Thirty-one hours to the start of Gran Fondo Ste. Genevieve. Maps and cue sheets are all made up and the weather looks good, if not a bit cool. I need to get some Clif bars or some other nutrition but that's no big deal.

News Item of the Day: MARINA DI GROSSETO, Italy (AP) -- Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen won a chaotic group finish Friday to take the sixth stage of the Giro d'Italia, while Olympic champion Paolo Bettini reclaimed the overall lead. A 6-second bonus from a mid-stage sprint moved Bettini 3 seconds ahead of Danilo Di Luca in the overall standings. Di Luca took the pink jersey from Bettini with a victory in Thursday's stage.

McEwen won his second stage after overtaking Jaan Kirsipuu of Estonia and Davitamon-Lotto teammate Henk Vogels, who tried for the victory when he rushed into the lead in the last kilometer. McEwen completed the 94.8-mile stage from Viterbo to Marina ti Grosseto in 3 hours, 37 minutes, 17 seconds. "I'm sorry for Vogels, but I realized at 300 meters that the group was going to overtake him, so I launched my own sprint,'' McEwen said.

Alessandro Petacchi of Italy lost a chance to win his first stage when he and some of his Fassa Bortolo teammates, who led going into the sprint, fell at a tight corner. Petacchi set a record with nine stage wins in last year's Giro.

Saturday's seventh stage from Grosseto to Pistoia, in the Tuscan region, features a tough uphill section close to the finish.

Viewpoint: Surely Petacchi will win one stage, won't he? Not that I'm rooting for him to win.