By Gregor Brown Alessandro Bertolini (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia) has won the 2007...
Alessandro Bertolini (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia) (Image credit: Sirotti)
By Gregor Brown
Alessandro Bertolini (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia) has won the 2007 Coppa Italia with one round still left to race, the two-up time trial Frienze-Pistoia. The 36 year-old rider from Trento was on fire this fall with four wins that advanced him in the standings and add weight to his inclusion in Italy's Squadra Azzurra for the World Championships.
Bertolini won the Giro dell'Appennino, Coppa Agostoni, Giro del Veneto and the Coppa Placci between August 5 and September 8, however; his first win of the season came in March, the opening stage of the Coppi & Bartali. In the races that comprise the Coppa Italia he amassed 427 points compared to the 308 points of Luca Mazzanti (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) in second.
25 year-old Kanstantsin Siutsou (Barloworld) won the young riders' classification and finished third in the overall classification with 210 points. Behind the Belarusian rider was 22 year-old Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas), at 151 points, and Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir) in, at 134.
Tenax-Salmilano leads the teams' classification by a slim margin of five points over Ceramica Panaria-Navigare (698 and 693 points respectively).
The Coppa Italia ("Italian Cup") is comprised of Italy's best races that are not classified as ProTour races, like the Milano-Sanremo. Participation is open to any Italian rider, non-Italians that are part of Italian teams and riders of non-Italy-based teams where the majority of the riders are Italians (Tenax-Salmilano is based in Ireland but more than 50% of its riders are Italian - ed.).
