Basso must be on form since he is wearing a giant blue smurf hat. Confidence is very high.
Stellar day for Taylor Phinney of BMC as he gets the first Maglia Rosa of the Giro with an impressive win in the first stage. Taylor has been prepping specifically for this TT and the work showed with a dominating performance.
Left, left, left, right, right, right, left, left, right, hard right, right, left, left-right, right, left-right, right, right. #memorized
— Taylor Phinney (@taylorphinney) May 3, 2012
Press conference followed by a little evening spin to get the body used to riding at night…feels like I’m back prepping for a track race!
— Taylor Phinney (@taylorphinney) May 3, 2012
Nothing can beat “E un Grande Bell’ Giro” from a few years ago with Paolo Belli. This year’s Giro theme songs takes a more Europop approach.
Poalo Belli’s song
Full coverage of the 2012 Amstel Gold Race. Astana starts the Ardennes Classics domination.
Relive the Classic of this year with one of the newest Classics. This could remind many Cancellara fans of what could have been at Paris Roubaix. Cancellara dominated this race and was looking to have a great Classics season until a crash at the Tour of Flanders that resulted in a broken collarbone.
Watch the full coverage of the 2011 Liege Bastogne Liege from Eurosport. The Schlecks pretty much escort Philipe Gilbert to the win.
A nail-biting and heartbreaking finale to the Classics season. Vincenzo Nibali looked like he had the win, but Maxim Iglinksky was able to bridge up and ride past Nibali as he struggled up the final climb.
France 3 coverge
Mark Cavendish unveiled a new approach to getting up tremendously steep climbs. Team Sky managers said that they looked at the rule books about riders hanging onto cars and this was the best way around the rules.
“The rules clearly state that a rider cannot hang onto a car for more than one minute. Riders also cannot draft a car for longer than 3 km. But the rule book said nothing about a rider being mounted on a bike rack.” – Anonymous Team Sky personnel.
The new setup will allow Mark Cavendish to compete with other sprinters who are relatively good climbers such as Thor Hushovd. “Mark can now get over the Alps or Pyrenees Mountains with this setup. “It really revolutionizes his chances for the Green Jersey. We might even go for the Polka Dot Jersey.” – Anonymous Team Sky Personnel.
The plan is currently being tested in the Alps with the only drawback being very low Alpine bridges.
Lance Armstrong was know for his central focus on the Tour de France. Lance would ride some races for preparation purposes only. There was one race that Lance Armstrong tried to conquer but came up short twice. Each time Armstrong was beaten by a Rabobank rider.
1999 Boogerd beats Armstrong at Amstel.
2001 Dekker bridges the gap to Armstrong’s break.
2001 Dekker beats Armstrong.