Brutt won GP Chiasso

At the GP Chiasso, the Swiss classics season opener, Russian rider Pavel Brutt finished ahead of all his classy rivals. The photo finish showed that the 25-years-old crossed the line just ahead of Italians Davide Rebellin and Luca Mazzanti. The Russian Tinkoff rider superbly counter-attacked on one of the final climbs bridging the gap with a leading group where his teammate Evgueni Petrov was also present. Then, having started his decisive attack with some 500 meters to go, Brutt managed to narrowly beat his opponents, famous for their outstanding turn of speed. "Yes, it is a great victory indeed, and for me it’s a good occasion to say three thank-yous: the first one goes to the teammates, they were fantastic today; the second one goes to Oleg Tinkov, who believed in me and gave me an important role to play in this squad; and, finally, the third one goes to sports directors of Tinkoff. Credit Systems Orlando Maini, Claudio Cozzi and Dmitri Konyshev, who give me a guidance few specialists are capable of. Yes, we’ve made a truly great squad!" Another Tinkoff rider, 27 ears-old Sergey Klimov, was carried in an ambulance to a local hospital in Mendrisio after a heavy fall which resulted in a broken collar-bone.

After the race, happy winner Pavel Brutt said: "I am just starting to realize that it all happened to me,” said Tinkoff. Credit Systems rider Pavel Brutt some two hours after perhaps the most importatn victory of his carrer, his voice still trembling with joy and excitement, “It just so incredible, I can’t believe it, so suddenly it came. When I crossed the line, I didn’t raise my hands as it was so close between me and Davide Rebellin, I was almost sure I was second. Then they come up to me and lead me to the top of the podium. Only there it started coming home to me...

Claudio Cozzi wrote for me an individual plan of training for the week between the races. There was time to relax as well as time to tune up for the coming series of one-days. Two days before GP Chiasso I rode some 4 hours all by myself doing two series by 20-25 minutes uphill, it wasn’t strength training but a special workout to find a rhythm with which to ride up the mountains in racing conditions…

I won’t lie that on Saturday morning I woke up with a feeling that I’ll beat every contender in the coming race, still I felt that my legs were good enough to play a role in it, not to sit in the wheels. The course turned out to be merciless, not a stretch you can call flat, up and down all the way, with progressively serious ups and downs on the final laps. It was there where the activity reached its peak, and people started to drop out by dozens. There was a breakaway some 45 seconds ahead where Zhenia [Evgueni Petrov] was riding; Milram guys pulled hard and gave some impulse to Davide Rebellin, he attacked to bridge the gap and I found enough power in me to stay with him. The decider came just after the final turn, entering it I had to chase, and I had good speed at the exit. When our small group caught up with Kostja [Konstantin] Sivtsov who started the attack they slowed down somewhat, and I took advantage of some additional km\hs. 300 meters out of the saddle and then… I guess it looked terrible, it felt I was just crawling on the bike which didn’t move at all. I had to give my utmost, hit the red zone, but they were rolling in… I though I wasn’t first across the line.

To beat the likes of Davide Rebellin you need much luck, and lucky I was. It was a lottery where I hit the jackpot, but basically it takes decent legs to play these games.

And look how changeable the fortune is. It was so hard on Sergey Klimov just days after his splendid victory in Manchester, we watched the track World cup finals on TV and were so happy for him. I just hope that he recovers as soon as possible after his horrible fall. So the day is bitter-sweet for us, you see."

Team Volksbank sexed up the GP Lugano

After his near miss at the GP Chiasso the day before, Luca Mazzanti (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) won the GP Lugano on Sunday. Mazzanti outsprinted Pedro Arreitunandia (Barloworld) and Evgeni Petrov (Tinkoff Credit Systems).

Team Volksbank-riders sexed up the GP Lugano: From the start Volksbank-new signing Florian Stalder tried to brake away but could only resist the bunch for a few kilometers. A counter attack of the Swiss Pascal Hungerbühler succeeded with the allrounder from Adliswil staying in the lead of the race until kilometer 120. Hungerbühler's solo-brakeaway was terminated by the main bunch just before the final laps in Lugano. The last few kilometres on the tough circuit became an acid test when the peloton tried to thin out at speed. Florian Stalder stayed in touch with the top of the race and finished somewhere around the 30th rank. René Weissinger and Andreas Matzbacher finished in the following group.
Directeur Sportif Lukas Zumsteg is very satisfied with today's performance: "We presented our jersey througout the whole race and did some good promotion. Especially Florian did very well today. He left some riders with well-known names behind."

Giuseppe Muraglia  won GP Almeria

Giuseppe Muraglia  (Aqua et Sapone) won the GP Almeria after he outsprinted Eduard Vorganov (Karpin-Galicia) and Vicente Ballester (Fuerteventura-Canarias) at this years edition of the GP Almeria. 

Vuelta Valenciana: Valverde wins overall

Friday's Queen Stage with seven climbs and an uphill finish was an exiting stage with an early break of five Spaniards for much of the stage, but the peloton was all together by the time the group hit the final 4kms that went straight up hill.

Damiano Cunego (Lampre) launched his attack and quickly got a gap on the steep, steep slopes of Alt de Campello. Discovery Channel climbing sensation Alberto Contador countered and quickly passed Cunego, shattering the field behind him. Cresting the hill first and continuing his ride toward victory, Contador easily took the win with a large margin of thirteen seconds over the chasing group of five which included Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) and DC’s own Jani Brajkovic who took fifth on the stage. Losing time on an earlier stage due to a crash, Contador’s hopes for GC glory had been set aside instead for a stage win and once the roads went up he was there to deliver his first victory for his new team.

In post race comments Contador said, "I know, it's a pity that falling in previous stages took me out of contention for the overall, but I'm happy that I won this stage. I was really eager for victory. And I want to dedicate my victory to my team, because they've always believed in me. I wouldn't be here celebrating such win today."

Discovery Director Sean Yates said despite the fact that Alberto suffered from the earlier crash, his win today shows what great form he has and how motivated he was to go for the win. Yates also signaled out the good form for Brajkovic who was not targeting this race but now sits 4th on GC overall. "This just confirms what we’ve seen from him last year and that we can expect great things to come from him."

Triumphal end of the Vuelta Valenciana for Lampre-Fondital: in Valencia Daniele Bennati again beated Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) in the final sprint and obtained the third victory in the Spanish race, Corioni finished the fifth and final stage in 3rd position after he had helped his team mate Bennati in the sprint, Valjavec obtained the 2nd place in the final overall standing, at only 2” from overall winner Valverde. "Very good work by the team before the sprint, Corioni piloted Bennati perfectly and an outstanding sprint by Daniele," Martinelli commented. "We were great in helping Bennati, so he could obtain the third victory and repeated the success of last year here in Valencia. We’re also satisfied for Valjavec result in the overall standing and for Cunego’s performances."