|
FRASCATI, Italy -- Robert Forster won the flat, 108-mile fifth stage of the Giro d'Italia in a sprint finish Thursday and Danilo Di Luca retained the overall lead. Forster won in 4 hours, 17 minutes, 2 seconds for Gerolsteiner,
edging Thorn Hushovd for his second Giro career victory. He won the last stage of the 2006 race. Alessandro Petacchi, who beat Forster to win the third leg, was third. Danilo Napolitano was fourth and Robbie McEwen fifth -- all with the same time as Forster. "Today was an easy leg for all of us," Di Luca said. "Rightly so, the sprinters took the race. I'm hoping for more of the same tomorrow." Friday's sixth stage is a 110-mile route from Tivoli to Spoleto, Umbria. Di Luca finished 99th Thursday and holds a 26-second lead over
teammate Franco Pellizotti in the overall standings. The fifth stage set off from Teano in Campania and ended in Frascati, near Rome. Mickael Buffaz and Mikhail Ignatiev broke away from the main group after about 9 miles and had built up almost a three-minute lead 62 miles later. However, neither rider was able to maintain the pace. Buffaz fell away at the first of two short hill sections 75 miles in, and Ignatiev was caught 12 miles from the end. World champion Paolo Bettini finished toward the back of the field. He had an X-ray before the race following a bad fall midway through Wednesday's fourth stage and said that he had "avoided taking risks" Thursday. "I'm still in pain and discomfort under pressure," Bettini said. "I hope to be back to 100 percent in a few days."
|
