Viviani takes first pro win in hectic finale

Taking part in his first pro race with Liquigas-Doimo, Elia Viviani found the way to success in Antalya at the end of a hectic finale. The HTC-Columbia train derailed with one kilometre to go and caused a crash. An Italian trio avoided it and claimed the first places with turquoise jersey wearer Giovanni Visconti coming second and increasing his lead on GC while Andrea Grendene of Lampre arrived third.

It was a standard scenario for a big pro race as five riders went clear after 10 km: Adriano Malori (Lampre), Gustavo Rodriguez Iglesias (Xacobeo-Galicia), Aristide Ratti (Camiooro), Ji Cheng (Skil-Shimano) and Giario Ermeti (De Rosa). Their advantage never exceeded 2.30 but they stayed together ahead until Chinese rider Ji Cheng tried to go solo with 20 kilometres to go. But a bunch gallop was inevitable as the Colnago-CSF team decided to pull the breakaway back. Their action gave HTC-Columbia a bit of a rest compared to the previous days. Therefore, Andre Greipel was given a free ride until three kilometres to go when the last two attackers, Malori and Ermeti, eventually got caught.

Just after the arch of the last kilometre, Bert Grabsch lost control of his bike in a curve and created a pile up. “I was fortunate to avoid it”, Viviani explained. “I opened the sprint from far out. I had to wait for a De Rosa rider. Once the situation was under control, I’ve made my sprint. I think my sprint was clean. At first, I didn’t see Visconti but I saw him once I turned my head to the left hand side. It’s not my fault if he chose the wrong side for passing me. I feel sorry if he thinks I’ve done something wrong because I have a lot of respect for him. He should remember that I’m young and I’m proud to have beaten such a great rider as him.”

Visconti was adamant that Viviani should have been disqualified for not keeping his line but the judges didn’t see it that way and maintained Viviani in first place. “He looked at me in the eyes before closing the door”, an angry race leader acknowledged. “He did it on purpose. It’s a pity to see a young rider who came into the pro peloton to act like this.”

Once he cooled down, Visconti put a smile on his face and agreed this was another positive day for him. “Fortunately I stayed out of trouble when this crash happened”, the Italian said. He’s only one stage away from winning his first national Tour.

The last stage of the 46th Tour of Turkey will take the remaining 88 riders from Antalya to the town of the president of the Turkish Republic Abdullah Gül, Alanya. A minute of silence will be observed at the start in memory of Polish president Lech Kaczynski.