The Cycliste Moderne, May 27, 2005

Ivan Basso is a Pro.

Team CSC’s leader Ivan Basso proved his status as a team leader today when he raced to victory at Limone Piemonte, riding away from the race leaders over the 25km climb to the summit. Having lost nearly 45 minutes to the race leaders over the two climbing stages last weekend, and having lost the race lead, no one would have faulted Basso for abandoning and going home.

Instead, Basso rode back into good health after a couple of bad days with a stomach virus and got a second stage win for his team. Basso’s team had sacrificed all personal ambition for their leader during this year’s Giro d’Italia; it was certainly demoralizing to see one of the favorites, and clearly the strongest rider early in the Giro, be unable to eat or drink while riding and coming in more than 42 minutes behind the winner on Sunday.

Basso’s difficult week clearly evidences how incredible Lance Armstrong’s streak at the Tour de France has been. Structuring an entire team to support a single rider results in either significant success (if the leader does what he is supposed to and has no bad luck) or it is a recipe for disaster if the leader gets sick or hurt. One inopportune bug can ruin an entire season’s preparation, as has been the case with Basso. Basso finished second in the first time trial, finished second in the first climbing stage, won the second to last climbing stage, and probably would not have been defeated but for his illness.

The Big Finish.

As expected, Lampre-Caffita’s Gilberto Simoni attacked race leader Paolo Savoldelli today and managed to gain 50 seconds on the “Maglia Rosa.” However, that may not be enough even with one more high mountain finish to come. Simoni lost over two and a half minutes to Savoldelli on the first time trial. Although this stage is about 10km shorter, it has a similar profile. Savoldelli has become a very good time trialer over the last few years.

Joining Discovery Channel has further improved Savoldelli’s time trialing ability with improvements in equipment and technique. Savoldelli’s strong descending ability will make it difficult for Simoni to gain any time on him during the final time trial as there is a long descent into Torino.

Clearly, Savoldelli has been hindered by the lack of climbing support of the Discovery Channel team. He has been forced to ride the final climbs of all the mountain stages alone, requiring him to expend energy to go back and get food and water from the team car. If he is able to hold on to the pink jersey and deny Gilberto Simoni victory, Savoldelli’s ability to overcome the loss of his teammates Tom Danielson and Ryder Hesjedal will be nothing short of miraculous.

Looking Forward to France.

Much to the dismay of the management of Lampre-Caffita, Gilberto Simoni announced that he will go and race the Tour de France in support of his teammate Damiano Cunego. Simoni has indicated that he will do it to repay the help of his rival and teammate. Team management had not planned on having Simoni race the Tour and according to pezcyclingnews.com were not impressed with their star’s offer as they were intending to have Cunego be the team’s Tour de France leader. After last year’s bust up between the two during the Giro as Cunego clearly rode for himself and rode to victory, you really have to wonder how long Simoni’s offer of help will last, especially in light of Simoni’s poor record at the Tour.

Discovery Channel has announced that Paolo Savoldelli will race the Tour in support of Armstrong. If so, Discovery will be taking a very strong team, adding Savoldelli and Yaroslav Popovych to the traditional team. Obviously, the loss of Slava Ekimov due to his broken sternum and back is a major blow, but Discovery could have the strongest stable of General Classification riders ever on one team. With Savoldelli, Popovych, Azevedo and Armstrong on the team, Discover has four strong climbers and time trialists. Moreover, assuming Savoldelli does not completely fail in his stated goal of finishing in the top five at this year’s Giro, the four riders will have a total of 13 top five finishes in the three Grand Tours since 1998.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 25, 2005

It is the third week of the Giro d’Italia and people’s tempers are starting to flare.

Petacchi v. Cippolini

Mario Cippolini criticized the performance of Fassa Bortolo and its team leader Alessandro Petacchi. Needless to say, Petacchi and Fassa Bortolo disagreed with Cippolini’s characterization of the team’s performance. Cippo had the audacity to point out to the media that Petacchi’s recent stage wins in the Giro have come with most of the strongest sprinters having abandoned already. After acknowledging that Petacchi is the fastest man in the peleton, Cippo noted the poor job Fassa Bortolo has done controlling the final kilometers of stages and delivering Petacchi to the finish.

Petacchi had the audacity to actually defend his team in light of the poor performance that it has had during this year’s Giro. Fassa Bortolo cost Petacchi a stage when the “Silver Train” missed a corner and took the entire team out during the run in to the finish. Fassa Bortolo has also failed to keep control of the pack by keeping the tempo high enough to avoid attacks and to keep challengers behind Petacchi.

Cippo has not been overly critical, he is just making the same observations that everyone else has made to this point.

The Peleton v. RCS

The labor accord reached between the Giro’s organizer RCS and the peleton does not seem to have actually been finalized. Reports out during today’s rest day indicate that RCS has not in fact agreed to the riders’ demands and will indeed reduce this year’s prize money. At this point in the race it is unlikely that there will be a strike, but there still could be and that would be unfortunate as this has been one of the most exciting Giro’s in recent memory. Every stage between now and Sunday will likely have an impact on the GC and the other competitions. A strike would unfairly taint the victory for whoever wins this year’s Giro.

Simoni v. Everyone Else

Gilberto Simoni took the rest day opportunity to once again guarantee his own success. Simoni told Gazetta dello Sport today that he not only would win the Giro but that he had to be the favorite at this point. Simoni has won the Giro twice before. Simoni is one of the best climbers in the peleton. Simoni also has a history of making statements and promises that he cannot back up.

En route to a victory in the 2003 Giro, Simoni promised a victory in the Tour de France and that he would be the first real climber Armstrong ever had to face during the Tour de France. Simoni went on to disparage the rest of the Tour de France team leaders indicating that they were just “time trialers” and not climbers. Of course, Simoni made the statements after finishing 18th in the final time trial of the Giro that year.

As you may or may not recall, Simoni then proceeded to go to the Tour de France and have his team lose three minutes to US Postal Service in the Team Time Trial, lost 6 minutes to Armstrong on the first mountain stage, and lost another 10 minutes on the next mountain stage finishing at l’Alpe d’Huez. Saeco team management had to beg him to stay in the race and he did manage to win a stage of the race but finished more than two and a half hours behind Armstrong, all in what turned out to be Armstrong’s most difficult Tour victory.

