Video about the Schleck + Giro's chronicles (Menchov laughed!!!!):

We were all asking ourselves were the Schleck brothers had ended up,and here's the answer to our questions: they've done a spot regarding the European elections.Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6TwXlQtNkk .It is in Deutsch and I think Andy's bike is just amazing.Believe me,it will make you smile a lot!

Anyway,yesterday's volcanic stage of the Giro was won by Sastre.Today's one was won by Gilbert.Menchov's got 20 seconds of advantadge on Di Luca now.After the race a journalist asked him: "Are you going to follow Di Luca (who will have a good holiday after the Giro) also on the beach of Pescara?" And Menchov laughed!!! HE LAUGHED!!!! (and asnwered: "No I won't since I have to ride the Tour ater the Giro").I was astonished.That man can not just smile,he can also laugh.This was a great discovery.
Then the same journalist asked Di Luca whether he would miss Menchov after the Giro's end.Di Luca said "I'll see him on tv during the Tour,so I won't miss him that much",but I think he actually thought "I don't wanna see that guy for the rest of my life!!".Menchov also admitted in a very honest way that Di Luca was the strongest in the mountains and the most spectacular rider of the Giro.

Last stages of the Giro (and SB team for Tour of Lux):

Here's what happened in the last few days at the Giro:

On Monday there was the Monte Petrano stage,probably the hardest of this Giro.The weather was terribly hot and the riders were really exhausted after the stage.Popovych and Cunego during went on a breakaway during the stage,but they couldn't manage to win the stage.

Before of the last climb all the GC riders (except Lovely Lovkvist who was dropped very early in that stage probably because of the hot weather) were all together,but then there were some attacks of Di Luca and Basso and then finally Sastre managed to get away from the other main riders and went to win the stage.Menchov wheelsucked Di Luca during the whole climb and eventually passed him and arrived second.Basso came in 4th.Young Masciarelli came in 6th,a great result for him.And talking about young riders I can't forget to say that Emo Boy lost his white jersey during monday's stage (you can imagine someone's reaction).The jersey went to Seeldrayers.Third in the white jersey classification is now Francis De Greef,who's riding a very good Giro (he's 20 th in the GC).

Sastre's victory was very nice,especially because he seems a very relaxed,quiet boy.He's not arrogant at all and seems very disponible.After the race an Italian journalist interviewed him,she was really worn out because she had to run in order to get near to him and he welcomed her with a very relaxed and calm "Ciao" that made me laugh a lot.

On Tuesday there was the second rest day of this Giro and few riders went to see the cities that have recently been destoyed by an earthquake in Abruzzo.

Yesterday there was the Blockhaus stage.Everybody was expecting a lot from Sastre,but the Spanish rider unfortunately lost 1 minute and some seconds from the other GC riders.The stage was won by Pellizotti,second came Garzelli and third was Di Luca.Menchov lost 5 seconds (plus 8 seconds of bonus) in the last meters.Unfortunately some stupid people ruined the premiation by whistling (?) firstly the Maglia Rosa Menchov (how you dare?!?) and then Garzelli,that after the premiation even broke into tears.Probably those stupid "supporters" (?) had already begun to suffer the distance from football stadiums and so decided to go all together on the Blockhaus to show how asshole they are.

Today's stage was pretty nice,there was a big breakaway (25 riders) that included also Sexy Bankers Bak and McCartney,Scarponi,Seeldrayers,Masciarelli,Lovely Lovkvist,Visconti,Siutsou, Grabovsky,Visconti,Pate,Gavazzi,Cardenas,Devenyns and other guys.

At the end just few riders managed to stay in front and McCartney and Devenyns often tried getting away and winning the stage.Unfortunately they had no success and at the end the stage (whose finish line was on a little short climb) was won by Scarponi in front of Cardenas and Pate.Sexy Banker Bak came in 4th.Tomorrow there' the Vesuvio stage.Di Luca will desperately try dropping Menchov,while other people might try going for a stage victory.

