australian
From Justin Davis
in
September 25,
2006
Quick Step rider Bettini showed his power and class in a two-man sprint
which outfoxed
Former sprint
king Zabel finished a deserved second with
Robbie McEwen was
fourth, and comptriot Stuart O'Grady who was considered a pre-race favourite finished fifth, leaving the Aussies still
looking for a world crown.
Bettini hands
"It's really
great to win the jersey after so many failed attempts. It almost became an
obsession for me," said Bettini.
"The Italian
team were superb. We tried for over 100km to eliminate
a lot of our rivals with attack after attack, and in the end it came down to
the final bend.
"It just
goes to show how difficult a sport cycling is."
Bettini was mad last year when
its leader, Alessandro Petacchi, ran out of juice
late in the men's road race in
Defending
champion Tom Boonen, Bettini's
Quick Step teammate, finished ninth despite a finale which could have suited
the Belgian star.
It was a tense
finish, and Bettini played his hand perfectly by
jumping on Zabel's wheel when he powered away with
200 metres to go after a four-man split in the bunch
caused by Valverde and his Spanish teammate, Samuel
Sanchez.
It caught Valverde short, and by the time the Spaniard tried to jump
behind Bettini it was too late.
It was a
disappointment for the hugely favoured 26-year-old,
but his bronze medal will sit nicely alonogside his
two silvers from 2005 and 2003.
"The Spanish
team put in an immense effort all day," said Valverde,
whose failure to land the world crown comes a week after he finished runner-up
to Alexandre Vinokourov on
the Tour of Spain.
"But after
the four of us had broken free at the end I knew it would be difficult to beat Zabel and Bettini."
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