Pinotti was part of a five-man breakaway that gained enough time at one point in the 117-kilometre stage around the Olympic Plaza that the six-time Italian national time trial champion was the virtual race leader. After being reeled in with one lap of the 7.8-km finishing circuit to go, Pinotti finished 58th in the bunch sprint that was won by Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano).
For his efforts, Pinotti and another retiring rider – Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM Procycling Team) – shared most aggressive rider honours.
"My goal was to be in the breakaway," Pinotti said. "Flecha told me he didn't want to go in the break this morning, but then when I saw him in it, I went across to him. We had fun together." Pinotti plans to compete Sunday in the Chrono des Nations individual time trial Sunday before joining the BMC Racing Team's Sports Science Division for the 2014 season.
"We will miss Marco, that's for sure," said BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Max Sciandri. "He wanted to get in the break today and he did it and he got the most aggressive rider award. That was a nice reward for him finishing off his career."
The BMC Racing Team's win in the team classification occurred on a day when the bunch sprint finish was not expected to affect the final standings. But a gap opened in the peloton and the then-leading Movistar Team's third rider finished nine seconds off the winning time. That allowed the BMC Racing Team to win the team prize by four seconds.
"It's really nice as a team, as a group, to go up on the podium together," Steve Cummings said. "I think we deserved it. We rode well all week and it was unfortunate we didn't have Thor Hushovd with us. Even without him and his leadership, we rode together as a team." Members of the winning squad included Marcus Burghardt, Cummings, Mathias Frank, Martin Kohler, Dominik Nerz, Pinotti, Larry Warbasse and Hushovd – who withdrew after Stage 2 to attend to a family emergency after winning the opening stage. The BMC Racing Team's victory in the team classification was its seventh of the year, adding to those won at the Tour of Alberta, USA
Pro Challenge, Amgen Tour of California, Tour of Oman, Tour of Qatar and Tour de San Luis. Benat Intxausti (Movistar Team) won the race overall while Frank (13th place) was the BMC Racing Team's best-placed rider.
Jeroen KREGEL 39 years | today |
Jon-Anders BEKKEN 26 years | today |
Sophie ENEVER 25 years | today |
Stéphane URIE 36 years | today |
Inez BEIJER 29 years | today |
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