Anyway,if somebody enjoys watching videos in which Russian people talk Spanish,there's an interview with Menchov on this link: http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/it/28-05-2009/tutti-contro-menchov-50463194874.shtml .This interview is mainly about the fact that an Austrian judge wants to hear Menchov in a doping inquest.Now I wonder,couldn't that judge wait 5 days before of telling all the world about this story? No,she couldn't.Anyway,here's a little translation of what Menchov says (notice how many times he says the word 'tranquilo'):

"I'm calm.I already said it yesterday,it's an old story and I'm not surprised that it has come out now.There's no problem at all for me,everything's gonna end quickly.I feel strong and I'm very confident for tomorrow's stage and for the last TT.I have nothing to show,I feel as confident as at the start of the Giro,I'm going to run my race and nothing will stop me.I can't explain why my name has come out right now and why they've decided to use it in the right moment".

Also Scarponi (who speaks after Menchov) has said that he can't explain why Menchov's problem has come out in those days.

Talking again about Menchov: he's said he really likes Dostoevskij books and that he enjoys fishing.Perhaps at this year Tour he and the Schleck brothers may go fishing together...

And talking about the brothers,here's the SB team for Tour of Luxembourg (3-7 June): the Schlecks,the Sorensens,Arvesen,Breschel,O'Grady and Larsson.
Dauphine Libere instead will be run by Ljungqvist,Van Goolen,Kroon,Hoj,Kolobnev,Fuglsang, Bak,Arvesen and Breschel.

(Photos REUTERS)

Forlì-Faeza: Poor Pauwels! :(

Imagine this situation: you're a professional rider and you've never won anything in the pro category.You're in a new team since this year and,during one tough stage of the Giro,you decide to enter a breakaway.There are some other riders with you: Bertagnolli,Serpa,Pinotti (who is an engineer like you),Bak,Vorganov,Grivko,Navarro,Lastras,Marzano,Eskov,Stangelj,Facci, Montaguti and Gonzalez.After more than 100 kms of breakaway,you and Bertagnolli remain alone.Behind you there are the GC guys and Basso attacks,together with Garzelli,but your advantadge on them doesn't get smaller at all.Behind Basso there are Di Luca,Menchov,Lovkvist and your captain Sastre.You're thinking about the stage and think you may win it.Your first victory in the Giro,wow.Then,your ds calls you on the radio: "You've gotta stop 'cause Sastre wants you to go back with him and help him".'What??? Are you kidding me?',you think,and you keep on riding with your breakaway's companion.Then the ds car comes near to you and they tell you that you MUST stop,otherwise...
You think over what could happen and you've got 3 options:
1) You disobey and win the stage.But then,if the captain loses time,you risk to lose your job.
2) The worst option: You disobey,you don't win the stage and Sastre loses time in the GC.In that case,they'll probably make you leave the team immediately.
3) You obey,don't win the stage (and lose a big chance of getting a prestigious victory) but don't risk your job.
You decide to obey.As soon as Bertagnolli gets away from you,Basso gets caught by the GC's group (thanks to Facci's and Lastras' work).You get joined by Bak,Pinotti and Marzano and you desperately try recuperating time on Bertagnolli.It's too late,the Italian rider wins and you arrive second.
Now,you've got some options.
1) You kill the ds and Sastre.
2) You tell bad things about them,don't speak at them for the rest of your life and change team as soon as you can.
3) You retire from Giro and spend some time thinking about how to take revenge of your ds and your captain.
4) You make them feel terribly guilty for not having let you continue your normal race,don't speak to them for the rest of your life and leave the team as soon as you can.

Well,if I was Serge Pauwels (this is the name of the rider to whom all this happened yesterday) I would choose for n.1.Immediately after the finish line.How can people be so stupid???? Einstein once said: "There are two things which have no end,and I'm not sure of the first one: the universe and human stupidity".Yesterday was the demonstration of it.

Btw,the stage was finally won by Bertagnolli,a good Italian rider who lives in a village near Faenza.
The pink jersey remained on Menchov's shoulders.Oh,talking about Menchov:yesterday I witnessed an incredible event: Menchov LAUGHED.Not very loudly,not for a long time,but he smiled and laughed (of course,in the Mute-Menchov's sense of the term....).I was astonished.
And d'you know what? He wanted his parents to be with him on the TT's day.And he also said that "Crime and Punishment" is one of his favourite books.I have never read it,but sounds like a serious,long book.Didn't expect it from him.

Bologna to Gerrans,Florence to Cavendish and Italian polemics...

