Giovanni Visconti Relegated, Ulissi Wins Giro d'Italia Stage 17

by Jen See on May 25, 2011 1:50 PM EDT in Giro d'Italia

Diego Ulissi of Lampre-ISD won today's Stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia after the race jury relegated Italian National Champion Giovanni Visconti. Visconti received third place, the last placing in the group where he finished. Here's your replay of the final sprint.

Visconti is all over the road on this one. First he goes right, then he goes left, then he tries to pass Ulissi on the barricades. I'm not sure what Visconti was thinking with that barricades move, and from my couch, it looked like Visconti could have won the stage if he had hit out straight for the line. Pinched between Ulissi and barricades, Visconti committed the ultimate sin and took his hands off the bars. Pushing and shoving, so not allowed in the final kilometers. Worse still, Visconti shoved Ulissi into the line of Lastras, which forced the Movistar rider to go wide. Sketchy all around.

After the stage, Visconti complained that Ulissi had ridden dangerously. Apparently, there were some tensions earlier in the day during their long ride in the breakaway. "Sometimes it's ourselves who put our lives at risk," said Visconti, who was noticeably angry at the finish. RAI brought both riders on to the processo post-race show, and they had a chat. Visconti seemed a bit cheered up after all.

Spare a thought for Ulissi, a young rider who just won the biggest race of his career. Too bad it had to be overshadowed by Visconti losing his shit and making polemica. The 21-year-old Ulissi is riding his second season as a professional, and has only one previous pro victory. This season he has had a couple near-misses with a second in stage 8 of Paris-Nice and second overall at the Settimana Ciclista Internazionale Coppi-Bartali. In 2007, Ulissi was the junior road race World Champion.

Full stage results.

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Congratulations to Ulissi with a big win. Visconti is getting desperate.

Another big winner today is HTC’s Sivtsov moving from 12th to 5th in the GC. Impressive and very strong performance. Solid TT’er who could cause problems for Gadret in the Milano TT and potentially move a place up in the GC (if he can keep Menchov and Kreuz behind him). Not a bad day for HTC.

by Uphill on May 25, 2011 2:18 PM EDT reply actions

Oooh, nice catch on Sivtsov

I saw him in the break, but didn’t do the math.

by Jen See on May 25, 2011 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

on the desperate part. “I want my stage win! I’m the tricolore!” He may be a fine human, but he’s second-rate on the bike.

If cobble delusions are wrong, who wants to be right? -JFS PGH

by Chris Fontecchio on May 25, 2011 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

and, with sivtsov in the break, saxo got another armchair (more like recliner) ride in the peloton today.

"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind

by umwolverine on May 25, 2011 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Plus they had Jesus in the break(I love writing that)

so they could sit back and relax.

You can't spell epic without Giro

by Phil H. on May 25, 2011 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

The leader of my local team is named Jesus Hernandez

I have endless fun with that.
Plus is also very good to ride for Jesus.
:)

RULE 42:
A bike ride/race shall never be preceeded with a swim and/or followed by a run

by perezbike on May 25, 2011 3:36 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Jesus H., no less.

"In addition, it also showed an enormous lack of respect to my dog, whose name they changed." - Oscar Pereiro

by SpaceGuy on May 25, 2011 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions

hehe nice observation

I'm feverished, or the way you want to spell it

by plinytheelder on May 25, 2011 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions

well played

I picked Riccardo Ricco for my 2011 VDS team, and submitted said team well before the submission deadline. I fully understand the error of my ways, and plead with the VDS Gods to allow me to resubmit my team.

by PopUp Rolen on May 26, 2011 7:08 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah and Liquigas ended up driving the peloton for about 100km without

getting anything out of it.

by Uphill on May 25, 2011 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions

they worked their butts off today for nothing

by yeehoo on May 25, 2011 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions

They've been quite disappointing at the Giro

haven’t tried to go for any stage wins really. If you’re going to have a team built solely around one guy which doesn’t do anything but watch him every stage then that guy should be winning. Obviously Nibs is not winning so why not try something more?

You can't spell epic without Giro

by Phil H. on May 25, 2011 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Has Szmyd put on 50 lbs or something

where the hell is he this year?

by ike2112 on May 26, 2011 6:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Sick..he's been quite ill, but has of course persevered.

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on May 26, 2011 7:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Sivtsov will probably crack on Saturday but he does make it a bit more interesting in the race for 5th(hey it matters some)

You can't spell epic without Giro

by Phil H. on May 25, 2011 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Sivtsov.

