"Take that you haters," should have been the first words out of Roberto Ferrari's mouth as he crossed the line in the bunch gallop to win stage 11 of the Giro. As it was, he threw the arms up, smiled and let the rest of the grimacing faces behind him -- this time on their bikes and not the ground -- look on.
It was also the first time Mark Cavendish has been beaten in a sprint that didn't involve him crashing but he'll be happy enough because the lame forth place finish by his standards was still enough for him to pull on the Red jersey as points leader.
"This is the victory of a lifetime! Winning a stage in the Giro is the best thing for an Italian rider," he whooped upon climbing off his bike from what was the longest stage in this years Giro. The last man to win into Montecatini Terme in the Giro was a certain Italian sprinter, Mario Cippolini. Ferrari then put a little dig in at the World Champion. "I wanted to redeem myself after what had happened in the early stages. I beat Cavendish? I am glad, he did not believe in me ... But the only thing that counts for me is that today is a great day." Take that Cav. You're only as good as your last sprint.
And that last sprint and the failure not to win, Cavendish put firmly on the shoulders of his team. "I was screaming the last kilometres to be careful," he said afar the finish when the team went into the final corner a little hot leaving Cavendish with too much to make up in the final kick to the line. "I'm a little disappointed with Geraint, he wasn't careful," continued Cavendish about the man who has set him up for a number of victories before including his World Championship win. "I let him know right after the finish."
Cavendish is often quick to remind us that without his team he wouldn't win most of the races he does, so it might have been better had he cut them a little slack for what was clearly a mistake this time out. "I had a big gear, I expected to carry the speed," Cavendish added in admission of his own mistake. He then retracted slightly on the criticism for the lead out. "In Fano I had the perfect lead out, but we're still learning. It's the first time I have raced with Kennaugh. As with everything, you start in a new team, you start fresh."