It is one thing to be confident in one’s abilities. It is quite another to make promises that you not only cannot keep, but that show a complete lack of respect for the abilities of your opponents. Simoni should be able to do well in the remaining mountain stages. However, in light of the fact that he lost more than two minutes to Discovery Channel’s leader Paolo Savoldelli during the first time trial into Firenze, a stage that has an almost identical profile to the upcoming final time trial, his claim that the final time trial suits his skills is laughable.

Moreover, Simoni could not stay with Savoldelli during the finish of Stage 11 on the Zoldo Alto and lost time to him on the finish of Stage 13 in Ortisei. Simoni did gain thirty seconds on Savoldelli during Stage 15 when he worked with Di Luca to ride away from Savoldelli on the final descent. However, Savoldelli showed significant restraint riding within himself that day, having completed the last 100km without any team support. Savoldelli, “Il Falco,” clearly rode a conservative race as he did not take any risks on the descent. More importantly, Simoni had to ride aggressively as he was in danger of losing his position on the podium to Selle Italia’s Jose Rujano had he not raced hard to the finish on the stage after Rujano’s two monster performances in the mountains.

It does not require any real foresight to know that the last two mountain stages and the time trial will decide the Giro. The winner of the Giro will likely be Savoldelli, Di Luca or Simoni. Ultimately, the last one to crack will win the Giro. If Simoni cannot pick up two minutes on each of the remaining mountain stages, he cannot win because Savoldelli should gain two to two and half minutes on Simoni during the final time trial. For the last seven to eight years the Giro has favored climbers who are marginal time trialists. Di Luca and Savoldelli have equaled or exceeded Simoni’s performances in the mountains this year. They have out-performed Simoni in the time trial. There is no reason to believe that those performances will not continue.

However, the remaining mountain stages have difficult climbs at the end of the race as opposed to the series of high mountain passes that were encountered during last weekend’s trip through the Dolomites. Both Liquigas and Discovery will be in better positions to defend their leaders and Simoni will have to attack. I will not be disappointed if Simoni once again fails to back up his claims. He has a really big mouth for a really little guy.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 23, 2005

Giro Weekend #3 Wrap Up

The Expected

Saturday and Sunday were high mountain days in the Giro d’Italia. As expected, the Italian-Colombian team of Selle Italia made its showing with Ivan Parra winning both stages. His teammate, Jose Rujano cemented his lead in the King of the Mountain competition. As has come to be expected, the Selle Italia team shows its strength in the mountains and makes the most of its opportunities.

On Saturday, while the leaders were watching each other, Parra and Rujano got away in an early large break that managed to stay away from the Pink Jersey group. Rujano was the first over the first couple of climbs on the day. Parra then rode away on the final climb and soloed to victory.

Sunday had a similar result. Parra and Rujano got in the early break and again managed to stay away. Rujano was the first one away over the first couple of climbs and Parra then rode away on the final climb. Selle Italia has certainly had a Giro to be proud of and with Rujano having a 50 point lead over Parra in the King of the Mountains competition, the Green Jersey should stay on a Selle Italia rider all the way to Milan.

The Unexpected

CSC’s Ivan Basso had two very bad days. On Saturday, the leader lost time to all his main rivals due to stomach problems. He managed to minimize the damage over the last climb, but it was not enough and he lost the pink leader’s jersey to Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli. In post race comments, Basso indicated that he had been sick and unable to eat throughout the stage. Although the team was hopeful that Basso would get over it quickly and still be able to contend for the Giro podium, Sunday was worse.

Basso threw up numerous times on Sunday and the team grouped around him to get him to the finish on the stage. Basso lost almost forty minutes to Savoldelli on Sunday’s stage but did not drop out. Basso indicated that he would rather be driven off the mountain in an ambulance after he collapsed than get in the team car and abandon. Basso’s courage should be commended. Many cyclists have climbed into the comfort of the team car and abandoned when things have not gone well during a Grand Tour (Mayo, Beloki, etc.). Basso saw his chances for victory diminish significantly on Saturday and saw them disappear entirely on Sunday. His unwillingness to quit is a testament to the type of team that Bjarne Riis has built at CSC.

The Not Unexpected

Critics have already begun to question the team that Discovery Channel brought to the Giro to support leader Paolo Savoldelli. With the loss of climbers Tom Danielson and Ryder Hesjedal due to injury, Discovery has a team that can protect Savoldelli on the flats but will have a hard time staying with Savoldelli on the brutal climbs that await. Saturday and Sunday confirmed this as Savoldelli found himself without teammates for essentially the last half of both stages. Savoldelli was required to go back to his team vehicle for food and water and race back up to the leaders. On Sunday he had to ask Liquigas’ Danilo Di Luca for water.

Discovery had made it clear that the team that was going to the Giro was not a Tour de France type team, designed solely for Lance Armstrong’s purposes, and that if Savoldelli were to win, he would likely have to do it on his own. That is not to say that Discovery does not want to win the Giro, it is just that with this being Armstrong’s last year and with the demands of the ProTour requiring Discovery to field a team at the Volta a Catalunya, Discovery could not send the type of team to Italy that it will send to France in July.

It is important to note, however, that none of the teams in the Giro, with the possible exception of CSC, have come to the race to work for a single leader. Even CSC, which came with the focus of putting Ivan Basso on the podium and has worked solely for his success, has been criticized for not bringing a strong enough team.

Over the last decade, the Giro has typically rewarded individual efforts. Teams have not come to work entirely for their GC rider as has been the case at the Tour de France pretty much since 1990. Savoldelli won the Giro in 2002 riding for the Index Alumina team which provided him little or no support. The Saeco victories by Gilberto Simoni in 2003 and Damiano Cunego in 2004 came with teams that were not really built like what fans have come to expect from Armstrong’s US Postal Service or Indurain’s Banesto. In fact Cunego’s win came under circumstances where there clearly was a lack of team cooperation as Cunego and Simoni battled each other to the bitter end.

Looking forward to the end.

The Giro this year will prove who is the strongest Italian cyclist this year. At this point, it does not appear that there are any non-Italians who can win the race. More to the point, however, there does not appear to be any team which is strong enough to protect its leader every day. Basso had a bad couple of days notwithstanding his team’s support. Simoni has had a couple of bad days. Savoldelli had a rough day on Sunday.