Bergamo,23/5/09,11.50 am,history oral test:

Teacher's question:"Who was the third person to circumnavigate the globe?".Moment of silence.The girl who was being tested: "Cavendish!" And then I should manage not to think about cycling when I'm at school,eh? Anyway.Yesterday's Giro stage was won by Cavendish (not the one who circumnavigate the globe,another one) and second arrived Petacchi.The Italian rider complained (again) about Farrar and said "He said something to me after the finish-line,I don't know what he wanted from me,I just told him 'Fuck You'". Bonjour Finesse! But why did they have this little argument? Well,Petacchi was behind Cavendish when the sprint started,then he (Petacchi) acelerated and created problems to Farrar (not intentionally,I think).Farrar complained about that and Petacchi sent him...in that land (that's an Italian way of saying 'Fuck You'.It's slightly more polite...).

Some days before Petacchi complained again about Farrar because the Garmin rider elbowed a bit with him.Nobody saw anything,except Petacchi.It looks as if the two guys just can't stand each other.

Talking about Cavendish:yesterday he was "super,super happy" for his victory because he lives near to Florence.Then in the evening he decided not to continue the Giro.I don't like this choosing of him,but there are also other riders (McEwen for example) who usually do this in nearly all the Grand Tours they race.I hope this won't become a habit for Cavendish.

Oh,and talking about retires: also HGS had to retire.He fell in the stage before of the TT,but I think he got retired because his HGP-Hair Gel Power-wasn't as powerful as usual in this Giro and so he probably decided to save it for the next races.Today's stage: the last 2 kms were just awful.Here's where Frank Schleck won the Giro d'Emilia 2007.

Today Di Luca really wanted to win,but his team left too much advantadge time to the breakaway riders.They were Simon Gerrans and Guillame Bonnafond (AG2r), Giampaolo Cheula (Barloworld), Christopher Froome (Barloworld), Vasili Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne), Philip Deignan (Cervelo), Giovanni Visconti (ISD), Andriy Grivko (ISD), Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre), Francesco Reda (Quick Step), Rubens Bertaglioti (Diquigiovanni), Evgeny Petrov (Katusha), Martin Müller (Milram) and Eduard Vorganov (Xacobeo).In the last 10 kms there were "just" 9 riders at the head of the race (Mueller,Vorganov,Cheula,Bonnaford and Visconti had aleady been dropped) and Grivko tried attacking before of the last climb.Behind,just Lpr tried catching the breakaway but couldn't manage to.

One of the firsts to attack on the last climb was Chris Froome,who then had serious problems with getting to the finish line.The final winner was Simon Gerrans,the one who won in Prato Nevoso last year.And then people say (used to say?) that he's a sprinter...The GC guys who lost time today were Basso,Leipheimer (they both lost 3 seconds),Rogers (6 seconds),Lovkvist (he lost 33 seconds and arrived together with Seeldrayers) and Simoni (who lost about 40 seconds).De Greef arrived 41st.There was a polemic between Lpr's team and the other teams (Liquigas in particular) because,as Bordonali said, "We (Lpr) had to do all the work alone".Basso and his ds replied that "Bologna stage wasn't very suitable to Liquigas' riders,so we prefered to let the breakaway go rather than seeing Di Luca winning and gaining 20 seconds".This was the same thing that Menchov said.The best reply to Lpr,in my opinion,was Popovych's one "The one who was interested in this stage was Di Luca.Nobody forced his team to pull,it was their decision and so it was also their problem".In English it doesn't sound special,but the way Popovych said it to an Italian journalist,in Italian,with his cool accent,made me laugh a lot (in italiano veramente ha detto "sono cavoli loro" e poi è scoppiato a ridere nonostante le occhiatacce di Sgarbozza...).That's the Giro and these are Italian people:unfortunately we like creating polemics,it's inside our genes and we can't help it...