You never know what poeple can do when they feel success.

by Uphill on May 25, 2011 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

There may have been a history there...

but Visconti was outta line, IMO. He seemed quite twitchy in that last Km. Why would he even put himself on Ulissi’s left? Dumb move. Ulissi had a pretty decent last Km.

Proactively "From the Sea"; leveraging the littoral best practices for a paradigm breaking six-sigma best business case in the global commons, rightsizing the core values supporting our mission statement via the 5-vector model through cultural diversity

by swells on May 25, 2011 2:22 PM EDT reply actions

Yes, he was all over the place in that last KM, and what on earth was he playing at?!

There was no need to dive for the fence; he had a whole frickin road! Ulissi didn’t drift an unreasonable amount…there was simply no gap for Visconti there, and Ulissi didn’t drift any more once Visconti tried to go down his left. He started pushing him before he’d even started to pass him. Somebody lost their mind for a little bit there methinks…

Dos cervezas por favor!

by Albertina on May 25, 2011 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Ulissi drifts a little, which is ok

I reckon since he is in front.

Visconti then touches him gently to keep him from continuing to move in. Ulissi keeps coming. Then Visconti shoves him.

I think there was a case to relegate Ulissi too for continuing to come in when he would have known Visconti was there (after the first touch). I think Lastras should have been awarded the win.

by ike2112 on May 26, 2011 6:28 AM EDT up reply actions

I'll second Uphill's praise

Ulissi was class and deserved the win. Obviously Visconti was VERY wrong. I just read a little tidbit on CN that Ulissi is supposedly Bettini’s heir to the classics throne in Italy. I don’t know where that came from but I seem to recall Visconti being labeled that not too long ago. I wonder if there might be some imagined beef with Ulissi on Visconti’s behalf. Maybe even some crazy cycling vendetta, who knows. Ulissi was class and Visconti wasn’t. Also, Sivtsov was scary strong today. If today’s parcours was hillier, no doubt he would have gotten away. Also, a shout out to Hubie Dupond(sp?) That guy was a beast today.

Focus on easy first. If that's all you get, that ain't half bad - Caballo Blanco

by SpunOut on May 25, 2011 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I remember the Bettini heir thing too.

Interesting
/adds Ulissi to possible VDS list for 2012/

by swells on May 25, 2011 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions

. I wonder if there might be some imagined beef

With clenbuterol?

by Chief42 on May 25, 2011 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Haha, you are a funny guy!

Focus on easy first. If that's all you get, that ain't half bad - Caballo Blanco

by SpunOut on May 26, 2011 2:05 AM EDT up reply actions

RAI diplomacy?

Love it. Only at the Giro. Did ASO gather up Barredo and Rui Costa for some on-cam therapy? Did they try to hear the little boy inside Barredo calling out as he was clubbing Rui Costa with his wheel? Nope. Missed opportunity.

If cobble delusions are wrong, who wants to be right? -JFS PGH

by Chris Fontecchio on May 25, 2011 2:28 PM EDT reply actions

Iberians, what can you do?

Focus on easy first. If that's all you get, that ain't half bad - Caballo Blanco

by SpunOut on May 25, 2011 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

alessandra doesn't like bad manners.

"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind

by umwolverine on May 25, 2011 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Let him finish eating!

"In addition, it also showed an enormous lack of respect to my dog, whose name they changed." - Oscar Pereiro

by SpaceGuy on May 25, 2011 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

She was being very firm tonight...

telling people not to argue or insult each other.

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on May 25, 2011 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Diplomacy? Probably more looking for a soap opera

You can't spell epic without Giro

by Phil H. on May 25, 2011 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions

don't need to look very far... :-)

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on May 25, 2011 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Looked like Visconti was trying something

he well may have done before, jumping on somebody’s wheel and then distracting them while sliding by.

by chuck martel on May 25, 2011 3:09 PM EDT reply actions

There's a Barredo joke in there somewhere

I like tinkering with the boys.
- majope

by tgsgirl on May 25, 2011 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Someone in my twitter feed wanted to gift the stage to Lastras

Because it was Tondo’s funeral today, I guess. It would’ve been a nice gesture, but it’s still a bike race.

Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...

by TheFigurehead on May 25, 2011 3:41 PM EDT reply actions

Heh

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2011/5/25/2189327/giro-ditalia-stage-17-live-second-thread#68088652

by tedvdw on May 25, 2011 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Too much of the grand gesture already in cycling.

by hughw on May 25, 2011 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions

would've been nice if he'd won, yes

but no more than that… to criticise Visconti for chasing him was ridiculous

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on May 25, 2011 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions

agreed

by Jen See on May 25, 2011 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Visconti was relegated wasn't he. DQed would not allow him to still get third place.