Monday’s stage is the type of stage that Discovery should be able to keep under control as it is essentially down hill after the first 20km. Tuesday is a rest day. Wednesday is another stage with an early climb that Discovery should be able to keep under control once the descent starts. Thursday and Saturday both have mountaintop finishes, although Thursday is clearly the easier day. Any leader could lose huge time on Saturday if he has a bad day.

Friday’s time trial will likely be the deciding stage, assuming catastrophe does not strike any of the leaders. The time trial into Torino has a profile almost identical to the time trial into Firenze last week. The first third is a rolling approach to the climb. The riders then climb 350 meters before descending into Torino. The difference is the fact that the stage is about 10km shorter than the Firenze stage. Savoldelli will likely have a good ride if he is still in pink. Simoni should not lose as much time to Savoldelli as he did in the early stages. If Di Luca can remain close to the lead, it is a stage that could see him do well especially in light of his surprising performance to date. Although non Italians are lurking close behind the trio, I believe that the winner in Milan will likely be one of the three. Di Luca can win if he can stay close in the mountains and be prepared to use his stronger team to attack Simoni and Savoldelli. Simoni can win if Cunego is able to support him in the mountains. Savoldelli can win if his team can defend over the flats and he rides like he has ridden the first two weeks.

There is real suspense due to the fact that with Basso’s collapse, the remaining GC contenders will largely have to show their own metal and not be able to rely upon a strong team to deliver victory. There will be an exciting and suspenseful finish in Milan next week.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 20, 2005

Into the mountains

The Giro d’Italia rolled into the mountains. Lampre-Caffita rode hard to shatter the peleton but at the end of the day, Lampre-Caffita was shattered. Last year’s champion, Damiano Cunego, lost more than six minutes on the stage and Gilberto Simoni finished third but also lost time to the leaders. Ivan Basso and Paolo Savoldelli rode inspired races, each proving that they have the skills and strength to win the race. Basso rode his own race and reaffirmed his position as the leader of the race.

Savoldelli rode within himself and did not panic in reaction to the efforts being put in by Lampre on the early climbs. He proved that his nickname “Il Falco” (the Falcon) was well deserved. On the descent approaching the last climb, Savoldelli managed to put twenty seconds on the rest of the leaders with his aggressive descending. On the last climb, Savoldelli and Basso worked together to drop Simoni and put distance on Cunego and Stefano Garzelli of Liquigas.

There is still a long way to go, but Savoldelli and Basso have shown they can time trial, they have shown they can climb, they have shown their skills are essentially equal. They both have strong well-managed teams that will protect them. CSC is probably the stronger team but do not count out Discovery’s ability to deliver Savoldelli to the base of the climbs in a position to win.

Surprise of the Day I

Danilo Di Luca was the surprise of the day. He rode hard to minimize his losses and managed to finish fourth on the stage. While he is a strong rider, he is not known as a pure climber. It will be interesting to see how well Di Luca does in the high mountains to come this weekend.

Surprise of the Day II

Wim Van Huffel of Davitamon-Lotto finished sixth on the stage. Never heard of him? You’re not the only one. Not a name you expect to find at the top of the board in a high mountain stage.

Surprise of the Day III

Evidencing the difficulty of today’s stage, CSC’s mechanics set Basso’s bike up with a 52/36 front chain ring. He obviously put it to use to get up the last climb of the day.

Cippo News

Mario Cippolini cannot stay out of the news for long. He and his wife announced their separation this week. Isn’t that what happens when most guys retire?

The Cycliste Moderne, May 18, 2005

The Giro d’Italia is now almost half over. We have had the prologue and nine stages. Tuesday was the first rest day. Ten stages and the big mountains are ahead, however, but this is a good point to give the teams mid-term scores on their performances.

A Liquigas-Bianchi. Liquigas has the pink jersey, two stage wins and three riders in the top 7. Is there any other score appropriate for this team? Mario Cippolini’s retirement was probably the best thing that happened to Liquigas. His departure opened the way for the rest of the team to shine.

A Ceramica Panaria-Navigare. The small Italian outfit won the prologue, the pink jersey and won Stage 4 as a result of Quick.Step’s Paolo Bettini’s stage disqualification. Typically strong in the mountains, Panaria could go home now and be happy with its performance.

A- Team CSC. American David Zabriskie has given the team a stage win. Favorite Ivan Basso finished second to Zabriskie on the time trial. Basso is second overall. But for his collapse on the finish of Stage 7 after his team rode hard to break up the peleton, Basso would be in pink now.

A- Quick.Step-Innergetic. Paolo Bettini has stage wins, Paolo Bettini has had the pink jersey, Paolo Bettini got disqualified for his bust up with Francaise de Jeux’s Baden Cooke. Only Bettini’s poor behavior on the podium after being relegated to last in the lead group on Stage 4 keeps Quick.Step from getting an A. The team’s performance to this point should be satisfying to sponsors and management

A- Lampre-Caffita. Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni have not yet shown any of the discord that the team had last year. Cunego and Simoni have ridden strong and smart, attacking when appropriate. Their time trialing leaves something to be desired for a team that has won three of the last four Giros.

A- Davitamon-Lotto. Robbie McEwen has won two stages and Henk Vogel nearly won one of McEwen’s stages. Two stages, one day in pink and strong showings in some of the minor classifications should make the Belgian team happy.

B+ Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team. Paolo Savoldelli has ridden a strong and smart race. The team unfortunately left him unprotected and exposed on Stage 7. The loss of Tom Danielson due to an injury is a huge blow to the team. The high mountains will pose a significant challenge for Savoldelli.

B+ Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team. Koldo Gil had a strong ride to stay away and win Stage 7. The team also has Michele Scarponi in the top 15 on GC. That’s a pretty good result for the team and probably all they can expect from their line up at this year’s Giro.

B+ Gerolsteiner. Gerolsteiner’s Sven Krauss is leading both the InterGiro and Trofeo Fuga Piaggio competitions. That is probably the best that the team can do with the riders it brought to the Giro. When you exceed expectations and have a lead in something, even unintelligible competitions like the InterGiro and Trofeo Fuga Piaggio, you get a B+.

