Ricco wins again
Published: Mon, Jul. 14, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Mon, Jul. 14, 2008 06:07AM
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closeBAGNERES-DE-BIGORRE, FRANCE -- Riccardo Ricco calls the mountains "my turf," and he knows how to protect it.
The Italian showed his strength in the Pyrenees on Sunday by winning the ninth stage of the Tour de France cycling race while Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen kept the yellow jersey. This was Ricco's second stage victory in three mountain stages run so far.
Nicknamed "The Cobra," Ricco started with a right knee sore from a crash Saturday. He struck when his rivals appeared vulnerable, bolting from the pack in the steepest part of the final ascent on the 139-mile ride from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre.
THE TOUR TODAY
WHERE: Today's 96.9-mile mountain-stage ride from Pau to Hautacam ascends the Tourmalet and the Hautacam, among the most difficult in the Pyrenees and so hard that they do not have a classification in cycling's ranking system.
WHEN: 7 a.m.
TV: Versus
TOUR UPDATE
SUNDAY'S STAGE: 139.2-mile trek through the Pyrenees from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre that included two category 1 climbs.
WINNER: Riccardo Ricco of Italy won his second Tour stage with a spectacular solo breakaway when he started his attack up the Aspin. Vladimir Efimkin of Russia finished second, and Cyril Dessell was third.
RACE LEADER: Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg -- the Team Columbia leader -- retained the overall lead ahead of Cadel Evans of Australia. Christian Vande Velde of the United States is third.
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"Let's say that this is really my turf, my domain," he said. "I went all out to the finish. ... I was really fast today."
Kirchen was happy to hold the overall lead for a fourth straight day. Top contender Cadel Evans of Australia struggled to not lose ground after a crashing midway through the stage.
Ricco breezed past a few breakaway riders and finished 1 minute, 4 seconds ahead of his closest challenger, Vladimir Efimkin of Russia. The Italian was 1:17 in front of Kirchen, Evans and most of the other favorites.
Ricco is not a strong time-trial rider and was considered a long shot at the outset to win the three-week race, which ends July 27 in Paris. He said he wasn't even originally scheduled to race in the Tour and had to persuade the manager of his Saunier Duval team to let him ride.
The stage took the 170 riders along seven climbs. Ricco turned on the speed on the second of two especially demanding ones -- the 8.2-mile Peyresourde pass followed by the shorter Aspin pass.
In a sport beset by doping -- the latest instance was Friday's ouster of Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran -- Ricco has had to fend off suspicions. He says he has a naturally high hematocrit level, which measures the volume of red blood cells. High hematocrit levels can suggest use of the banned blood booster EPO but do not confirm it.
Ricco has had high hematocrit levels "ever since I was little," he said. "I hope soon that everybody will stop speaking about that."
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