He was gifted third while Bakelants was probably trying to duck out of the way of the dodgey tactics when he knew he couldn’t win.

Sign seen at entrance of local bike shop, " \o/ spoken here.". - Okay, I made it up, but wouldn't that be cool?

by flying dog on May 25, 2011 4:03 PM EDT reply actions

Relegated is right

Disqualified means something else, according to the UCI Rules of Racing. But maybe Gavia thought ‘relegated’ was too technical, not immediately clear to all readers? (Damn those CN writers dumbing it down.)

by tedvdw on May 25, 2011 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Ah right

Sorry. Actually, I heard the Italian word for disqualified and declassified, and eh, forgot the distinction between them.

Hang on, I’ll change that bad boy.

by Jen See on May 25, 2011 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Despicable

He should be expelled from the race and suspended a month (think Theo Bos). Whatever respect I gained for him in the ’08 Giro flew out the window today.

by Aly Edge on May 25, 2011 4:25 PM EDT reply actions

Bit over the top, that, I think.

On the Processo, more than one person (Tatiana Guderzo, for starters) thought that Ulissi didn’t altogether hold his line (pace the jury) & was partly to blame. I don’t agree with that but the jury’s judgement (at least as far as was said on the Processo) focussed on the racing line rather than the hands being raised. Ulissi didn’t seem to think he was in danger (though he’d been awarded the win…) whereas Visconti thought Ulissi was pushing him into the barriers. My own view is that Visconti made a daft decision not trusting his own ability to win on the outside (surely he would have) & it all went horribly wrong from there. The jury relegated him to third as per the rules & that seems fair enough to me.

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on May 25, 2011 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Well for one, Visconti was an idiot to take that line anyway. There was no room there from where Ulissi started. And yeah, he deviated a little, but nothing to warrant the response he got from Signor Tricolore. And those two shoves were not balance checks to keep them both from crashing (I don’t buy it, Giovanni). They were pissed-off, why you little, angry, retributive shoves. Which is why I lost all respect for the rider. At the time and afterward, Ulissi conudcted himself like a professional. Visconti acted like a petulant child, and has continued to do so (and, actually, has promised that he WILL continue to do so).

by Aly Edge on May 29, 2011 2:13 AM EDT up reply actions

What Ulissi did was (very) arguably unsporting. What Visconti did put Ulissi and Lastras in immediate physical jeopardy. No comparison whatsoever.

by Aly Edge on May 29, 2011 2:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Visconti should've gone right and he would have had an easy win

bad tactical choice (trying to take Ulissi by surprise by going to the left? Or was there a crosswind from right to left?)

by broerie on May 25, 2011 4:39 PM EDT reply actions

On the Processo he said there was a cross wind.

But I still would have fancied his chances.

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on May 25, 2011 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

It's hilarious that Visconti worried about how the crosswind might affect his sprint,

but assumed it wouldn’t affect Ulissi’s.

Sign seen at entrance of local bike shop, " \o/ spoken here.". - Okay, I made it up, but wouldn't that be cool?

by flying dog on May 25, 2011 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Wel,l indeed.

My main impression was that Visconti’s not all that bright. His argument was he’d done most of the work in the break & therefore ought to win the stage. Ulissi freely admitted that Visconti had done more work & was the strongest rider & therefore he’d had to be smart.

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on May 25, 2011 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions

so awesome :)

That totally made laugh. But I do agree. I don’t think Visconti is the sharpest tool in the shed by any means. It seems to me he doesn’t win as much as his talent suggests he could, and that he makes stupid mistakes. Like, for example, trying to go left today. Really, he wasted so much road getting to the line. He’d have won easily if he’d sprinted straight.

by Jen See on May 25, 2011 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions

What would Deming do? (+8:00 GMT)

by Ryan_Liles on May 26, 2011 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions

This was at the end of a CN article

There is a slight risk that protesters against a high-speed rail link through the Alps could try and block the Giro d’Italia during Saturday’s stage to Sestriere. That would help Contador, just as the cutting of the Crostis climb helped him earlier in the race

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-keeps-everything-under-control

You can't spell epic without Giro

by Phil H. on May 25, 2011 5:17 PM EDT reply actions

Apparently Contador would be completely helpless without all the route changes

during this Giro. Its pretty clear Contador wouldn’t be in the top 10 had the route been as orginally planned. Two more mountains and 5km of TT would have killed him off.

by Uphill on May 25, 2011 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions