Cycling: Frigo's breakaway spares Italy a second barren year

Italian fears that they would leave the Tour de France empty-handed for a second year running were finally eased as Milan-born Dario Frigo took a convincing victory over two other breakaways at Cluses.

These were no idle worries, either. Italy is cycling's No 1 nation – no other country has so many teams and riders, by a long chalk – yet they have not succeeded in getting a rider on the final podium in Paris since 1998, and last year, the Italians took no stage wins for the first time in 14 Tours, and their best rider, Stefano Garzelli, finished a lowly 14th.

This year 16 stages had come and gone, before Frigo – who rides, as it happens, for a team with the quintessentially Italian name of Tacconi – streaked across the line on the final Alpine stage of the Tour a comforting two bike lengths ahead of Belgian Mario Aerts.

But while Frigo reassured the Italians, the 28-year-old's doubtful past hardly makes him the ideal embodiment of a sporting renaissance.

Frigo's public image divebombed last year thanks to the discovery of a number of flasks containing banned substances in his suitcase during the Tour of Italy at San Remo. Lying second overall at the time, Frigo, claimed he had not used the products in question, rather he had kept them at his bedside to act as a visual inspiration.

To Frigo's dismay, the Italian federation took a rather darker point of view and after two flasks were found to contain human growth hormone and anabolic steroids banned the rider for nine months.

When laboratory analysis revealed this May that a third container, labelled HemAssist (synthetic haemaglobin) in fact contained nothing more than a saline solution, he had already served his sentence.

"I prefer to think of beautiful moments like today, what's happened before is forgotten," Frigo responded curtly as journalists reminded him of his past.

A fast and furious start saw Frigo ahead with four other riders, including fellow Italian Giuseppe Guerini, at the summit of the day's quartet of cols, but with a group of 13 pursuers, including the leader in the King of the Mountains competition, Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, hot on their heels.

Frigo accelerated hard on the second climb, the first category Saisies, reducing the leading group from five to himself, Guerini and Belgian Mario Aerts. However, it was only 50 kilometres further on, at the summit of the final ascent of the day, with Jalabert steadily losing ground and an advantage of three and a half minutes over a new group of counter-attackers, that the trio could be sure one of them would win.

After briefly losing contact with Aerts and Guerini on the long descent to the finish at Cluses, Frigo looked like the least likely to do so. Nonetheless, his sprint in the stage's closing metres gave him a comfortable victory over Aerts, second, and Guerini, third.

Questioned as to how he had found the strength to win an Alpine after suffering badly on the Mont Ventoux on Sunday, Frigo argued that, "I go much better when it's not so hot."

However, his troubled past is too recent to be ignored. So for all the Italians could finally celebrate a victory, Frigo's explanations that his win owed a lot to the weather left many Tour observers feeling uncomfortably cold.

Alasdair Fotheringham writes for Cycling Weekly

Race details

STAGE 17 (Aime to Cluses, 142km): 1 D Frigo (It) Tacconi Sports 4hr 2min 27sec; 2 M Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Adecco same time; 3 G Guerini (It) Deutsche Telekom +2sec; 4 D Moncoutie (Fr) Cofidis +2min 55sec; 5 T Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole +2:58; 6 L Lefevre (Fr) Jean Delatour; 7 U Osa (Sp) Ibanesto.com; 8 M Serrano (It) Once-Eroski; 9 J Jaksche (Ger) Once-Eroski; 10 C Sastre (Sp) CSC-Tiscali; 11 S Botero (Col) Kelme all same time; 12 J-E Guttierez (Sp) Kelme +3:14; 13 L Brochard (Fr) Jean Delatour +4:36; 14 F Mancebo (Sp) Ibanesto.com; 15 L Leipheimer (US) Rabobank; 16 T Hamilton (US) CSC-Tiscali; 17 J Beloki (Sp) Once-Eroski; 18 A Kivilev (Kaz) Cofidis; 19 J-L Rubiera (Sp) US Postal; 20 S Goubert (Fr) Jean Delatour, all same time. Overall standings: 1 L Armstrong (US) US Postal 72hr 50min 25sec; 2 J Beloki (Sp) ONCE +5min 06sec; 3 R Rumsas (Lith) Lampre +7:24; 4 S Botero (Col) Kelme +10:59; 5 J Azevedo (Por) ONCE +12:08; 6 I Gonzalez Galdeano (Sp) ONCE +12:12; 7 F Mancebo (Sp) Ibanesto.com +12:28; 8 R Heras (Sp) US Postal +12:54; 9 L Leipheimer (US) Rabobank +13:58; 10 C Sastre (Sp) CSC-Tiscali +14:49; 11 I Basso (It) Fassa Bortolo +15:04; 12 D Moncoutie (Fr) Cofidis +17:12; 13 M Boogerd (Neth) Rabobank +17:32; 14 R Virenque (Fr) Domo Farm Frites +22:40; 15 M Lelli (It) Cofidis +24:56; 16 U Osa (Sp) Ibanesto.com +24:57; 17 S Goubert (Fr) Jean Delatour +25:04; 18 T Hamilton (US) CSC-Tiscali +25:50; 19 A Kivilev (Kaz) Cofidis +26:39; 20 N Vogondy (Fr) FDJeux.com +26:43. Points standings: 1 R McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 229pts; 2 E Zabel (Ger) Deutsche Telekom 229; 3 S O'Grady (Aus) Crédit Agricole 180. King of the Mountains standings: 1 L Jalabert (Fr) CSC-Tiscali 262pts; 2 M Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 178; 3 S Botero (Col) Kelme 162. Team standings: 1 ONCE 218hr 55min 33sec; 2 US Postal Service +12min 16sec; 3 Ibanesto.com +18:55.