May 16, 2009 0
Columbia Highrroad gets back-to-back stage wins with Kanstantin Siutsou. This is one day after Edvald Boasson Hagen. What is the connection other than unpronounceable names and young talent?
Stage 8
Stage 7
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, 2008 0
Hmm, maybe David Millar won’t be doing promos for SRAM’s chains anytime soon. Bonus points for getting some good distance on the bike. Bjarne Riis would be proud. After 4 plus hours in a breakaway having your chain snap just as you are about to make a sprint has got to be the most frustrating thing to happen. Add to that how Millar landed on his top tube and I would not be surprised to see him at least try and snap the bike in half before launching it. Better luck in the next stage.
May 13, 2008 1
(AFP/Damien Meyer)
Rain Sicilian roads made for a slick crash filled stage. The processional pace must have been a result of the crashes and recovery from the previous two stages. Passing from Catania to Messina there were many crashes highlighting the Giro coverage. Bradley McGee is the latest early exit from a nasty crash. That is two TT expert racers in two days.
Meanwhile Liquigas had a busy day controlling the tempo as team of race leader Franco Pellizotti and later on setting a high pace for the aspiring Sprint King Daniele Bennati. Benna
Vincenzo Nibali made a brief flyer to make the locals happy. The Sicilian cyclist riding on home roads got some cheers as he attacked 9 km from the finish. The Nibali attack which was more for show since he is a hometown kid, helped to setup the Liquigas train for Bennati.
The Liquigas train will never be mistaken for Petacchi’s Milram trains since attacks were able to get off the front and only a few Liquigas men were able to stay at the front. The front was a mix of Milram, High Road and other teams. Bennati was on Zabel’s wheels and other Milram riders. Going into the final 500 meters Bennati used the Milram train meant for Zabel to launch his final attack. Zabel was well placed but could not get around Bennati.
May 13, 2008 0
(AFP/Damien Meyer)
One of the exciting aspects of the Giro are these brutal climbing circuit finishes that bring out the small Italian sprinting/climbing types. The Davide Rebellin’s Danilo Diluca’s and Paolo Bettini type of racers that can power up brutally steep climbs and sprint to win in a small pack. The new kid on the block is brash and already has a viscious nickname of ‘Il Cobra’ Ricardi Ricco powered his way to a win in Agrigento in front of Davide Rebellin to take a well deserved win.
The day showed that Team LPR is serious in helping Danilo DiLuca defend his Maglia Rosa. LPR has some good racers including Paolo Savoldelli a former Giro winner himself. After Slipstream set the pace for most of the day with big man Magnus Backstedt in the front, LPR took over when the roads started getting steeper.
Slipstream meanwhile is suffering a double whammy mojo loss of the Maglia Rosa off of Christian Vande Velde’s back by a measly one second to Franco “porno Hair” Pellizotti. And David Zabriske could not use his mustache mojo to avoid a bad crash that hurt his vertebrae. The injury is not to serious, but will take some time to recover.
May 10, 2008 0
Photo (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
The Giro is upon us once again. The funnest Grand Tour started today in Palermo, Sicily with a Team Time Trial. Twenty years after Andy Hampsten last wore the Maglia Rosa in Milan to win the 1988 Giro D’Italia witha young American 7-Eleven team Christian Vande Velde wears the Maglia at the start with a young American team.
Team Slipstream has been the team to beat in the Team Time Trials. They set an early fast time that teams such as the well oiled CSC and High Road failed to beat. The competition between CSC which was the home of Slipstream racers Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriske must have been intense as the CSC men came down and missed the time of Slipstream by only seconds. The typical hot and sunny Sicilian town presented an overcast day with some ocean breezes helping to slow down the return ride home. Several teams would clock in fast times to the half way point only to lose some time on the way back in.
Slipstream has been preparing for the TTT for over a week and made the first stage one of their main goals. Their win today was not for lack of trying as they already won the Team Time Trial at the Road America course in the Tour de Georgia just a couple of weeks ago. Recently they were training with the Giro team in Spain. So this win was not a big surprise for many who follow the team.
Team High Road had to help nurse their young revelation and Tour de Georgia winner Sistov who was having a hard time staying with the fast pace set by the team. As he dangled back other teammates were seen slowing down and encouragingS istov to stay in contact with the group. Clearly High Road has some bigger ambitions for Sistov during the Giro.
Next few stages go to the sprinters as Daniele Bennati can finally try to take the stage to himself as the next Italian sprint king as Alessandro Petacchi is home serving a one year suspension. Bennati is back into form and with a new team. He won the final stage of the Tour de Romandie. Bennati looks to square off against Mark Cavendish of Team High Road who also had a good result in Romandie with a prologue win. Robbie McEwen has been a regular winner and early abandoner of the Giro in recent years. The Bennati-Canvendish-McEwen battle should be fun to watch.
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.
May 8, 2007 0
GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images
Ivan Basso looked like he redeemed himself yesterday with the honest admission of working with Dr. Fuentes and admitting that he is “Birillo”. But Basso has a career and palmares to think about. The Giro victory was a major milestone that was ripe to be taken away now that Basso admitted to doping.
Jan 25, 2007 0
The Giro D’Italia will feature only 18 of the 20 ProTour Teams and will make the final announcement on February 12. This is a move that signals a large fissure in the battle between the UCI’s and the three Grand Tours. This situation was not helped much when Pat McQuaid made some very odd comments about Continental European culture.
The rift between grand tour organizers and the ProTour should help Tinkoff’s chances in the Giro. Zomegnan noted his differences with UCI president Pat McQuaid and said the two were definitely not talking after recent “Mafia” comments by the Irishman. “You could really see his soul with those remarks.”
– cyclingnews.com
This split with the UCI by not including all of the ProTour teams is a natural adjustment for the Giro D’Italia which as had its little brother status to the Tour exacerbated by the ProTour.
Jan 2, 2007 0
Ivan Basso may have sparked the latest trend in cycling of racing both the Giro and Tour de France. Basso was unable to ride the double last year due to some doping investigation, but with the Giro win in his pocket he was able to get some trophies from the adoring Italian press by the end of the year. Since then many other pros have looked at doing the double themselves. Paolo Salvodelli announced he is going for the Giro-Tour double as is Iban Mayo. Fresh into his new Sauunier Duval team kit the enigmatic Spanish cyclist is full of hope for 2007.
