Did they run out of Capuccino?

What is going on at the Giro today? Naturally, there has been some rain but that is to be expected at this point. My main point is how do you let a 56 man breakaway go up the road. On top of that, how do you let that 56 man group gain 17 minutes on the peloton? And even worse, how do you let that group contain guys like Wiggins and Sastre who were languishing 10 minutes behind the leader.

With only 100km left, they main peloton still needs to make up 16 minutes to catch the breakaway. That seems like a tall order at this point. They may shrink the lead some but why give guys like Sastre a fighting chance just before they go into the mountains?

You could argue that there is a a reason Sastre and Wiggins were 10 minutes behind and that this time gain will only be temporary. This reminds me a little bit of the 2006 Tour when Landis let Pereiro become a challenger again, because Phonak let a breakaway get big time gains.

Should be an interesting end to the stage.

Angel

I've never seen an actual angel but never imagined one wearing body armor.

The rain it Italy stays... everywhere.

This year's Giro is a real soaker. The only days that I do not remember rain were stages 2, 3 and 6 in the Netherlands. Two-thirds of the race has been wet and stage 7 added mud to the menu.

As I watch this, I can't help but think back to the trip Giuseppe and I took to the Giro back in 2007. Everything started well enough. The first we had a little spin up the river valley. Skies were cloudy but it was a nice day. The next day was warm and sunny as we rode the rolling hills around Bassano.

After those two days, the fun began in more ways than one. First, we hit the mountains. As grueling as they could be, there is great satisfaction in cresting a big mountain. Second, the scenery became amazing. The Dolomites can be absolutely spectacular. Third, and fun in only the most sarcastic way, the rain began.

Day three - rain for about one-third the climb of Passo Rolle
Day four - pouring rain for the climb of Tre Croce, and some light mist at other times.
Day five - Good weather for Passo Campolongo and Passo Gardena. Rain began to fall as did the temperatures on the descent of Passo Gardena and the climb of Passo Sella. We ate lunch in the restaurant at the top of the Sella. After lunch it was basically dry except for some we roads but when we reached the top of Passo Pordoi it was 1 degree celsius and we were chilled to the bone. My arms were quivering most of the way down the approximate 40 switchback turns. Unpleasant and a little scary.
Day six - snow as we watched the race pass by on Passo Campolongo.
Day seven - beautiful day for the climb of the Marmolada
Day eight - Another nice day
Day nine - A few dry points in the middle of the ride but lots of rain at the start and the end.
Day ten - Rain as we watched the final time trial. The skies cleared for the last part.
Day eleven - okay weather
Day twelve - Most of the day was good but it rained on the descent of Passo Stelvio
Day thirteen - a little light rain as we packed up our bikes.

Despite having a few nice days mixed in, the mind tends to remember the bad things and by the end of the trip it had seemed that we were rained on every day. The guys racing are probably feeling the same way about now and waking up every morning with a feeling of dread, knowing that it will probably rain again.

Here is to a few days of racing in the sun. They deserve it.

Stage 6

Very nice job by Matthew Lloyd today. Made the early break, survived a couple moderate mountains and then left Bertogliati on the final hill for a solo victory.

He's looking a little smug about the whole affair but he just won a Giro stage. A little smugness is in order.

Danilo Hondo, on the other hand, rolls in 1:15 later. That doesn't stop multi-time doper from working himself in a lather at the finish line. I GOT THIRD PLACE! I GOT THIRD PLACE!

Wanker

TTT thoughts

My random thoughts and comments as I watched the Giro team time trial.

- Who's the really little dude on Cofidis?
- I kind of like the silver TT helmets that Colnago-CSF Inox are using. The helmets must not have slowed them down too much. First place, right now. Of course, only two teams have finished so that doesn't mean much.
- Looks odd to see the Swiss TT champ riding for Androni-Giacatolli, and not Saxo Bank
- Footon-Servetto in first place... for now. Now if they would only fix those kits.
- Damp roads. Could be ugly for the later teams.
- Garzelli's team not look too good at the first time check.
- BMC goes into first by about 50 seconds.
- Katusha in the start house. Pozzato does the sign of the cross. Again. And, again.
- Androni-Giacatolli looking a little ragged. Three guys are skipping pulls.
- Wiggins not liking the camera in his face. Waves it away.
- Sky has a guy looking not too good. Kind of early for that.
- Looks like they lost a guy if I am counting right
- Sky getting rained on but Ag2r is in the sun at the finish line... but with a slow time.
- Some of these look slick. Glad I am not on them.
- Garmin looking good.
- Correction: Sky down to seven men. I wonder if they started with eight or nine. Those seven are looking smooth, though.
- Not liking how Garmin's Aussie champ was having to sprint onto the back of the train. Bad sign for him.
- Garmin loses Murilo Fischer. Down to seven.
- Sky losing another. Down to six
- Lampre finishing with six.
- Katusha loses two at the end. Finishing with five but will have best time easily. Almost a minute... :54 seconds.
- Uh oh, Sky's about to be down to five riders.
- Garmin not doing that well at the first split. Fifth?
- Sky, on the other hand, is rocking it. Gonna be be best time by about 15 secs... Fourteen seconds at the line.
- Omega Pharma surprises me with third place.
- Astana takes off in pouting rain.
- Milram reaches the intermediate check about as fast as a cow.
- Cervelo will be just about even with Omega Pharma... 3rd place. Pretty good.
- Garmin 1k to go. Not going to win, thats for sure. Probably half a minute down.
- 36 seconds. Fifth place. Doesn't look like Millar will get the pink jersey.
- Basso looks like a praying mantis on the TT bike.
- Saxo Bank not doing very well either at the first check. Vinokourov has to be liking this.
- Is Astana down to seven?
- Milram picked up the pace. Not great. But, an improvement. Twelfth place at the first check. Sixth at the finish. They turned into a fast cow.
- Liquigas might take the lead!
- They will... thirteen seconds. Wow.
- Basso's chances of a podium keep improving. The mountains will tell the story but its nice to have a cushion.
- Astana is about to be down to the minimum five riders. He catches back on. Did they ease upa bit?
- Saxo coming to the line. Eighth place behind Garmin. Surprises.
- Astana is is looking quick but I missed their split time.
- They are dropping their fifth rider. They won't beat Liquigas.
- The last guy is fighting.
- I think Basso is going to be in pink unless I am overlooking someone. Fifth place, :38 down on Liquigas. That would put Basso :20 up on Vinokourov
- Vino looked frustrated as he came to the line.
- Oh, I forgot about Nibali being ahead of Basso. Nibali, the last minute replacement for Pellizotti, is in Pink.

Giro rest day

A crazy start to the Giro. The goes to the Netherlands for three pancake flat stages in the land of levees and windmills and the race returns with time gaps that would make you think there was a mountainous stage or two. The only difference being, guys like Andre Greipel and Matthew Goss in the top 10.

Meanwhile, Vinokourov is sitting pretty atop the standings while many rivals have fallen victim to the dozens of crashes that took place the last two days. A few guys are still close, Nibali, Gerdemann, Garzelli, Scarponi, Karpets, Basso are all within a half minute. Evans is :43 down. Vinokourov can sit on wheels instead of going coo-coo for cocoa puffs and riding crazily.

Sastre is hanging in at 1:40 and Cunego is dangling at 2:07. Wiggins, though, is 4:28 down and all but out of contention. A whole bevy of good climbers are over 9 minutes down. Szmyd, Gadret, Martin, Simoni, Pozzovivo, Bruseghin, Caruso, Masciarelli. With time gaps like that, I am guessing there are going to be many good riders given free rein to ride away from the peloton in the mountains on long breakaways and leave the infighting to the few contenders that are left.

Moncoutie said before the race he was going for the climbers jersey. He is already 16 minutes behind Vinovourov. That sets up perfectly for him to go on his long early breakaways to pick up points on the early mountains.

The biggest loser of the first few days has to be Christian Vandevelde. This guy needs to figure out a different training plan in preparation for the Tour. Last year, he broke vertebrae at the Giro. This year, it is his collarbone. Less serious, but not good.

Tomorrow is the team time trial and I see either Saxo Bank or Garmin gaining the one second needed over Astana to take the maglia rosa off of Vinokourov's shoulders. I'm banking on Garmin, even though they are a man short.

Giro Stage 1 podium

Bradley Wiggins looks to be a tad bit too ecstatic about his win.

