The Cycliste Moderne, June 1, 2005

Savoldelli Is Impressive.

Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli was most impressive in winning the Giro d’Italia. He did not whine or complain about his team’s lack of mountain support, recognizing the misfortune that had befallen his designated lieutenant, Tom Danielson. He raced his race and did not panic when attacked.

Certainly Savoldelli benefited from the tactical acumen of Discovery Channel’s directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel who now has an impressive eight victories in Grand Tours. Having directed US Postal Service to 6 wins in the Tour de France, Bruyneel merits recognition as one of the best tactical minds in pro cycling. The fact that Bruyneel has now directed a team to victory in both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana is even more impressive due to the varied nature of the three Grand Tours.

Bruyneel knows how to inspire and get the most out of his teams. There has been much criticism of the focus and methods of Bruyneel and Armstrong. However, you cannot dispute the results. Savoldelli’s career was on the rocks after he was injured for the last two years and jettisoned by Germany’s T-Mobile. Savoldelli showed strength and smarts and will now line up to support Armstrong’s bid for Tour number seven.

Final Grades

Now that the Giro is over we can give final grades.

A+ Selle Italia-Colombia. This team showed up for the mountains and got three stage wins, the mountain points title and a man on the podium. Venezuelan Jose Rujano finshed third and could have won but for his poor showings in the time trials. The team will be hard pressed to keep Rujano and Ivan Parra after their strong showings in the mountains.

A Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team. Paolo Savoldelli rode the smartest race of any rider in the peleton and won. The criticism of the team was unwarranted as Savoldelli has acknowledged that this is the first time he has raced the Giro with full team support even if they were not there to protect him in the mountains. Most teams would have collapsed when all of its climbing support is forced out by injury except for its leader.

A Liquigas-Bianchi. Great Giro. Danilo Di Luca rode the race of his life to finish fourth and potentially put the ProTour individual points race out of reach.

A- Team CSC. Ivan Basso came to win and would have but for a nasty intestinal bug. The team’s performance was to be commended and Basso’s two stage wins, after most other GC riders would have quit, merit praise. The grade reflects the disappointment of Basso’s performance.

B+ Ceramica Panaria-Navigare. The small Italian team did not show much during the second half of the race. It did finish with a rider in the top 10, however, and gets credit for its strong first week.

B+ Credit Agricole. Pietro Caucchioli finished 8th. Exactly what Credit Agricole expcected when it signed him. Best individual finish by a rider from a French team. Christophe Le Mevel also won stage 16. The team gets more credit than its other French brethren due to fact that this team always shows up at races and rides like a team. Best tactical team in France.

B+ Gerolsteiner. Gerolsteiner’s Markus Fothen finished 12th in the Giro and Sven Krauss, although he did not win the InterGiro competition, did win the Trofeo Fuga Piaggio and the scooter that goes to its victor. Good showing.

B- Quick.Step-Innergetic. Bettini has stage wins and Steffano Zanini won the InterGiro competition. However, Bettini’s conduct is still being discussed after the race has ended. Thus the team’s final mark is down significantly from its midterm grade of A-.

B Domina Vacanze. Serihy Honchar finished in the top 10 as he was hired to do.

B Illes Balears-Caisse D'epargne. Vladimir Karpets finished 7th overall. That still only gets you a B.B- Phonak Hearing System. Phonak had some activity in breakaways and some decent stage showings. Only good enough to improve the team’s grade slightly from the midway.

B- Lampre-Caffita. Gilberto Simoni rode hard to second place, yet his incessant promises of victory and complaints when he failed to deliver get a down grade from the A- at the mid point. Team finished last in the “Fair Play” Competition. Don’t know how that is awarded but it was obviously earned. Gibo, just shut up and ride!!!

C+ Saunier Duval-Prodir. The team has a rider climb to 5th on GC but I still cannot over look the long socks.

C Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team. Koldo Gil’s stage win is overshadowed by the team’s failure to do anything else thereafter.

C Rabobank. A gentleman’s C for the Dutch team.C T-Mobile Team. Erik Zabel is still one of the five fastest men in the world. Unfortunately, he has been racing in events that have the four faster men in the pack, thus his continuing lack of success. C for effort.C- Fassa Bortolo. Alessandro Petacchi went on to win three more stages after his victory in Stage 9, however, they all happened after the rest of the sprinters went home to avoid the mountains. High expectations doomed Fassa’s grade from the outset.

D+ Euskaltel-Euskadi. I forgot they were still in the race but the Basque team did have a rider in the top 20 on GC.

F Française Des Jeux. The next three grades all have something in common. Can you figure it out? Française Des Jeux did nothing after Cooke’s bust up with Bettini. Team finished last in the Team GC, six and a half hours behind Liquigas. Plus, the French voted down the EU Constitution because it was “too Anglo-Saxon”.

F Bouygues Telecom. Laurent Lefevre finished as the team’s top GC rider, in 35th place. Not acceptable, even if you are French.

F Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone. Cofidis had a rider in the top 20 on GC. However, it failed to do anything else and I bet you cannot name the team’s top GC rider. Thus the corresponding grade.

Incomplete. Davitamon-Lotto. Robbie McEwen won two stages and went home before the mountains while in the points leader’s Ciclomina Jersey. You get no credit for not finishing the course.


Blog Stuff.

Now that the Giro is over and things quiet down until the Tour de France, there will be some important races coming up and I will stay on top of those with previews and recaps. However, I am going to scale back in June to just publishing on Mondays and Fridays. I do not like to provide commentary on races that do not have a depth of coverage to distill because you all are reading those accounts anyway. Who knows, maybe in July I will publish daily.

Blog Stuff II.

I appreciate all of the input and comments I receive from those that read "The Cycliste Moderne." Last week I received an e-mail from Corri, a reader in Canada, who asked me to mention the bike blog http://www.bicycletrek.org/ . Corri's mother is riding across Canada to raise support for the BC Lung Association and is providing updates on the site. Check it out as it is a worth cause.