Alessandro Bertolini, lives and trains in Dosso di Trambileno, a town of 30 people in Trentino. The 36 year old Diquigiovanni
rider became a hero in Stuttgart, pulling along the riders of the Italian National team which pushed Bettini to his second
World title. He is the pawn that Gilberto Simoni and the Diquigiovanni-Androni team will play on the mountains on Saturday.
"Gibo and I have trained all year solely and exclusively for the Giro. This win is for my wife, my daughter Rebecca and also
for him,” said a happy stage winner Bertolini.
The rain, combined with the narrow, curving roads, led to many crashes. Astana's Levi
Leipheimer crashed with overall leader Giovanni Visconti (Quickstep), but both riders were able to continue.
Leipheimer suffers from bruised and brazed right cheek-bone and elbow, but will be able to take the start in the 12th stage.
"I fell with 60km p/h; I thought I was going to be hurt bad. They found my bike 10 metres down, in a ditch," said
overall leader Giovanni Visconti Quick Step. Visconti defended his leading position thanks to the work of Bettini,
Tonti and Garate. He ended up in the hospital for X-rays of his left elbow and right wrist. No fractures, so tomorrow he’ll
be at the start off.
"It was a really nervous stage and just about all our guys were involved in crashes. Nicki [Sørensen, editor] crashed and
lost some time as a result, but like the others, who went down, he got off lightly without any injuries. Jens [Voigt, editor]
almost made the break and is generally feeling pretty strong so he'll probably try again. And now we have two flat stages
before hitting the really big mountains this weekend," said CSC sport director Kim Andersen.
Other riders who crashed were Leonardo Piepoli, Emanuele Sella, Franco Pellizzoti and of
course 33 year old Fortunato Baliani, who crashed in the final kilometre.
After 10 days filled with pain and sufference Barloworld's Colombian rider Mauricio Soler quitted in the feed
zone at Ponte Cappuccini. "I rode for ten days and was able to finish the stage thanks to painkillers, only to try to win
a stage on the mountains,"Soler said already in the team bus, "but the Giro's course is really hard, and it is almost impossible
to be competitive unless you are perfectly fit. It figures when you carry a microfracture..."
On Thursday and Friday, the first real flat stages will be ridden. Rabobank's sports director Erik Breukink is happy about
that. "The riders can now recover after a large number of tough days and with a very tough end in sight. I think it is fine
like this."