B- Française Des Jeux. Baden Cooke has ridden aggressively and contested the sprints. He was just out of luck when it came to the barriers.

B- Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne. The best placed GC rider for a Spanish team is actually a Russian, Vladimir Karpets in 11th place. Having the best GC rider for a Spanish team, however, only gets you a B-.

C+ Phonak Hearing System. Phonak came with a team that would not likely contest the GC. The team has been active in break-aways but has not gotten any results. They will likely get a stage win before the race is over, however.

C+ Domina Vacanze. The Italian resort and timeshare people have two riders in the top 20. Serihy Honchar had an OK time trial but you expect more from a team that should be more aggressive.

C Rabobank. The Dutch team came without much in the way of expectations. Young rider Thomas Dekker has shown flashes, but in general the team has not shown anything.

C Selle Italia-Colombia. This team only shows up for the mountains. There have not been any mountains yet so we will just give the Columbian Italian out fit a C for now.

C- T-Mobile Team. T-Mobile came for stage wins. They have not gotten any. Matthias Kessler has shown some ambition and Zabel has tried to mix it up with the sprinters, but the Giro has been a disappointment for the team in pink.

C- Credit Agricole. Credit Agricole’s Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu has mixed it up in the sprints, finishing in the top five in several stages. Although Credit Agricole’s GC rider Pietro Caucchioli is outside the top 30, he is within five minutes of the lead and a pretty good climber. He should improve.

D Saunier Duval-Prodir. The team has a rider in the top 15 on GC, why does it only get a D? Because. They have long socks. Long socks get you down-graded every time.

D Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone. Cofidis is a disappointment, having brought a team that should be getting stage wins.

D Bouygues Telecom. This French team has done nothing of importance. Laurent Lefevre is in the top 20 on the overall but can you name any member of Bouygues Telecom? My point.

D- Fassa Bortolo. When you build your team around delivering the world’s fastest sprinter to the finish line for stage wins, you better actually get him to the finish line. Alessandro Petacchi finally won Stage 9, however, the team’s pile-up in the run to the finish was embarrassing and but for the Stage 9 win would have gotten an F.

F Euskaltel-Euskadi. What have the done? Exactly. The orange Basque team continues the most disappointing season of any team in the ProTour.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 16, 2005

Week One – Giro d'Italia Highs and Lows

American High

David Zabriskie, CSC’s time trial specialist from Salt Lake City won today’s time trial. He moved from Postal to CSC during the off-season after winning a stage of the Vuelta a Espana last year and finishing fifth in the time trial at the World Championships.

Zabriskie went off really early on the day with the mission of setting target times for his team leader Ivan Basso. His time held up through the next 167 riders of the day. One of only eight riders to complete the 45km in less than an hour, Zabriskie was so fast that when he finished, he had a five minute lead over the other eighteen riders that preceded him. In fact, Zabriskie went off so early on the day that RAI, the Italian broadcaster, did not even show his ride.

It is a huge result for a rider who nearly retired after having his pelvis broken by an inattentive driver during a training ride in Salt Lake’s Emigration Canyon two years ago. Dave Zabriskie is also a past participant in the annual Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho.

Italian Low

Friday’s Stage 6 stage was perfect for the sprinters. Fassa Bortolo was lined up with about five kilometers to go to deliver Alessandro Petacchi to his first stage win. That was until the silver train got derailed and piled up, ending Petacchi’s day. That pretty much sums up Petacchi’s poor Giro.

Aussie High

Friday’s Stage 6 was a high for Davitamon-Lotto’s Aussie hard man Henk Vogel who attacked with 500 meters to go and almost got the win. Ultimately his teammate Robbie McEwen won the sprint and Vogel finished 5th. Vogel used to ride for America’s Team Navigators and is a past winner of Boise’s Twilight Criterium. It is not only amazing that a guy who won in Boise is competitive in Italy, but Vogel had a horrific crash a couple of seasons ago in a domestic US race that nearly left him paralyzed.

Danish-Italian Low 2

Ivan Basso had difficulties during Saturday’s Stage 7. Team CSC took a page out of the US Postal Service play book and put the team at the front to decimate the peleton in the climb to the summit of the Sammomme', 13km from the finish. However, an inopportune bike change resulted in cramps and caused Basso to lose over thirty seconds to the group containing the other favorites. The team rode like Basso was the leader of the race, putting in a significant amount of time at the front. It was a wasted effort as Basso ended up losing time.

Spanish High

During Stage 7, Liberty Seguros’ Koldo Gil attacked and managed to stay away for 180km. He won the stage by 20 seconds over the hard charging chase group led by Lampre-Caffita teammates Cunego and Simioni. Gil showed his strength by not folding on what proved to be a very difficult climb. This is certainly the biggest win of the year for Liberty Seguros.

Italian High

Liquigas-Bianchi has had an impressive first week. Danilo Di Luca has won two stages and has managed to wear the pink jersey for three days. Currently, Dario Cioni and Stefano Garzelli are fifth and sixth as well. All three had strong time trials during Stage 8. But for an unfortunate crash at the end of Stage 7 where Cioni and Garzelli both went down, it is conceivable that Liquigas-Bianchi would have three men in the top five.

Aussie Low

After watching the finish of Stage 4 and having gone through it frame by frame, I think it is clear that Francaise de Jeux’s Aussie sprinter Baden Cooke was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that his crash was not caused by improper riding by Quick.Step’s Bettini. Bettini clearly rode to the left side of the course, but Cooke had more than enough distance to go around Bettini and win the stage. There was no contact between them and Bettini was not trying to ride Cooke into the barriers. Cooke just managed to hit a sign and go down. Cooke’s frustration is understandable; however, his expletive filled tirade was unnecessary as Bettini was clearly apologetic for the result on the day. Bettini’s display on the podium, pouring the champagne onto the ground, was unfortunately the cap on a day of poor sportsmanship.

Looking Forward

After one week, the top ten still has all of the expected leaders. There have been no accidents or poor showings. Clearly, Di Luca, Garzelli, Basso, Savoldelli, Cunego, Simioni and Honchar are all in a position to finish strong. There is still a long way to go but it will be interesting to see how Liquigas-Bianchi and Lampre-Caffita will deal with their multiple leaders. Like they say, if you have two team leaders or two starting quarterbacks, you really don’t have any.