SMILEY MENCHOV!?!?! (and news about the Schlecks):

No,there's nothing wrong with your eyes and you're not seeing double: the man in the photo up here is Denis Menchov (the true Denis Menchov,not a sosia of him) and the man in the photo up here aka Denis Menchov IS SMILING.Well,perhaps "smiling" is not the exact word for the photo here above,bu I've seen the Russian during the premiation and,man,he was really smiling.If you don't believe me,check out the first few seconds of this video: http://video.gazzetta.it/Giro?vxSiteId=80b44ba4-1aae-449c-b8c2-d70533903c2b&vxChannel=Giro%5FPrimo%5FPiano&vxClipId=2570_78dc0b46-4633-11de-a673-00144f02aabc&vxBitrate=300 :the one on the podium is Menchov and he's smiling.That's a great news.That man can smile.Before of the beginning of the Giro I saw lots of photos of smiley Menchov and I said that trying performing his smile was part of the preparation for a possible victory at the Giro.Was this part of the training as well? Time will tell.Anyway,why is Menchov so happy? Well,he's won the tremendous TT of Rio Maggiore and he's also managed to wear the pink jersey.Yip de do da day.The previous Giro's stages had been won by Di Luca and Cavendish.And today,it's been Menchov's turn.On this link (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009//giro09/?id=results/giro0912) you can read this sentence said by the Russian (who dedicated his victory to his friend Horrillo,who's still having bad problems after his fall during the Bergamo's stage): "I think I am a simple person,just a cyclist and not so dangerous," he said, smiling.Menchov,smiling.Also the journalists noticed it! And then,I must say,A Big Smile + Menchov's Face is Not a bad combination at all.
Anyway,regarding the other riders who did today's TT: second came Leipheimer (whose name's pronunciation keeps on changing here in Italy),while third was Garzelli.Emo-Boy Lovkvist was 28th,while Pinotti arrived 18th (good done) and De Greef arrived 30th.Fabian Cancellara got retired (more news on Saxo Bank's website).

Anyway:it's been a long time since I last talked about the Schleck's brothers,but don't worry:I haven't forgotten them. Saxo Banker Chris-Anker Sorensen has updated his blog (*joyful exclamation of mine*) and he's given some good information (and he also made me laugh as well,but that's not a news:his blog is always very hilarious) about what he and the brothers are going to do the next week.Here's a little translation of what he writes:

Was I in a huge hurry,or am I just too lazy? This was the first idea I had when I decided to update this blog.I could have written a big entry about Liege's victory,that was the product of a great team-work.Or I could have written something about Tour of Romandie,where I didn't go so well.Or I could even have posted something about the fact that "Batman",in Swedish,is something like "lap ledder" (patch researcher...).Or maybe I could have written something also about the night in which Nikki (Sorensen) taught me how to use the flash of my photo camera.In my defense,I have to say that I've had it just for just 6 months and that true men don't read the instruction about "how to use a photo camera". And of course I'm a true man.
Anyway,on Monday I'm flying to the Alps with Nikki and the Schleck brothers.I'm spending a week there because we're going to see some Tour stages.It will be nice to see Nikki again and to see the mountains.I think I may be able to do something good at the Tour.My schedule for the next few weeks is: Tour of Luxembourg,training camp in Luxembourg,Tour of Suisse and then the Tour's start in Monaco.It will be a hectic period.
Then I'm also looking forward to go to Denmark on Wednesday (ndr; 20th of May,the post was written on the 19th of May).There's my father's birthday and then my brother's getting married.Sometimes it's nice to stay with your family and to clean your mental hard disk doing something that has nothing to do with cycling.
On Satudary I watched the German tv here in Luxembourg and there was the "International Sing Race of Moscow" on.I was happy since I understood something in Russian.I didn't see Jorgen de Mylius,a German,and so things weren't as good as usual.Some songs weren't very good either.But now it's better if I stop complaining before to start to talk about the judges and leave this subject of discussion to someone who knows much more than me about culture. To the next time,Chris Anker Sorensen."

So,this was C.A.'s blog.The "photo camera flash thing" must really be something typical of "true men",since lots of boys/men I know can't use it...
And then,German tv: who doesn't love it? I don't understand anything of what they say,I just watch the images and then change channel.It's annoying not to understand your own tv.
Anyway,the news is:The Schleck brothers are getting ready for the Tour.Wish them lot of good luck since now (is it a bit too early?).Now I've got to go,good night to all and remember,Menchov was really smiling during the premiation and your eyes really do work well.

A fangirl in Milan:

Sorry for the delay,but yesterday I was too busy to write a decent post about Sunday. On that day in fact my family and I decided to go to Milan to see the 9th stage of the Giro.Here are some pics and some funny stories about what happened...
Frst of all,that's the place were riders went to sign the start document (I don't know how you call it in English,sorry for my ignorance).

