By Stephen Farrand LIENZ, Austria, May 29 - Former champion Stefano
Garzelli took his second stage win of the 2007 Giro d'Italia
with victory in Lienz, Austria on Tuesday. The Italian attacked on the first of three short hills in
the final 50 km of the 189-km 16th stage and then out-paced five
chasers to win alone. France's Laurent Mangel finished second, one minute and one
second behind with Ricardo Serrano of Spain third in the same
time. Race leader Danilo Di Luca finished in the main bunch, eight
minutes and 10 seconds behind Garzelli as the overall contenders
saved their strength for Wednesday's 17th stage to the summit of
Monte Zoncolan. "This is one of the best wins of my career," said Garzelli,
who was also victorious in Bergamo on Saturday. "I didn't think I'd stay clear because there was a head wind
in the final kilometres but I gave it everything and made it to
the finish." Garzelli won the Giro d'Italia in 2000 but is focusing on
stage victories this year after losing time on the first big
mountain stage to Briancon. "I wasn't strong enough to compete for overall success and
so I changed my tactics," he told reporters. "I knew I didn't have anything to lose and rode an
aggressive stage. I didn't know how close the chasers were and
only knew I'd won at 500 metres from the finish." Italian Di Luca has an overall lead of 1:51 on compatriot
Eddy Mazzoleni and promised to try and attack his rival on
Wednesday's mountain stage. "It's the last key stage of the race and the climb to the
finish is the hardest and steepest of the whole Giro," the
Liquigas rider said. "It could decide the Giro because everyone will ride at
their limit all the way up. It won't be about tactics but about
having the legs to make it to the top. "I won't hold back if I feel good. Mazzoleni is my closest
overall rival and if I can, I'll try and gain time on him so
that I've got a comfortable lead before Saturday's time trial to
Verona. "When I saw how steep it is I thought it was impossible to
ride up it. The middle five kilometres are terrible and never
seem to end," he added. The Giro finishes in Milan on Sunday.
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