From http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=16276

26 year old Matteo Montaguti opens his 2010 account in Cosenza to take the blue jersey of race leader

Stage1: Palmi - Cosenza - 183,1 km
26 year old Matteo Montaguti of team De Rosa-Stac Plastic suffered through the pouring rain to take the first stage of the Provincia di Reggio - Challenge Calabria - Memorial Fausto Coppi: organized by Sporting Club 1917. Montaguti's companion in the break Filippo Savini finished second in the sprint to the finish.

Francisco Ventoso of Spain led the first chase group in at 25 seconds to take third place. Italians Daniele Pietropolli and Federico Canuti filled out the top 5 in that order.

Stage 1 Profile

The race as expected was decided by the main difficulty of the day, the 1050 meter climb of montagna di Potame only 23 kilometers from the finish.

12 kilometers after the start, Tuscan Riccardo Chiarini (Da Rosa/Stac) instigated the break of the day with Carlo Scognamiglio (ISD/Neri) and Russian Vladislav Borisov ( Amore & Vita/Conad). The trio, made a strong assault and after 48 kilometers away opened an advantage of 5'05'' at the 62 km marker.

Lampre-Farnese and ISD/Neri led the chase with ISD looking to launch their leader Giovanni Visconti. Gradually the two teams ate away at the gap eventually neutralizing it at 148 kilometers 35 km to go as they approached the climb of the day.

Attacks followed with veteran Andrea Noe escaping to arrive on the climb first. The race exploded on the climb of the Potame with Da Rosa's Montaguti and Filippo Savini (Colnago/CSF) led with 30 seconds over the summit and attacked the descent in the rain with a fury that would not be matched by the peloton with 23 km to the finish in Cosenza.

At the finish Montaguti a talented track sprinter jumped Savini and winning the stage handily opening his season account and giving team director Giovanni Fidanza his first joy for the 2010 season.

For Matthew Montaguti it marks his return to the podium having pursued his Bachelors degree at the University. A successful rider as an amateur elite rider he won four titles on the track and the Elite amateur road tri-colore in 2007.

First words from Montaguti, '"I know how strong Filippo is on the climbs and so I tried to stay with him all the way to the top and then I gave him a hand on the descent. Last year I was a domestique for Petacchi and Di Luca (at LPR Brakes); this year I've got more freedom to ride my on race."

"My work of preparing in the Canary Islands is already giving unexpected fruits; with 2300 kilometers in my legs, I returned to Italy ten days ago, after three weeks of training, I was motivated to do my best. Today I am pleased with my determination which I sought success. I am a versatile athlete who has found pleasure in my family and working hard in small groups to pursue and build a good career... Even though on paper will be difficult, I am committed to the utmost to keep the blue jersey and win the Giro della Provincia di Reggio. Tomorrow with my team, I believe that we can control the race to Crotone."

Lampre/Farnese Vini
Fourth place in the seasonal debut for Lampre-Farnese Vini in the 1st stage of Challenge Calabria (Palmi-Cosenza, 183 km).
The result was obtained by Daniele Pietropolli, who reached the arrival in a 6 men group (team mate Bernucci among them, 8th in the final classification) 30" after that the finish line had been crossed by the winner Montaguti and by Savini (2nd).

The final part of the race was characterized by bad weather conditions. The bunch covered the climb of Passo del Potame (20 km of lenght) under the pouring rain: an attack by Ponzi and other 8 cyclists in the middle of the climb (action neutralized) and then good performances by Petacchi, Da Dalto, Bole, Pietropolli and Bernucci, who all reached the top 30" after the attackers Montaguti and Savini.


Rain soaked Alessandro Petacchi finishes at 2:30, a better day for sprinters awaits Ale Jet tomorrow in his 2010 debut. Photo © 2010 Fotoreporter Sirotti

In the downhill to the arrival, the riders had to face the rain, the hail and even the snow, that didn't allow the chaser to reach the attacking duo.

"The attackers were skilful and brave, but the chasing riders could not do anything in order to try to catch them - Fabrizio Bontempi, Lampre-Farnese Vini sport director, commented - We started with the aim to support Petacchi and with Pietropolli and Bernucci as alternative solutions. Alessandro pedaled in a very good way and in the climb too was in the lead positions. When he realized that it was not possible to chase Montaguti and Savini, he preferred not to take risks; so it was Pietropolli and Bernucci's turn to try to obtain a good result. The 4th place is satisfying, let's wait for other important performance in the next days".

Tomorrow is a rolling stage tailor made for the sprinters from Cosenza to Crotone over 178.7 kilometers starting at 11 am from the Piazza dei Bruzi.

Stage 1 Results
Palmi - Cosenza
183.1 km - 4:40'43' - 39.136 km/h
1) Matthew Montaguti (Ita) (Abb 10'')
2) Filippo Savini (Ita) (fig. 6'') st
3) Francisco Ventoso (Spa) (fig. 4'') at 25''
4) Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) st
5) Federico Canuti (Ita) st
6) Daniel Oss (Ita) st
7) Cristiano Salerno (Ita) 28''
8) Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) st
9) Francesco Failla (Ita) st
10) Aleksandr Kuchynsky (BLR) st,
18) Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) 1'53''
132 start
Abandons:
Giovanni Visconti (ISD-Blacks)
Luca Pierfelici (Acqua & Sapone)
Diego Genovesi (Carmiooro-NGC)

General Classification After Stage 1
1) Matthew Montaguti (Ita)
2) Filippo Savini (Ita) 4''
3) Francisco Ventoso (Spa) at 31''
4) Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) 35''
5) Federico Canuti (Ita ) st
6) Daniel Oss (Ita) st
7) Cristiano Salerno (Ita) 38''
9) Francesco Failla (Ita) st
10) Aleksandr Kuchynsky (BLR) st
18) Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) 2'03''

60th Giro della Provincia di Reggio - Challenge Calabria
Memorial Fausto Coppi UCI 2.1
January 30 - February 2
Stage 1: Palmi - Cosenza 183,1 km
Stage 2: Cosenza - Crotone 178,7 km
Stage 3: Crotone - Catanzaro 171,4 km
Stage 4: Soverato - Reggio di Calabria (165,7 Km)
Race Website
Historic Video featuring Fausto Coppi

2010 Teams Challenge Calabria

Liquigas-Doimo
Lampre-Farnese
Acqua&Sapone-D'Angelo&Antenucci
Isd-Neri
Colnago-Csf Inox
Ceramica Flaminia
Androni Giocattoli-Diquigiovanni Carmiooro-Ngc
De Rosa-Stac Plastic
Vorarlberg-Corratec (Aut)
Amore & Vita- Conad
Miche-Pediatrica
CdC-Cavaliere
Meridiana-Kamen e la slovena Loborika.