Honchar has not shown that he can climb this year, and as the last week is much more difficult than last year’s course, when he finished on the podium, he is likely to do not better than top 10. Di Luca will likely get some more stage wins but is unlikely to be able to stay with the true climbers in the high mountains. Teammates Cunego and Simioni appear to be cooperating but who knows how long that will last.

Savoldelli and Basso both have teams that have been built for the sole purpose of helping them win. This, along with their all around skills, gives them the edge as they have team directors that know what it takes to win a grand tour and have proven their ability to put men on the podium.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 13, 2005

Stage 4 Dust Up.

Stage 4 resulted in a finish that pleased only NASCAR aficionados. There was rubbing, crashing and disqualifying. Exactly what the American cycling audience loves to see with our constant diet of Criterium racing. Who doesn’t always set up shop in the “carnage corner” of your local downtown nighttime crit just to see which riders are taken out by a stupid move or lapse of concentration? Unfortunately, unless you paid the $5.95 for the live weekday streams on OLNTV.com (like myself), you did not get the chance to see Wednesday’s carnage.

The rolling course and the small climb during the last 11km guaranteed that the sprinters’ teams would not keep the peleton together. Sure enough, things fragmented and the finish in Frosinone was the perfect finish for a rider like Bettini, Cunego or Di Luca. However, one sprinter did make it to the finish with the main group: Francaise de Jeux’s Aussie Baden Cooke. As Cooke and Bettini sprinted to the line, Bettini drifted left and Cooke crashed into the barricades. Bettini’s victory was shortly nullified by race officials and Ceramica Panaria-Navigare “earned” its second stage win of the Giro when second place Luca Mazzanti was elevated to the victory.

While it was an unfortunate conclusion to the stage, it is clear that Bettini drifted left during the sprint, that Cooke attempted to squeeze between Bettini and the barriers, that the signage on the barriers caused Cooke to misjudge the space and distance that he had, that Bettini did not actually make contact with Cooke, that Bettini attempted to apologize after the stage but Cooke refused, that Cooke overreacted in media interviews and that upon his disqualification on the stage that Bettini overreacted with his threats to leave the Giro. It was an unfortunate day.

Stage 5 – Di Luca Does a Double.

Following the conflict in Stage 4, Stage 5 was back to quality racing and a deserving victory by Liquigas-Bianchi’s Danilo Di Luca. The leader of the ProTour earned his first ever Maglia Rosa with his victory. Clearly angered by his disqualification, Bettini attacked early in Stage 5. He managed to stay away with a small group for over 170km on a day that saw two classified climbs and a series of significant climbs including the last 1300m uphill.

However, Liquigas-Bianchi clearly wanted to bring the stage back together for Di Luca as the finish was less than 50km from his hometown. Di Luca won an uphill finish similar to that at Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallone. He took a three second lead over Bettini in the overall and is now able to replace his ProTour white jersey with the Giro’s pink jersey. With time bonuses in Stage 6, Bettini could potentially take back the pink jersey.

Stage 6-7-8 Preview

The weekend offers something for everyone. Friday will be a competitive day on the road for Stage 6 as the riders face some early climbs but then complete three pan-flat 6km circuits in Marina Di Grosseto which could potentially give Alessandro Petacchi his first stage win. A field sprint should be guaranteed for Friday. If Bettini can win the uphill InterGiro sprint at Manciano, he could regain the pink jersey. It will be interesting to see how hard Liquigas defends the jersey with Saturday and Sunday’s important stages to come.

Saturday’s Stage 7 has the potential to shake up the overall. With a trip through the finish in Pistoia, followed by a quick climb up the Sammome, followed 13km descent back to Pistoia, Stage 7 is a day where team leaders could lose valuable time if they are not careful. Look for a break to get away and a small group to duke it out at the finish. This was a stage that Bettini rode in preparation for the Giro. Being from Tuscany, a win in Pistoia would be huge for Il Grillo, Bettini.

Sunday’s Stage 8 will let us know who the real leaders are when the first individual time trial is contested. Stage 8 is 45km long and is broken into three sections. The first 10km is a rolling approach to the day’s only climb up Monte Albano. The riders then climb 8km gaining about 300m in altitude. Although it is not a big climb, the Monte Albano does have some sections with 7% grades. Once they summit, the riders then roll 27km downhill and onto the flat run in to Firenze. The climb is not steep enough, long enough or late enough in the stage to really affect the GC contenders.

The length of the stage, the descent and the flat run in to Firenze does not favor last year’s Giro winner Damiano Cunego. Look for Domina Vacanze’s Ukrainian time trial specialist, Serhiy Honchar, to have a strong performance. Additionally, the stage favors Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli as his descending skills should give him an advantage. With the stages that will occur over the next three days, after the finish in Firenze, I expect either of Liquigas-Bianchi’s leaders, Danilo Di Luca or Steffano Garzelli, to be in pink with a lead of about a minute over Cunego, Simoni and Salvoldelli.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 11, 2005

Bettini Follow Up

Leading up to the Giro, Cyclingnews.com reported on Bettini’s reconnaissance of Stage 7 of the Giro. An undulating but not mountainous stage, Bettini told reporters that he viewed it as a stage that he could win. Clearly he was sandbagging as evidenced by Quick.Step’s pink cars at the start of Stage 2. Quick.Step management conceded that it had come prepared to have the team’s cars match its leader’s jersey. Quick.Step came to the Giro knowing that the race’s first stage was the type of stage that Bettini, “Il Grillo” (“the Cricket”), could win and take the pink jersey with time bonuses.

It has been an incredibly difficult spring for the current Olympic road race champion and last year’s World Cup champion. Bettini showed the form that has made him one of the strongest riders in the peleton. If Quick.Step had true GC aspirations, which as a Belgian-Italian classics team it does not, and if Bettini received the type of direction and support as provided by a directeur sportif like Johann Bruyneel or Bjarne Riis, (although it is undiputable that Quick.Step directeur sportif Patrick LeFevre is the best classics manager in the world), then it is conceivable that Bettini could have been much more of a GC threat than he is. That said, Bettini is and should be one of the most feared cyclists in the professional peleton. In any one-day race he has all the skills needed to be a threat every time he lines up at the start.

