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LECCO, Italy: Italian Matteo Rabottini's brave 150 kilometresbreakaway ride was rewarded with victory in the 15th stage of theGiro d'Italia on Sunday, the 172km run from Busto Arsizio to here. Spanish rider Joaquim Rodriguez regained the overall leader's pinkjersey from Canada's Ryder Hesjedal, following the secondsuccessive mountain stage, after he came in second having caughtRabottini 350 metres from the finishing line. Rodriguez, who distanced his main rivals two kilometres from thefinish, holds a lead of 30 seconds over Hesjedal with a weekremaining of the race. The overall leader's compatriot Alberto Losada took third in thestage, coming in ahead of the first group of favourites in a stagethat took place in rainy conditions. Rabottini admitted that his morale had tumbled when he realisedthat Rodriguez had joined him. "Winning a sprint after an escape of more than 150km isunbelievable," said the Italian. "When Rodriguez got back alongside me, I all but lost hope. But Istuck to him and I did well to. I came to the Giro, like all theriders, with the hope of winning a stage. I succeeded and it is themost wonderful day of my life." Rodriguez for his part said he had done well to recover from aterrible day on Saturday's stage and was looking forward to thecoming week. "I suffered a lot on Saturday but I was capable today of reclaimingthe pink jersey," said the 33-year-old, who has won just the onetop class stage race the 2010 Tour of Catalonia. "I was fearful of the bad weather but finally it wasn't too bad forme. "I am very happy with the gaps (in the overall standings). With thepink jersey, it brings added responsibilities but we are enteringthe final week and the stages are more suited to my strengths. "I am not afraid of the climbs to come. I know the Mortirolo andthe Stelvio (the 20th stage), but not the Alp of Pampeago (19thstage)." Rabottini had broken away with Frenchman Guillaume Bonnafond andwent over the top of all four climbs at the head of affairs whileveteran Italian Damiano Cunego - the 2004 Giro champion - at onestage was in pink as he led a counter attack. Rabottini, 24 and son of a former professional rider Luciano,overcame falling on the descent of Culmine di San Pietro and wasable to hold on despite only having a two-and-a-half minute leadover Cunego and his group going into the final climb and less thanfour minutes on the peloton. Even though there is a rest day on Monday it was not enough todissuade Luxembourg star Frank Schleck (shoulder problem), Italianchampion Giovanni Visconti (breathing difficulties) or Australia'sGraeme Brown from calling it a day during the stage. - AFP/fa. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Philips Projector Lamp Manufacturer , OSRAM Projector Lamp Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Projector Lamp Bulb today!
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