PESCARA, Italy: Australian cyclist Adam Hansen, riding for the Lotto team, won the seventh stage of the Tour of Italy yesterday, with Spain’s Benat Intxausti claiming the overall leader’s pink jersey.
The 177 kilometre run from Marina di San Salvo to Pescara proved troublesome however for Giro favourite Bradley Wiggins, who trailed in 55th, two-and-a-half minutes behind Hansen, after a fall. Team Sky’s Tour de France champion hit the deck late on with a number of other competitors on the wet slippy roads, costing him valuable time on his main rivals.
In the overall standings, Intxausti now leads by five seconds from Vincenzo Nibali, who like Wiggins also fell, with last year’s Giro winner, Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, eight seconds back in third. Today’s eighth stage is a 54.8km time trial between Gabbice Mare and Saltara, with Wiggins, 1:32 behind Intxausti in 23rd overall, fancied to prevail to boost his chances of victory.
Hansen took command of the stage after forming part of a five-strong breakaway group that hit the front early on in the day’s run.
The Aussie and Emanuele Sella forged clear of the frontrunners near the Chieti climb 35km from the finish, with Hansen dropping the Italian to come home alone.
He took the stage with a 1:07 gap back to a group led by Italian Enrico Battaglin with another home hope, Danilo Di Luca, in third.
Meanwhile, the International Cycling Union (UCI) confirmed yesterday they will appeal against the decision by a Spanish court to refuse access to more than 200 sachets of blood that were seized in the Operation Puerto case against disgraced Dr Eufemiano Fuentes.
“The UCI can confirm that it will appeal the decision of the Madrid court of 29 April not to release to the UCI and other anti-doping organisations the more than 200 bags of blood and other evidence gathered in police raids in 2006, which were presented in the trial of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes,” read a statement published by the UCI.
In appealing, cycling’s world governing body are following in the footsteps of the Spanish anti-doping agency (AEA), who had already announced their intention to appeal against judge Julia Patricia Santamaria’s decision to ring fence the evidence.
“I have to ask the judge to give me whatever documentary or natural evidence there is, along with the blood bags, so that the proven facts that she herself considers as administrative infractions can be judged by the competent authorities,” said the then-head of the AEA, Ana Munoz. Agencies