Giro Stage 2 Recap

It has been a tough start to the Giro for the blue and silver train of Fassa Bortolo. Although Alessandro Petacchi has been in the mix and been competitive, Stage 2 evidenced the fact that a strong train will not necessarily deliver a stage win. During the finish to Stage 2 it was clear that all the sprinters teams were going to contest the sprint to the finish and that they would not just lay down for Petacchi.

Robbie McEwen of Lotto-Davitamon became the second Australian to wear the pink jersey at the Giro with his victory in Stage 2. His sprint victory was overshadowed, however, by Fassa Bortlolo’s claim that McEwen and Jaan Kirsipuu of Credit Agricole had “conspired” to ride Petacchi off the wheel of his set-up man. It is unusual for Petacchi to complain about race conditions and circumstances. It is not unusual, however, for Robbie McEwen to be at the center of controversy during sprints at the Grand Tours. That said, Kirsipuu’s involvement in the alleged “conspiracy” is interesting. Estonian Kirsipuu is one of the faster men in the peleton, although he has not had very many significant results during the last couple of years. He is fast and can certainly hold his own in a field sprint during a grand tour. Kirsippu is not typically known as a rider who gets mixed up with the politics of the peleton. McEwen is just an aggressive rider and clearly with the ProTour raising the level of participation at the Giro, teams have come to contest every sprint during the race.

The claims of Petacchi and Fassa Bortolo of a conspiracy have more to do with frustration than with the actual circumstances of the Stage 2 final. Petacchi won nine stages last year to set the single Giro record. Petacchi came to the Giro with fourteen victories already in 2005. This year’s Giro route, however, does not lend itself to the number of pure field sprint stages as last year’s Giro. Fassa Bortolo came to the Giro for one purpose: for Petacchi to win as many stages as possible. Fassa Bortolo’s failure to win the first two stages after Petacchi’s strong prologue are clearly a source of frustration for a team that came prepared to validate its leader’s new status as the best sprinter in the world (after Cippolini’s recent retirement).


Stage 3 Recap

On a day that was not expected to have a field sprint, Petacchi’s dreams of the pink jersey were dashed when the peleton split on the run-in to the finish due to a climb in the closing 20km of the race. The final was contested by a group of fifty which contained all of the GC leaders.

It was not surprising that Danilo Di Luca of Liquigas-Bianchi managed to win the stage. He out-sprinted Damiano Cunego of Lampre-Caffita and teammate Steffano Garzelli for the win. This stage could have had GC ramifications had the leaders not been paying attention and riding at the front.

Petacchi finished in the group a minute down. He will not be able to gain enough time from time bonuses to spend any time in pink this year. There are stages to come which suit him and the points jersey, the “Ciclomina Jersey,” is still a possibility. However, with the incredibly high expectations that Fassa Bortolo had coming into the Giro for Petacchi to dominate the early sprints and be in pink for an extended period of the first week, the results over the first three stages have to be viewed as an absolute disaster.

Paolo Bettini now finds himself back in pink for a second time. Due to the time splits that have occurred during stage three, his time bonuses from the win, his sprinting and climbing ability, and his lack of GC ambition, Quik.Step’s leader could stay in pink for another week.


More Fashion Commentary

As the current points leader of the ProTour, Di Luca is wearing the white and blue ProTour points lead jersey. It is debatable whether the white jersey is better than the Liquigas-Bianchi team kit. However, although a ProTour leader’s jersey does help the UCI to better “brand” the ProTour, it is not a really big step forward. In reality it is just another jersey to confuse the average cycling fan. The World Champion’s jersey is cool and distinctive with its rainbow stripes. The national champions’ jerseys are cool. The ProTour leader’s jersey is not. Moreover, the UCI in a moment of irrationality required Oscar Freire of Rabobank, the current World Champion, to wear the ProTour leader’s jersey instead of his World Championship Jersey during Milan-San Remo. That was a silly and petty action by the UCI. The rainbow jersey of the World Champion should be the one thing that every cyclist aspires to wear.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 9, 2005

Giro d'Italia Prologue Recap

Giro d’Italia organizers started the race with the shortest Prologue in recent memory during a Grand Tour. Under floodlights, the Giro started with a drag race down the promenade in Reggio Calabria at the tip of Italy’s boot. On a course that was absolutely straight with no elevation gain at all, every rider had a legitimate chance to win the stage.

The sprinters were certainly in a position to win the pink jersey with a win in Sunday’s Stage 1. Stuart O’Grady of Cofidis showed his track experience by completing the course on a fixed gear bike and finished sixth. Alessandro Petacchi of Fassa Bortolo put in a strong ride to finish third and position himself to take the pink jersey with a win on Sunday.

Brett Lancaster of the small Italian team Panaria won the prologue in a surprise. Although he has had significant track experience, winning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in the team pursuit for Australia, he has not had a lot of success on the road. It certainly was a good day for Panaria as Lancaster became their first rider to ever wear the pink jersey. Moreover, Lancaster became just the third Australian to ever wear the pink jersey.

The highlight of the Prologue, however, was the appearance of recently retired Mario Cippolini. Organizers had originally announced that Cippo would ride before any of the other riders as a send-off. He did not ride first, and instead Cippo followed the last rider on the day, Damiano Cunego of Lampre Caffita.

Cippo did not disappoint his awaiting fans by appearing in a pink skinsuit with world champion stripes on the cuffs. As he completed the kilometer ride on a pink bike, Cippo showed the panache that made him the greatest showman in the history of cycling. Merckx won a lot more races than Cippolini but Cippo certainly had a lot more style in his nearly 200 career victories.

Stage 1 Recap

Quick.Step’s Paolo Bettini fulfilled two unaccomplished goals on Sunday. Amazingly, Bettini had never won a stage of the Giro d’Italia and had never worn the pink leader’s jersey. After the finish, Bettini accomplished both. Petacchi managed to finish second but clearly the route favored Bettini’s ability to get away on short climbs and sprint to the finish. Commentators who had predicted a field sprint had obviously reviewed just the profile and not the actual course. The last five kilometers had a series of sharp turns, including a 270 degree corkscrew and a hairpin left-hand turn, had narrow winding roads, and a steep 500 meter climb. It was a perfect course for the Olympic road race gold medalist, Bettini.

