This evening was a chilly night, somewhere in the 50's, for the Tues Nite Training Race. For whatever reason I didn't have a lot of motivation to race tonight and almost bagged it when I could not find my race number as I was about to leave. At the last moment it magically appeared and I rushed off to the park. Two slow laps and it was time to race. Maybe it was the lack of warmup but the race seemed really quick for the first 5 or so laps before settling down a little. Once I settled in I rode okay as I mainly just marked others. A couple times I went to the front and tried to close down a gap and it hurt. I seemed to do so into the wind so maybe thats why it hurt but I was disappointed in how I felt when the effort was made. That kind of effort is something I need to work on, along with the subsequent recovery for another effort. In the end there was a group of 3 or 5 (opinions vary) then a about 3 others in between and then I got 3rd or 4th after that. Not a bad not for not being very motivated.

News Item of the Day: King Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini, 38, has decided to retire after clinching 189 victories in 17 seasons. "To announce the retire to less than a week from the start of the Giro is an hard but honest decision. I should be at the start of Reggio Calabria: look for a victory, a new rose shirt." But, maybe, for and "old man" like me, who give a lot to cycling and a lot received, now is more important to choice the right moment to say stop. I want to thanks the Liquigas-Bianchi, that give me confidence. I'm proud to close my career with that team".

The 2002 world champion has been the sport's leading sprinter for the last 16 years and holds the Giro d'Italia record for the most stage wins, having crossed the line first 42 times. He has won 12 stages in the Tour de France.

Main victories

Giro d'Italia: 42 stages (record)
Tour de France: 12 stages
World champion in 2002
Ghent-Wevelgem: 1992, 1993, 2002
Milan-San Remo: 2002

Viewpoint: My little tribute to Mario is this picture I took at the '04 Tour of Georgia. The legs of a champion...