Tom Boonen got on the board in the Petacchi V Boonen supersprinters duel. The fifth and final stage of the Ruta Del Sol showed that Boonen took the win ahead of Petacchi. No foto finish was necessary as the win was taken by 1/2 wheel. Final vicotry went to Spaniard Carlos Garcia Quesada (Unibet.com).
The two sprinters will face off next at Milan San Remo. Boonen will head north to race in Het Volk and Kuurne Brussellls Kuurne while Petacchi will stay in Spain racing in the Vuelta Valenciana before heading back to Italy for the leadup to MSR.
Gazzetta Dello Sport
The Ruta Del Sol is giving Petacchi and Boonen a few chances to duke out the sprints after a few days of successful breakaways. Alessandro Petacchi is taking a two win lead in the battle of the sprinters. Petacchi won a second sprint victory finishing ahead of the gold and diamond wearing world champion Boonen.
This was a much harder sprint than yesterday, so I wanted to prove that I could do well. My team did a great deal of the work in the finale today. I thought it would be best to stay on Boonen’s wheel going into the finale. When he started sprinting I was behind by one bike length. I caught back onto Boonen’s wheel and once he saw that he was beaten, he stopped pedaling. –Petacchi
1. Petacchi (Ita-Milram), 162,1 km in 4h07′11″; 2. Boonen (Bel) s.t.; 3. Brown (Aus) s.t.; 4. C. Garcia Quesada (Spa) s.t.; 5. Trenti (Ita) a 3″.
Gazzetta Dello Sport
BiciRace has a good writeup from yesterday’s sprint. Petacchi says that he and Boonen are different types of sprinters. Boonen is more of a Classics style rider that does well in tough sprint situations, while Petacchi is more of a pure sprinter. This sprinting battle will go on all season and will probably take a turn during Milan San Remo and the Tour of Flanders where both of these riders want to figure prominently.
Bici Race
The Petacchi Vs Boonen battle could be one to watch this season. Cycling enthusiast have been looking at the Vuelta Andalucia “Ruta Del Sol” as a showdown between the two powerful sprinters. Since Boonen won the world title in Madrid-a race that Petacchi was heavily favored to win- there has been anticipation for the 2006 showdowns between the two sprinters. Boonen’s team has a few former Petacchi leadout men that have helped make this a true rivalry.
Today, the sprinters finally had their way and Petacchi and Boonen finsihed one-two respectively.
No details on the finish as my dutch is nonexistent, but more news will follow. Hopefully this season will see more battles between these two.
Personally I would have thought the edge would go to Boonen since his Quick-Step team seemed to be firing on all cyclinders in Qatar. Score one for AleJet.
Daily Peoloton Forums
Pic from http://www.wieleruitslagen.be/
