Novice gives Italy reason to smile

Racing in his first Tour de France, Matteo Trentin appeared to surprise even himself by winning Saturday's 14th stage in a sprint for the line in Lyon.

Trentin timed his burst brilliantly to finish in front of Switzerland's Michael Albasini by half a wheel after France's Julien Simon failed to convert a solo attack with 15 km to go into a first French win in the 100th Tour.

The 23-year-old Trentin becomes the first rider from Italy - traditionally a cycling powerhouse - to win a stage on the Tour since Alessandro Petacchi claimed two stages in the first week of the 2010 Tour on his way to winning the green jersey.

And his victory is all the more remarkable given that this is not just his first ever Tour de France, but also just his second Grand Tour after he made his bow in the recent Giro d'Italia, finishing 118th.

"I have never even sat in a media conference before, and to go on the podium and have all my teammates wait for me after...it's a good feeling," he said after winning in the city where Maurice Garin won the first stage of the first ever Tour de France in 1903.

Trentin rooms with Mark Cavendish on the Tour and can usually be seen alongside Gert Steegmans doing the legwork to set up the British champion in sprint finishes, but on this occasion the glory was all his.

He admitted he has learned a lot from working alongside Cavendish, who has already earned his place as one of the all-time great sprinters and won his 25th stage on the Tour on Friday in Saint-Amand-Montrond.

"With Mark we always plan the sprint before the race. I start and then Gert starts, and the main thing we always say is be calm and wait for the right moment," he said.

"Today I did that. I saw (that there was) the wind, and anyone who sprinted before then would be at a disadvantage because the wind was too strong to sprint from longer than 200 meters out.

"I waited because I knew my good sprint was at the 200m mark."

Trentin's win completes a fine week for his Omega Pharma team, which saw Tony Martin romp to victory in Wednesday's individual time-trial to Mont-Saint-Michel before Cavendish claimed his second win on this year's Tour in Saint-Amand-Montrond.

However, he says he does not yet know whether to focus on the Grand Tours or try and make his name in the Classics in the years to come.

"In my two years as a professional, I have tried almost everything. I have ridden in Classics, done one Grand Tour, and now I am doing my second," he said.

(China Daily 07/15/2013 page24)