Giro time

Normally, I don't make picks for Grand Tours. Or, much of anything after the Spring Classics, actually. But, I have had a couple requests to know what I think. Because I have not had the time to investigate, I am dispensing with my usually restrictions on picking riders. If they finished in the top 10 in the last few years, it does not matter. There are just straight up choices.
You can usually count on the usual suspects finishing well in these three week stage races. Plus, you can count on at least a couple Italians to finish on the podium at the Giro. Thus, I don't have a whole lot of surprises. Thinking about past races, I have settled on what I think are Solid choices for victory in Verona. Without further ado. First place will become a 2-time
Giro winner... Denis Menchov. This yeaR'S Second place tends to alternate good years and bad years. This is a good year so Danilo DiLuca will finish second. Finally, all the climbing will suit Franco Pellizotti well for third place.

What?

None of those guys are in the race? Why?

Seriously, though. My choices are not any different than probably any of the other race previews floating around the interwebs. There are three top contenders. Evans, Sastre and Vinovourov. Those names are alphabetical but also the order I think they will finish. But, if I were typing this ten minutes from now, the order would likely be different. My mind has been constantly shuffling and re-shuffling their order.
Evans has been a changed man ever since last year's Tour de France. My only concern is that he tends to follow wheels. Even worse, it has often of not following the wheel of the guy attacking. It is watching a guy ride away and then sitting on the wheel of some other rider and expecting them to pull Evans back to the leader. His newly found confidence seems to have fixed that problem for the most part but I keep expecting a recurrence. Sastre and Vinokourov certainly will not be shy about attacking at opportune times. If Evans sits on the wrong wheels again he may not win.
Sastre is my choice for second merely because of the rough last week. It lends itself to a pure climber and Sastre fits that mold. He should shine on Zoncolan, Plan de Corones, Mortirolo, Gavia, etc.
Vinokourov is a grudging choice. I would like nothing better than to see him go up in a big mushroom cloud over the Italian Alps. But, he likely will not. I am figuring a third place finish because I am counting on him, and his attacking style, to overcook the efforts on one of the stages and then suffer the next day. If not, he might walk away with the giant pasta noodle trophy. Unfortunately.
I will even make some guesses for the remainder of the top 10
Basso - solid but not like his pre-Puerto days
Wiggins - I'm curious to see how he handles the crazy steep stuff like Zoncolan and Mortirolo. I think he will falter some on those stages.
Pozzovivo - His time-trialing will cost him but he has the benefit of the uphill Plan de Corones TT. He should shine in the big mountains and if he is really good then I could see him maybe being 4th or maybe even 3rd. Not counting on that, though
Cunego - Good rider but may be lacking a bit in the big mountains.
Garzelli - Kind of old. Decent in the mountains
Vandevelde - still finding his form and aiming more for the Tour.
The more I look at the list I keep wanting to put others in the top 10, I will go with my gut.
Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see Nibali, Szmyd, Martin, Tondo, Gerdemann, Bruseghin. Heck, even old man Simoni might rise from the ashes.

This story is just precious.

From cyclingnews...

Valverde accuses UCI and CONI of vendetta

Alejandro Valverde has accused the presidents of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) of having “an institutional and personal viciousness” against him. The Spaniard also continued to protest against claims that he has been involved in doping, saying, “No banned substance has ever been detected in my body and my biological profile is flawless.”. Perhaps, but you fail to explain Dr Fuentes having bags of your blood.

Gianni Petrucci, the head of CONI, has said, "It doesn't give a good impression of cycling to see an athlete who continues to compete after the sentence has been confirmed by all agencies, sporting and judicial.” Yes! We have a winnner! Valverde most recently won the final stage and overall title at the Tour de Romandie on Sunday.

"These statements by these leaders can only be understood within the institutional and personal viciousness that exists against me, and for the sole purpose of putting pressure on institutions, especially the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to make decisions even if this penalty has to go against the applicable regulations," said the Caisse d'Epargne rider. If the Spanish authorities had not thoroughly botched the Puerto investigation and you had served your deserved two year suspension back in '06, you would not be dealing with this now.

The accusations "refer to events that allegedly occurred more than six years ago. Ummm... Operation Puerto was four years ago. My main victories (including the Tour of Spain, Liège-Bastogne-Liège Wrong, one was in 2006, Dauphiné Libéré, Tour of Catalonia, stages at the Tour de France Wrong, one was in 2005, Tour de Romandie Wrong 3rd overall in '06 with a stage win) are indisputable, Evidently, they are disputable" he said. "They seek to cast doubt on the victories gained over my career and to damage my public image." You cast the doubt your career and victories by being involved with Operation Puerto, genius. Now, if you care to explain why you were giving your blood to an obstetrician that just happens to have been implicated by other professional cyclists, MAYBE, we might cut you some slack.