Score another championship for Squadra Azzurra. “Il Grillo” chirpped in the finale to take the win.
It seems the World Road Race championship course was tough but not too tough. Against all conventional wisdom, it ended in a bunch sprint. There were several breakaway attempts that failed. Including Paolo Bettini with about 8km to go. Davide Rebellin had his best shot at the rainbow jersey with 3km to go but to no avail. At least he took his shot after trying so hard to get into this race.
In the finale, no one seemed to be able to organize a leadout. That left the door open to a rider like Bettini who lept off the front with Valverde and Zabel. He was able to hold off Zabel in the final few meters to take the win.
Here is the question, Bettini has been donning gold since his Olympic win, what will his accessories look like now?