Fassa Bortolo had controlled the race to bring it back at the finish for Petacchi. It was clear that Lancaster’s stay in pink would be short-lived. However, today’s stage finish did not lend itself to the field sprint that Fassa Bortolo had desired. With a short but very steep climb in the last kilometer, Bettini attacked on the 15% grade and managed to stay away for the final 500 meters. That climb splintered the peleton and the Silver Train of Fassa was unable to keep the group together and get Petacchi back to Bettini.

Monday’s Stage 2 lends itself much more to a group sprint and Fassa will certainly want to redeem themselves for today’s failure. Bettini will have the pink jersey for at least one day and with his sprinting ability may be able to defend it from Petacchi, provided he picks up time bonuses and contests the sprint tomorrow.

After two days, however, both Panaria and Quick.Step have had the type of success that they could only have dreamed of before the Giro began.


Giro Fashion Commentary

Lampre-Caffita’s team uniforms require some comment. For a team outfitted by sportswear manufacturer Kappa, their uniforms leave a lot to be desired. The black seat pad insert in the shorts is ugly and distracting. The Lampre blue is flat and unappealing and is even worse with the pink highlighting stitching. The Kappa logos on the front hips are too big and there are too many other sponsor logos. The old Lampre blue and pink jerseys were certainly distinctive and identifiable. The new Lampre kit just makes you scratch your head. You would expect a better design from Kappa; the Saeco team kit they put together the last few years was classic and classy. Additionally, thei Rudy Project helmets with the Elvis muttonchop ear fairings are about the ugliest time trial helmet in the peleton.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 6, 2005

Giro d’Italia Preview

As promised, here is the preview of this year’s Giro d’Italia, the first grand tour of the year. The general classification (GC) will likely be very competitive with four past champions at the start.

Sprinters Galore

Fassa Bortolo is not bringing a GC contender to this year’s Giro. The team has been built around delivering Alessandro Petacchi to the finish line. Although it is unlikely that he will match last year’s record of nine stage wins, he certainly will be well positioned to win every field sprint during the Giro.

In an interesting twist, Erik Zabel of T-Mobile will be at the Giro after all, having not originally been scheduled to race in Italy. T-Mobile is not bringing a GC contender either so with a team built to be opportunistic and win stages, Zabel will have a train for the field sprints.

Lotto-Davitamon is also bringing a sprint-focused team. With both Robbie McEwen and Tom Steels, the Belgian superteam will be a factor in the field sprints. Crédit Agricole is bringing Estonian sprinter Jaan Kirsipuu and Kiwi sprinter Julian Dean, and while it will be supporting last year’s podium finisher Pietro Caucchioli for the GC, its sprinters will likely be a factor in this year’s Giro.

This is probably the best field of sprinters that the Giro has seen in some time. The ProTour has clearly benefited the Giro in having a strong international field. Part of Mario Cippolini’s success in the Giro has been the result of the fact that historically he only had to face the fastest Italian sprinters.

Race Favorites

Although there are some difficult and dangerous stages in the first half of this year’s Giro, the GC will not start to take shape until after Stage 11 in the Dolomites. Thus we will put off a comprehensive analysis of the GC until sometime next week. However, the race favorites are all Italians. Lampre-Caffita starts both Cunego and Simoni, although you have to wonder if a team with two leaders has any leader at all after last year’s bad blood between the two teammates. Liquigas-Bianchi has Garzelli. Unlike in past years, foreign teams with GC aspirations have Italian GC riders with legitimate podium chances: CSC has Basso, Discovery has Salvoldeli, Crédit Agricole has Caucchioli. The peleton is devoid, however, of some of the non-Italian GC riders seen in years past. The only past non-Italian podium finisher to return to this year’s Giro is Serhiy Honchar of Domina Vacanze who finished second last year. With no difficult climbs before the first time trial, Ukrainian time trial specialist Honchar could conceivably find himself in pink after the first time trial.


Labor Strife

The advent of the ProTour has resulted in the best field at the Giro in years. However, Giro organizer, RCS, had to avert a boycott by the ProTour teams over the allocation of “start money”. At Liège a couple of weeks ago, RCS met with the ProTour teams and the riders’ union to resolve its desire to negotiate start money with each individual team as had been done in the past. ProTour teams were demanding equal start money for all teams and an increase to 60,000 euro’s per team. Press reports seem to indicate that the parties found some compromise to that dispute.

That is not the end of the strife, however, as it became known this week that RCS is now seeking to reduce the total prize pool at this year’s Giro. That news has caused the riders’ union to express amazement. It has been a few years since a rider’s strike has occurred during a Grand Tour. It is not, however, outside the realm of possibility that if this issue is not resolved to the satisfaction of the peleton, then a strike could neutralize one or more stages of this year’s Giro.

Course Notes

The Giro d’Italia starts on Saturday with the initial and incredibly short 1.15km prologue in Reggio Calabria and ending in Milan after three weeks. The penultimate stage ending in Sestriere probably has the most interesting segment of the race. In homage to the classic days of Coppi, the stage's next to last climb up the Colle delle Finestre includes a final 8.5km over a gravel road. Fortunately, OLN TV will have same day coverage of that stage on Saturday, May 28.

The Cycliste Moderne, May 4, 2005

What do you do when your real job gets in the way of your cycling fetish? You ask your wife to write your blog. Today you get to hear from Kristin, the longsuffering Cycliste Moderne blog widow. Sorry everyone, but the jealous mistress that is the law has commandeered all of my attention this week. Kristin has graciously offered to write this installment of the Cycliste Moderne for me.
-G.M.Wardle


Kristin Meets Marla Streb And Reviews Her Book

Geoff suggested that I write a review of Marla Streb’s book, “Downhill: The Life Story of a Gravity Goddess.” My B.A. in History doesn’t qualify me to review her book any more than her Masters Degree in molecular biology qualifies her to write an autobiography. That said, it was a pretty good, fairly painless read.

I first read about her book a couple of years ago in VeloNews. I thought it sounded like a great Christmas present for Geoff. A woman who hated what she did and was lucky enough to find something that made her happy. That something just happened to be the mountain bike. Change she to a he, change the mountain bike to a road bike, and it sounded pretty much like Geoff, but 100 pounds heavier and no tattoo. Unfortunately for Geoff, Marla Streb can actually make money riding her bike, but there is still something to be said about finding happiness in bikes.

