DIQUIGIOVANNI complete LTdL with unprecedented success
15/02/2009

Kuala Lumpur, 15 February 2009 - Gianni Savio's Diquigiovanni-Androni Gioccatoli team completed what was effectively the most dominant team performance ever in Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) with multiple titles in their bag after the final stage of the race, the Kuala Lumpur Criterium today.

Venezuela-registered professional continental team Diquigiovanni completed the Tour with Jose Serpa, who won the Genting stage for the third time on Friday, bagging the overall title and the mountains classification, while quadruple stage winner Mattia Gavazzi took the points classification win. Diquigiovanni capped it all by taking the teams classification win with a seven minute and 13 seconds advantage over second placed Australia.

The only other jersey on offer, the VW blue jersey for the Asian riders' classification winner, was taken by Le Tua Cycling Team's veteran Indonesian rider Tonton Susanto, who bagged his third ever win in that classification after doing the same in 1999 and 2002.

Yesterday's stage ended in another bunch sprint and the expectations, as ever, was another Gavazzi win, but the Italian got himself boxed in and lost out to Bbox-Bouygues Telecom's 28-year old Johann Gene, who registered his first ever victory since turning pro in 2005.

"I never started the race thinking that I could win. The first six days, I was leading out (Yukiya) Arashiro. But today, I was feeling good and I decided to have a go on my own. I've tried to win races before with breakaways, never in a bunch sprint. Today, inside the final 50 metres, I wasn't in front yet, so I wasn't even looking at the finish line but just kept going," said Gene.

Gene broke what was Diquigiovanni's stanglehold on stage wins in this edition of LTdL only for the second time. Le Tua Cycling Team's Indonesian rider Samai Amari won stage Four of the Tour on Thursday to rob Diquigiovanni off the other win.

"This has been a great Tour for us. It was my fourth attempt and this time I made no mistakes as I did on previous occasions. We won the Genting stage and almost everything else, so we've started the season really well this time. I'm now looking at the Giro d'Italia, where we'll be fielding a team many expect to be very potent," said Serpa.

"My form here was good, but was at about 90 percent, so there's still room for progress until the Giro, where we'll have a team that includes the likes of Gilberto Simoni and Davide Rebellin."

Team manager Gianni Savio said the team had always looked at LTdL with an intention to win, the same as each race they entered, but this dominant performance marked yet another historic note in the team's history in this race, being the most successful team ever. They have won the overall individual title twice before through Hernan Dario Munoz in 2002 and Freddy Gonzalez in 2004.

"For us this has always been an important race early in our season and we've prepared very well for the race this time around, in the Tour de San Luis in Argentina. There, we won two stages through Gavazzi and Serpa, and here it is the same two winners, doing much more than that," said Savio.

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