July 25/12 12:38 pm - Tour de Wallonie: Stage 4, 5 and Final GC, Barry breaks arm

Posted by Editoress on 07/25/12
 

Nizzolo takes overall in Wallonie

Giacomo Nizzolo has secured the overall classification on the last day of the Tour de Wallonie (2.HC) after he took the yellow jersey on Monday. The 23 year oldé Italian sprinted to sixth place on the final stage, won by Danilo Napolitano. RADIOSHACK NISSAN TREK brings home the leader's jersey, the mountain jersey and the jersey for best Young Rider.

The 179 km long stage between Welkenraedt and Perwez was destined to be a battlefield for the GC riders, with five riders within 10 seconds behind Nizzolo on the GC. Nizzolo: "It wasn't easy to defend the jersey with such a short lead. We had three intermediate sprints with bonification seconds and it was to be expected that the fight for the overall win would be on until the finish line."

Sports director Lars Michaelsen: "We were in for suspense until the finish line. The first two hours of the stage were very hectic, with the race situation changing several times. A lot of teams had an agenda for the stage and Lotto for Giacomo got third place in the first intermediate sprint, so he took one second there. Gianni Meersman, fourth in the GC, was second, so he took two second and was getting closer."

After the second sprint proved irrelevant for the GC with breakaway riders taking the seconds, a breakaway of three riders was allowed up the road and gained minutes. RSNT controlled the gap together with other sprinters teams.

The sprint for the stage win was equally a sprint for the overall, with Gianni Meersman taking a close second place behind Napolitano (Acqua & Sapnoe), who took his third stage out of five in the Tour de Wallonie. Nizzolo finished sixth.

"Jakob brought me up to the 1 km mark, while Ben and Matthew kept on keeping the pace very high. I managed to position myself well, behind Napolitano, but probably I went a bit too early for the legs that I had. Too bad, but the overall victory was the most important thing today."

Giacomo Nizzolo: "I'm very happy with the win. I shows that all the training has paid of. When Daniele (Bennati) had to pull out of the race, I was allowed to sprint for myself and I'm happy I can pay back the trust that the team has given me. The guys have had to work a lot in these hot temperatures and hilly road, so this is above all a team victory."

RadioShack-Nissan press release

Note:  Micheal Barry was involved in a crash in finish sprint on Stage 3, and withdrew before stage 4.  Team Sky has since announced that Barry has broken his arm   in the crash.



Stage 4 (July 24th): Huy to Oreye, 207km
1 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Acqua & Sapone, 5:15:48
2 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling
3 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
4 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
6 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha Team
7 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
8 Christophe Premont (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles - Credit Agricole
9 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin - Sharp
10 Julien Stassen (Bel) Idemasport - Biowanze, all s.t.

DNS Michael Barry (Can) Sky Procycling

Stage 5: Welkenraedt to Perwez, 179.2km
 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Acqua & Sapone, 4:19:08
2 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
3 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Sky Procycling
4 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin - Sharp
5 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling
6 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
7 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
9 Kevin Ista (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's
10 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team, all s.t.

Final GC
1 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan, 23:28:43
2 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team, at 0:01
3 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, 0:02
4 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team, 0:03
5 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, 0:11
6 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Euphony, 0:13
7 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator, s.t.
8 Kevin Ista (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's, 0:14
9 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
10 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat, both s.t.