Liquigas-Doimo sprinter Francesco Chicchi took the opener today in the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali in a sprint finish. The Italian continued his strong start to the season on the 81 kilometer circuit in Riccione taking honors as he did in 2008 in front of Mattia Gavazzi (Colnago - CSF) and Roberto Ferrari (De Rosa - Stac Plastic).
The race was controlled by the sprinter's teams who successfully neutralized all attempts to escape the peloton. With his win Chicchi also takes the overall into this afternoon's team time trial that also finishes in Riccione.
Today also marked the return to the peloton of Riccardo Riccò after his doping suspension. He had originally wanted to come back in Milan-Sanremo this past weekend, but organizers decided not to invite his Ceramica Flaminia team. The Italian has so far not had the grand return to the peloton he had hoped for, finishing 34 seconds behind the sprinters group, 4 seconds behind Michael Rasumssen (Miche).