As soon as my family and I arrived in Piazza Duomo,we saw Cipollini and Bettini talking in front of the crowd.I didn't have anything to do,so I took a photo of the Cricket.

Then Ilaria and I finally met and we went to watch the riders arrive at the start.My sister and I took some videos of the riders,but the only one in which you can see someone very well is Pozzato's one.And,sorry for Sansen,I'm not going to post that video on this blog.Fortunately he wasn't the only one we saw at the start line.Just to say one name,for example,we saw Thomas Lovkvist.My mother begged him for an autograph,but he said "NO".Btw my sister forgave him after 2 seconds because,while he was riding in front of us,he heard her screaming "Bravo Thomas!",so he turned his head towards her and smiled at her. Surprisingly,my sister didn't faint.
Then we saw also His Amazingness Jens Voigt (who said something to the Dutch guy near me),Menchov,Di Luca and Armstrong.I really laughed a lot when an Italian rider of Fuji Servetto rode in front of us and said: "Fuck,cobblestones!!!" while riding.The funniest thing was that he wasn't actually riding on cobblestones...Perhaps he had some bad memories of Bergamo's stage (or,more probably,of Roubaix).
When the last rider (sir Lancelot) had signed the start document,we decided to go to eat and to find a good place where we could see the race well.

This was the crowd near to the finish line: at 2 pm in the afternoon there was nobody there and so we managed to watch some laps from that point of view,then we left our "battle places" for some time and,when we came back there at 4.30 pm,they had disappeared.
Anyway we managed to find some places which were even better than the ones at the finish line.

In fact the place you can see down here was not very crowded and then it was just in front of the team's buses.

This one is Katushsa's bus:it's a really big and nice one and it has a big television inside.In fact all the fans went there to see the final sprint (which was won by Cavendish). After watching the sprint,my family ran to Columbia's bus (that you can see here)...
...while Ilaria and I ran to Saxo Bank's one. As you can see in this photo,there was a little table with some nuts and crisps on.Then a man with a lot of bread came,but none of the riders ate anything.

After few seconds,Cancellara arrived at the bus (see pics on Ilaria's blog).A boy asked for his gloves and Fabian replied: "I give it to you if you give me 50 euros".He said it in a really funny way and also the boy started to laugh.After having put his bike near to the bus,Fab Fab started to talk with the mechanic.He said something about his tyre and about the parcours,then he went on the bus,without considering us poor fans begging him for an autograph in 3 different languages.

Fortunately Amazing Jens Voigt was the next to arrive at the bus and he immediately signed lots of autographs and then went with the other guys to take a fast shower.

There were a lot of fans near to SB bus and most of them (me included) was waiting for Cancellara's autograph.Anyway,he kept on ignoring us.At a certain point Lars Bak (who looks much better live than in tv,just like Klostergaard does) got on the bus and came back with lots of photos of him.He gave one of them to each fan and then signed them.Then he forgot whose pen was the one he was using,so he watched me and tried to give it to me.I shook off my head and he remembered that the pen was actually his.Then he laughed and went back to the other guys.

Also Uncle Bjarne gave me his autograph and then Jens Voigt started to watch me and,after a while,he came up to me.In fact he had forgotten he'd already given me his autograph,so I reminded it to him.Anyway,I couldn't let him go away without a photo with him,could I? Fortunately Ilaria was near to me,so she could take this nice photo (I look like an hamster,but Voigt looks good):15 minutes after the photo,I finally managed to get the autograph of Cancellara.I was sooo happy!!! When the guys started to get prepared to go away,I went to meet my family near to Columbia's bus.I didn't take any photo of Saxo Bankers because we've got just one photograph machine and my sister took it with her because she hoped to make a photo with mr.Lovkvist. Anyway,I think she used it well:here are Columbia's bikes......and here is Michael Rogers,who gave his autograph to my mother.

