Oct 11, 2008 0
Il Killer del Spoltore takes the win in the hilly late season classic in Italy. Tuttobiciweb.com has been posting video reports from their site. The commentary is in Italian, but you get a glimpse of one of the great fall classics in Italy.
The Finish
Pre-race interviews. Cadel Evans has a great command of Italian since he is married to an Italian lady.
May 30, 2008 0
AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati
It’s down to four seconds between the reigning Tour de France champion and the young “Cobra” Ricco going into an epic weekend that features a brutal mountain stage and final time trial in Milan. This Giro could be one of the closest in memory after a week that featured a brutal uphill time trial.
Riccardo Ricco unleashed his frustrations at Emmanuele Sella and Domenico Pozzovivo when he saw that he missed the Maglia Rosa by only four seconds. Sella and Pozzovivo were defending their GC places and by that effort helped Contador pace back in. Ricco likes to talk and wear his heart on his sleeve which endears him to many Italian cycling fans. The fire is fun to watch especially when so many other cyclist tend to watch what they say and speak in metered tones.
Ricco and DiLuca attacked Contador and now look to be in contention. The next stage features some brutal climbs up the Gavia Pass and the Mortirolo. The problem is that these climbs may not be decisive enough since they are far from the finish.
Ricco and DiLuca need some more time between themselves and Contador for the final TT which favors Contador.
May 15, 2007 0
(DiLuca is ticked at Gasparotto: AP Photo)
When you hear Italian cyclist speak they always talk about being calm or serene in their racing or training. It is almost like they are talking about going to a spa instead of an intense bike race. This is particularly interesting since Italians are know for their hot tempers. Up until this year Danilo DiLuca has been the poster for for serene cyclist. The Abruzzese cyclist really did not show his emotions that much until his win at Liege and the Liquigas Team Time Trial victory at the Giro.
The picture above is probably what each of the cyclist were thinking at the moment. Enrico Gasparotto forgot that Danilo was supposed to go over the line first. DiLuca was well aware of the error and looks to be screaming at the top of his lungs. One can only imagine the conversation between these two on the team bus.
Apr 30, 2007 0
FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images
Danilo DiLuca has been looking very ticked lately. He made it to the podium, third place to be exact for the Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallone. The Killer of Spoltore usually does not seem to be the groggy angry type. He usually seems friendlier. Perhaps it is frustration that he did not take the top spot in the races that he dominated just two seasons ago. DiLuca had a dream season in 2005 where he won Amstel and Fleche and followed that up with a fourth place in an epic Giro D’Italia. 2006 saw Diluca struggle to find the same magic.
Oct 7, 2006 0
The Italian Fall season is in full swing this weekend as the Giro Dell Emilia and the are warm up races for the “Race of the Falling Leaves” next week.
Davide Rebelling and Danilo DiLuca still have great form and helped to push the pace to form the winning move. Giuseppe DiGrande riding for the small Miche team came in third.
Paolo Bettini raced with a heavy heart as he is mourning the loss of his brother Sauro. Il Grillo decided to race and finish out the seasont o honor his brother. Forget the curse talk, this is a more serious tragedy than any other World Champ has had to endure. Sure guys like Luc Lablanc saw their teams crumble around them, Igor Astarloa couldn’t quite get back to his breakout form, but a death of a family member is harder than not getting a win for a while.
(pic stolen from cyclingnews.com)
Bettini’s choice of clothing did not reflect his somber mood. Paolo broke out a pair of shiny gold shorts that definaltey top the shiny gold shoes worn for the past two seasons.
1. Davide REBELLIN (Gerolsteiner)
km 196,6 in 4.55’15″, media 39,953;
2. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas);
3. Giuseppe Di Grande (Miche) a 2″;
4. Santo Anzà (Selle Italia) a 10″;
5. Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval) a 15″;
6. Simone Masciarelli (Acqua&Sapone) a 21″;
7. Ruggero Marzoli (Lampre);
8. Oliver Zaugg (Saunier Duval);
9. Luca Mazzanti (Panaria Navigare) a 30″;
10. Kanstantin Siutsou (Acqua&Sapone).
Aug 31, 2006 0
The Italian one day races in August are a chance for top Italians to show off their form to Franco Ballerini in order to get a spot on the coveted Azzurri squad for the World Championships road race. This year Stefano Garzelli has been one of the more dominat riders in these one day races. Garzelli chalked up another win in the Trofeo Melinda. He beat out Giovanni Visconti and Siclian Santo Anza of Selle Italia. This win would probably wrap up Garzelli’s selection for the Salzburg worlds.