I didn’t buy the book for Geoff. I didn’t even think about it again until February when we took Cyclista to the the Seattle International Bike Expo. Marla Streb was signing pictures and her book at the Clif Bar booth. Geoff suggested I go get an autograph for our uber-feminist five-year-old daughter. He also suggested I try the new Oatmeal Raisin Clif Bar, which does indeed taste just like his mom’s cookie dough.

I should have done the autograph first. Instead, I wasn’t really sure which woman behind the booth was Marla Streb. There was a long haired woman in the Clif Bar booth, in casual clothes, eating a burrito, and it seemed pretty stupid to say, “Hey, are you Marla Streb?” It’s not like she was in full Luna Chicks downhill garb or was naked with her world singlespeed champion tattoo out for you to verify her identity and Marla’s hair is currently longer and lighter than typically depicted in photographs. So, instead I went for the Oatmeal Rasin Clif Bar sample. After tasting it and confirming Geoff’s analysis of it, I decided that it was indeed Marla Streb eating her lunch and that I needed to go for it. I should have swallowed the Clif Bar first.

I explained that I wanted her to sign a picture for my five-year-old daughter Sophie who only liked sports if girls were playing. Marla thought that was funny (or at least she said so), and asked how to spell my daughter’s name. When I spelled S-O-P-H-I-E, she replied that she hadn’t understood my accent. Gulp. Embarrassed, I explained that it was a Clif Bar accent and quickly swallowed what I was still eating.

Only then did I go and buy a previously autographed copy of her book. Had I read it first, I wouldn’t have been too embarrassed. Marla does stuff like that too. However, I probably would have embarrassed myself in other ways. Like saying, “We are soooo much alike.” Marla Streb and I are really nothing alike. Yes, sometimes I look around and say “How did I get here?” But, unlike Marla, my answer is usually, “Oh, yeah. I am where I want to be. ” I am okay with the house, minivan, three kids and the cycling media company consuming my existence. Marla decided she needed something else and was fortunate enough to find it.

Marla Streb decided in her late 20’s that being an unhappy biologist with numerous lifestyle issues (namely poor diet, unfulfilling relationships and binge drinking) wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. She jumped off the proverbial cliff and 10+ years later, she’s still happy with her choice. There are a lot of people who are unhappy with their career choices. Few are gutsy enough to do something about it.

Downhill is one of those books that you have to read quickly to get through or you lose your momentum. It is one of those books that you find yourself reading aloud to your husband when he is trying to read “Cycle Sport” or “Velonews.” It is a book that I wish I’d read before meeting the author so that I could get the most of the experience. Now, I have a picture signed for my kindergartner by an athlete that she can look up to, but only with a few caveats. I won’t show Sophie the picture of Marla in Outside, the picture of Marla, her tattoo, and her bike. I won’t tell Sophie about how Marla’s boyfriend tried to finance his sailboat by growing pot in his basement. And I probably won’t tell my daughter, who has already asked me “Didn’t you ever want to anything else besides a mommy?” that Marla decided she’d rather take the different road. For some people, that works. I’m happy to play it safe.

-Kristin

The Cycliste Moderne, May 2, 2005

Ekimov Injury

By now you may have heard that Discovery Channel’s Viatcheslav Ekimov was injured in a training accident in Texas last Thursday. Ekimov hit a pot-hole while out training with Lance Armstrong and crashed, breaking his sternum. It is not clear how long Ekimov will be out of action as press reports have conflicted as to the severity of his injury.

It is, however, likely that Ekimov will not start at this year’s Tour de France. If he does not start, it will be a major blow to Armstrong’s campaign to win a seventh Tour. Ekimov has completed 14 Tours and is just two shy of tying the record held by Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands.

Ekimov has had a distinguished career on the track and on the road. A gold medalist in the team pursuit at the 1988 Olympics, he has medaled in the time trial at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. Although he has retired once, Ekimov is a strong rider who provides leadership. He remains a threat in one-day races and time trials. He was a strong GC rider earlier in his career as evidenced by his battles with Armstrong at the Tour du Pont in the early 1990’s.

It would be unfortunate if this is how his career ends; a broken sternum could prevent him from training for a couple of months. Discovery will miss him if he is unable to come back from this injury.

Romandie Recap

The Tour of Romandie concluded Sunday with Phonak’s Santiago Botero, the Columbian time trial ace, winning the final stage and taking the GC. Botero has had a rough few years after his strong performances for Kelme at the Tour de France. His time at Telekom was largely a waste. He gave Phonak the win that they desired at Romandie.

The rest of the GC evidences the fact that the favorites for the Giro d’Italia are going to arrive at the start in excellent form. Damiano Cunego of Lampre-Caffita showed strength on the climbs and had a good performance in the final time trial, although he could not be expected to have been competitive with Botero.

Stefano Garzelli had a good time trial but faltered in the mountains of Switzerland. He may need the first ten days of the Giro to ride himself into better shape. Fortunately, the big climbs of this year’s Giro, and they are truly big climbs, do not come until the second half of the race.

My surprise at Romandie was Denis Menchov, Rabobank’s Russian GC rider. He had a strong Romandie finishing on the podium in third. He could finish in the top ten for Rabobank at the Giro, however, it is much more likely that Rabobank will hunt for stage wins in Italy.

Spain Won’t Get it Either

Well, I was quite frustrated by the fact that OLN has elected not to show live coverage of the Giro d’Italia for the first time in several years. The Giro is a fun race to watch due to the passion of the Italian fans. It is spring time so the country is green, unlike the Vuelta a Espana in September when much of Spain is dirty, dusty and dead.

However, in a move which clearly supports my belief that there will not be a single Spanish rider in the top 20 at the Giro, it was announced this week that there will be no live coverage of the Giro in Spain. It is amazing that a country that is as cycling mad as Spain will be in the same predicament as us in the United States, although OLN will at least provide weekend coverage of the Giro.

You would think that in the era of 500 channels, there would be at least one that would provide you cycling 24/7. If you are really desperate, however, and have satellite, you can get RAI, the Italian national broadcaster, which provides the same feed that OLN has used in the past. The coverage is in Italian and you do not have Bob Roll talking about the “ciclomina” jersey or explaining the “InterGiro.” You can’t have everything.