Here's Boasson-Hagen being interviewed by Norwegian tv:it was his birthday and so the journalist (a cute girl,that's what my mother told me) gave him a big birthday cake.All the fans noticed he was very embarassed:in fact he blushed red and spoke in a very shy way.
And finally,here he is:Thomas Lovkvist.My sister made some videos with him,but they're all very short and not very nice.That's the only photo she took of him.She eventually managed to get his autograph:she said it was pretty hard since he made a strange road in order to get to the bus without meeting fans.Anyway,my sister was cunnier than him and waited for Emo Boy in front of the bus' entrance,so that he had to sign her an autograph if he wanted to get on the bus. As soon as I rejoined my family,they told me a nice story about Konovalovas,a young (and cute) rider of Cervélo.My mother asked him for an autograph and said that he looked at her,told her to wait a minute,got on the team bus and came back with lots of photos of him,of his teammates and a big poster of the team,which he gave to my familiars as present.So cute!!

Another cute rider is Silence-Lotto Francis De Greef.I went to ask for his autograph while he was looking for his shoes inside the team car (I swear I didn't know he was busy,otherwise I wouldn't have gone near to him!),so he smiled at me,closed the car and signed the autograph.He's a really nice guy and he really seemed surprised and pleased when he noticed that there was someone who wanted his autograph.

A rider that my sister really wanted to see was Cavendish.And,eventually,she managed to see him.He arrived last,when his team bus had already left.A fan near to me congratulated him for the victory and then told him: "I'm your friend on Facebook!".Cav looked a bit thoughtful and surprised,then he said (In Italian): "No io.E'...American." ("It's not me.He's an American").
Then he agreed to take a picture with my sister and I:

Then,while we were walking out of the bus area,we had a final surprise:in fact we saw Basso,riding fast toward us.Some fans called him and he,in a very kind and polite way,stopped himself,signed autographs,took some photos and then rode away,apologising for being in a terrible hurry.He's a very kind guy as well.Without any doubt,Sunday was a very nice day.
(All photos were taken by me and my sister)

Bergamo's stage!!!!!!

I'm sorry but at the moment I’m still a bit too euphoric to talk decently about the 6th and 7th stage of Giro.In fact in all my life I’ve been happy to live in Bergamo just for 3 times and one of these 3 times was today.Anyway,let's talk about the other two times I've been happy to live here before.

The first time was in 2007,on the 26th (if my memory doesn’t fail me) of May.That day the Giro arrived in Bergamo.I wasn’t very expert in cycling at that time,but I had already started to follow a certain cyclist whose name was/is Andy Schleck.That day,2 years ago,he rode through my town,wearing his white jersey of best young rider and I managed to see him.I couldn’t believe it:he was there,at 10 meters of distance from me,riding his bike.In my town. Unbelievable.That year anyway I didn’t recognise just Andy:I also managed to see very well Savoldelli,Mazzoleni,Cunego,Bruseghin,Petacchi,Bettini and a Csc rider whose identity I haven’t found out yet (I believe it was Arvesen,anyway). The second time I was happy to live in Bergamo (or at least near to it) was in 2008.On a Friday of May that year I decided not to go to school,woke up at 6 am and went to the Monte Pora in order to see the Giro’s stage.At 8 o’clock I was already at my “battle place” on the climb. Fortunately there was a little bar near to the finish line,so I got there with my family at 11 o’clock (after having walked ‘round the finish line for some hours) and I stayed there until 5 pm.Ugh.Of course we ordered a lot of thing: ice creams,coffee,water,meat (at 3 pm...)...I remember that every time Savoldelli’s face appeared on television,the tifosi used to scream a lot.The Savoldelli’s fans also gave me 3 flags (yes,3) with their logo on.”Ehi,I’m a Schleck fan!! I don’t like Savoldelli that much!!” I wanted to say that,but I was very frightened by those men (believe me,an old angry Bergamask is something of very scaring) so I just took the flags and abandoned them somewhere here at home. Anyway,I remember that in that ocasion I saw a lot of riders: Kiryenka (who won),Siutsou,Riccò,Di Luca,Menchov,Contador,Sella, Pozzovivo, Baliani, Bruseghin, Bettini,Matthew Lloyd,Visconti,Iglinsky,Leipheimer,Blaudzun,Nicki Sorensen,Bello Benna,Gasparotto,Bruseghin...I actually managed to see the whole Csc Team while they were riding on the descent towards their bus,but I couldn’t say “which-is-who”,so I was pretty disappointed because I couldn’t recognize Chris Anker Sorensen and Jens Voigt (what a drama!).The third time I’ve been happy to live in Bergamo has been today.Oh yes.First of all,I didn’t go to school because it was impossible to come back home with the bus.At 1 pm I arrived in the city,ate something,caught a free Liquigas hat and waited for the riders until 14.50 in Borgo Santa Caterina.I saw very well the riders of the breakaway,Visconti in particular.Then the main group arrived and I saw Di Luca,Petacchi,ARMSTRONG and CANCELLARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wrote sir Lancelot’s surname in capital words because I was one of the few people who managed to see it and that made me feel proud of my eyes's skills.He actually looks as old as he does in tv.Btw,his bike is nice.Oh,and Cancellara:he’s amazing.He was wearing his Holy Orange Oakleys,that’s why I managed to recognise him.I was sooo happy! And then,for the 3rd time in 3 yers,I saw Bettini.-In fact now he’s a chronist for the Italian tv and so he rides on a motorbike behind the riders.It was funny to see him on that motorbike.
Anyway as soon as the last riders have gone away I went to Città Alta (Upper City),on the Boccola climb.The plan was to get there,see how the situation was and go in a bar to see the race on tv.Unfortunately for who-had-made-the-plan,we immediately realised it wasn’t possible. There were just too many people on the climb and so we sat on a wall and stayed there from 3.30 to 5.30 pm.What happened then was just unbelievable.When Siutsou arrived,I believed it was Rogers (what a shame...) but then I read the number on his jersey and realised I was wrong.Then the other riders came.I recognised Di Luca,Basso,BOASSON HAGEN and LOVKVIST.I didn’t see Menchov at all,but I did see Thomas Lovkvist.He’s very good-looking also when he’s climbing,sweating and suffering.My sister was going to faint in that moment and was speechless.Emo Boy’s powers...Then I saw Visconti,Soler,Lars Bak,Cataldo and,among others,VOIGT and (again) CANCELLARA.I immediately recognised Voigt because of his nose and his glasses,so I even managed to scream “Go Voigt!!!” while he was riding in front of me.Then I saw,for the second time in one day,Fab Fab.I screamed “Go Cancellara!”,but he was probably too exhausted to show he had heard me.

