Gilberto Simoni is a happier man this year. He is on his own team with former team manager Pietro Algeri who guided his Lampre team when he won the Giro in 2001. Life is better than 2004 when Simoni felt up ended by the young upstart Damiano Cunego. Simoni was one of the few Italians that wasn’t cheering for the young prospect who won the hearts of Italian fans only a few months after the death of Marco Pantani. Gibo was so sore at Cunego’s win that he was seen shouting some less than professional remarks at “The kid” during a maglia rosa presentation.
Last year Gibo was able to reassert himself as leader of Lampre as Cunego was not on form due to a bout with Epstein Barr syndrome. Gibo placed second behind a scrappy performance by Paolo Salvodelli and ahead of a very dangerous Jose Rujano.
This year’s Giro has a tough last week that makes Simoni happy with his chances. With a more relaxed and supportive team atmosphere, Simoni will definately be a protagonist once again. His track record in the Giro is very good as he either wins or is close to the top just about every year. The double Giro champ has some stiff competition as always. But Gibo can relax since the Italian hype machine is not focusig on the Battaliga Italiana like it did last year when all eyes were on seeing part two of the intra-team rivalry between Simoni and Cunego.
Ivan Basso is taking a page out of the Lance Armstrong’s playbook of media relations. Just a few days before the Giro starts, Ivan “the Terrible” is saying he is not the man to beat for the Giro. True, there is defending champ Paolo Salvodelli who looked good at Romandie before he got sick. Damiano Cunego is on form too as he placed well at Liege and won the Giro del Trentino. But the focus will be on Basso as he tries to win the first part of the Giro -Tour double that is his season’s main goal. Having already won the Criterium International, a “mini” Tour de France Basso can’t hide from the spotlight. Basically Basso is ready for the Giro with four months of steady racing in his legs and a strong team to back him up.
The strong team got a surprise reinforcement as Carlos Sastre will be on the Giro squad to help in Basso’s quest for the Maglia Rosa.
Carlos himself came up to me and suggested that he should do the Giro, and I have great respect for the thoughts, which lie behind his decision. He’s willing to sacrifice himself in the mountains to be there for Ivan, and his help could actually be crucial at that point. The plan is for him to get through the first part of the race as easy as possible in order to be with Ivan in the final week, which will be an extremely tough one. It’s a true gift and a privilege to have a rider like Carlos in the Giro, and of course I’ve only made this decision, because we both agree on the fact that it also makes sense in relation to the rest of his season. – says Riis
Bjarne Riis sounds very optimistic about his team’s prospect for the Giro:
We’ve selected an exceptionally strong team. And there’s no doubt it’s a team, which is able to provide Ivan with the best possible help in his attempt to win this race. He’s in perfect shape for the job and he has the strength and the experience to win his first big stage race. I think everyone will agree that it is nine top motivated riders, who will be starting for Team CSC on the 6th of May. As often before we’ve had the luxury of several strong riders as potentials for the race, but in the end the decision was a given, and I’m very proud of the team we’ve chosen for this year’s Giro.
The CSC Giro Team includes:
Ivan Basso, Carlos Sastre, Bobby Julich, Jens Voigt, Volodymir Gustov, Giovanni Lombardi, Iñigo Cuesta, Michael Blaudzun and Nicki Sørensen.
Sastre joins Basso for Giro
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