Great race by Santaromita: stage victory in “Trentino”

This was the first victory this season (among the men) for a professional cyclist from Varese; the valuable result was achieved by Ivan Santaromita (BMC), who won the third stage of the “Tour of Trentino”, which is traditionally the taster for the Tour of Italy.

The 29 year-old from Clivio broke away at the end of the stage between Pergine Valsugana and Condino, beating his companions Paolino Tiralongo (Astana) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre) in the three-man sprint. Ivan’s sprint on a slightly uphill straight was beautiful, an action that provided the perfect ending to a stage that had already been enriched by his "return" with Scarponi and Tiralongo, at less than 20 km from the end.

Today’s is the second individual success for Santaromita (he also won in three team time trials), since he became a professional in 2006; the previous victory was the general ranking in the Coppi and Bartali Week 2010. The “Trentino” has become a family race; it was in this stage race that Ivan’s older brother, Mauro Antonio, achieved his only success as a pro, in the distant 1989.

The race leader is still the Frenchman Bouet, who, however, is in danger of skipping tomorrow, in the final and decisive stage, from Arco to Sega di Ala, with its difficult, uphill finish. Wiggins and Nibali are still the favourites, but Ivan Basso might also try to make an appearance among the lead positions.

In this 2013 season, before Santaromita’s victory in Condino, Varese had only had victories among the women, by Noemi Cantele in Salvador (4 plus one team time trial), and by Valentina Carretta, in the Netherlands.