Latest News

Tondo third in Giro’s first mountain summit

May 16, 2010 - Filed under: TestTeam

Comments (2)

Cervélo TestTeam's Xavier Tondo (Esp) surged to third place in Sunday's eighth stage at the Giro d'Italia in the first summit finish in this year's corsa rosa up Monte Terminillo.

Chris-Anker Sorensen (Den-Saxo Bank) held on from a breakaway to win the stage while Tondo attacked out of the lead group of GC contenders with about 3.5km to go. The Dane had enough in the tank to hold on for the win and Tondo crossed the line third at 36 seconds back.

Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz-Astana) finished with the favorites to retain the overall leader's pink jersey while Cervélo's Carlos Sastre (Esp), banged up from his nasty spill Saturday, ceded more time on the stage.

"We waited until the final climb to see how Tondo and Carlos we're feeling, because after the hard day Saturday and the crash, we were not sure. Tondo said he felt good and we gave him the freedom to try to win the stage," said Cervélo TestTeam Sport Director Alex Sans Vega. "Though the breakaway had a big advantage, we thought it was possible when the gap came down to one and a half minutes with 8km to go. We tried with Tondo, and that's important. He got some time back on the favorites, gained some confidence and now he's our best rider in the GC."

Sastre admitted he was feeling the effects of the grueling stage Saturday across the muddy roads of Tuscany and didn't have the best sensations when the late attacks came in the closing kilometers. With Tondo up the road chasing the stage win, Sastre stayed with the GC group as long as possible to minimize his loss to the leaders.

"I suffered as much as I could so I could stay as close to the favorites and lose the minimal amount of time, but for me, the start of this Giro has been especially challenging for the crashes and all the other problems I've had since the start," Sastre said. "I counted on the help of my teammates today. Marcel Wyss (Swi) was with me today because Tondo is in great form right now and you have to let him have his chances."

The 93rd Giro continues Monday with the 187km ninth stage from Frosinone to Cava de Tirreno. After three breakaway victories in four days, the sprinter teams will likely collaborate to set up a mass gallop for the fastest men in the peloton.

Stage 8: Chianciano - Monte Terminillo 189km

1 Chris Sorensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
2 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox
3 Xavier Tondo (Esp) Cervélo TestTeam

Cervélo TestTeam
24 Marcel Wyss (Swi)
27 Carlos Sastre (Esp)
60 Volodimir Gustov (Ukr)
87 Iñigo Cuesta (Esp)
89 Daniel Lloyd (GBr)
140 Ted King (USA)
155 Gabriel Rasch (Nor)
165 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu)

2 responses for this Entry

Joan says:

May 17, 2010

Molt be Xavi. Anim i força, a la proxima segur que fas diana. Anim tambe Carlos.

Des de Cat amb vosaltres.

Nick says:

May 17, 2010

I guess CTT may have to review their support of Sastre. Although I enjoyed the way he won the Tour in 2008 and the way he won 2 stages in last year's Giro, I must admit it was frustrating to see him being caught in too many crashes. Once or twice, you can blame it on luck, but once too many! He's not staying out of trouble. He should know this better and he should be pushing to at least stay in the front pack and not at the back of the peloton!