Garzelli may be joined by the resurgent Danil DiLuca who is not aiming for a high placing in the Vuelta even though he took the race by the scruff of the neck yesterday. Diluca is always coy about his intentions when he is on form. This may be another Giro 05 situation where DiLuca keeps playing down his chances while going for a high GC finish.
Aug 30, 2006 0
(Pic from Yahoo! News)
Third Grand Tour is a charm for Danilo DiLuca. After much promise for a great performance in the Giro and the Tour de France Danilo DiLuca came up short. Illness and bad form made DiLuca’s attempt to improve on his 2005 magical year impossible. Today “The Killer” took control in the Vuelta’s first mountain top stage finish.
DiLuca showed great climbing form as most of the favorites lost time to the little Italian. Sastre, Valverde and Danielson lost up to a minute. Damielson did not look very strong as he was bested by teamates Beltran and Janez Brajkovic.
Of course it is still very early so anything can happen int eh Vuelta, but for now at least DiLuca looks to have some confidence back.
This month also looks to be a good month for Liquigas. With Garzelli and Nibali winning races, DiLuca has added to a month of good results for the Leeky-gas squad.
May 15, 2006 0
(pic from eurosport.com)
The Giro started this weekend and may have ended this weekend too. Ivan Basso put down a Lance Armstrong/Miguel Indurain type of performance on the first real mountin top finish of the Giro. As Carlos Sastre set a tempo reminiscent of Discovery Channel/Postal leadout of the past seven years, Basso simply clicked away as contenders drifted off the back of the group.
The first of the contenders to feel the pain was Danilo DiLuca. “The Killer” did not seem to be on form all this weekend. It was reported that DiLuca was suffering some sort of ailment on Saturday which showed. On Sunday his pace was much better, but he was one of the first top contenders to get launched off the back.
Paolo Savoldelli had a good ride, but probably lost one minute more than he would have liked. He was not going to keep up with the top mountainmen in the Giro this year, which may mean that he does not have much of a chance to repeat his win from last year.
Gilberto Simoni could not get launched by his teamate Leonardo Piepoli. The small Italian climber helped Gibo get to the top of the climb on Sunday as Basso simply rode away with the win. Simoni felt that he set a good pace and was frustrated that he could not muster any more speed. Is he getting old? Not really he placed respectably, he is just not as fast as Basso or Cunego.
Jan 30, 2006 0
Stefano Garzelli seems to be the default Tour contender on a team that is mostly focusing on the Giro D’Italia. Last year Garzelli and Cioni were supposed to be the main Liquigas antagonist for G.C. but Danilo DiLuca’s surprising and inspired performance put Cioni and Garzelli into a supporting role.
This year with DiLuca looking to win the Giro, Garzelli is aiming to perform well at the Tour de France by skipping the Giro and putting all of his training efforts to performing well in France. Although he has never placed very high in France, Garzelli is highly motivated by the arrival of his new baby. “I have a new motivation this year part to go much faster. Because of this I have more calmness and tranquility”
On the subject of DiLuca’s Giro chances Garzelli think’s Danilo has a chance. “Maybe the course is too tough for his abilities, but for me that is an exaggeration. Diluca showed last year that he could ride well in very tough climbs after performaning well in the spring classics. This year he will focus entirely on the Giro. By saving his energy for the Giro, he will be one of the main protagonist with a chance to win the race that he holds close to his heart.”
Dec 28, 2005 0
Tom Boonen took the Oscar Gazzetta, the top prize offered up from the Gazzetta dello Sport for a Pro Cyclist for his performance during the 2005 season. The prize was awarded from a vote by some of cyclings top names such as Bernard Hinault, Felice Gimondi, Christian Prudomme(Tour Boss) and many others. The voters were asked to pick their top three riders of the year when filling out the ballot.
Boonen beat out Danilo DiLuca, Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso to take the top prize. His performance during the spring classics, his domination of the field sprints in the Tour de France and his win in the World Championships showed that Boonen was the top rider of the year.