The one who surprised me most was Cavendish.My sister and I were standing on a wall near to the climb,and as soon as she saw him,my sister screamed “Go Cavendish!”.I screamed that as well,he heard us and he watched us for a pretty long time. That was really funny.

Btw,compliments to Siutsou and good recover to Pedro Horrillo.He had a horrible crash,but fortunately he’s not in danger of life.Hope he’ll be able to recover soon. (Photos Bettini,Sirotti,Mendrisio 2009 and CorVos).

5th stage:MENCHOV!!! (!!!)

I think the perfect description of today's stage is the one that miss Sansen gave on her blog (http://sansenmag.livejournal.com/) :LIEK WTF ZOMG MENCHOV ATTACKED!?!?!
I think that sentence is perfect for describing how I felt when Menchov attacked:it was the last km,Sastre tried anticipating the other riders,Di Luca caught him and Menchov ATTACKED and won the stage in an amazing way.Chapeau mr.Menchov.
Anyway my surprise and my admiration for the Russian soon left place to the sadness of seeing Di Luca taking the pink jersey from Lovkvist (on http://http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Thomas_Lovkvist_Interview_article_282374.htmltherehtml there's a new-old interview about him).The most good-looking rider of the Giro went really well today,he managed to stay with the best but lost the jersey because of the sprint.What an anger.
Anyway,lots of riders had problems on today's climb towards Alpe di Siusi (it's a really nice place,I went on holiday there many times and it was really funny to see the riders riding on that road).Soler,Pellizotti,Simoni (!!!),Garzelli,Bruseghin and Cunego lost some very precious time from the group of the best,which was formed by Menchov,Di Luca,Lovkvist, Basso,Leipheimer, Horner and Sastre (who crossed the line 19 seconds after the winner).Rogers lost 22 seconds as well.You may have noticed one big name missing.In fact sir Lancelot deserves a reserved mention.In fact he lost about 3 minutes and the thing that surprised me most was that King Johann Bruyneel made 3 Astana's riders stay near to the American and left Leipheimer with just 1 helper.If I were Leipheimer,I would be slightly annoyed by this.Do you think Bruyneel will behave in the same way with Contador during the Tour? In that case,I would like knowing how Alberto will react.If I were him,I wouldn't react well at all.

Talking about the last climb,I'd like to talk a little also about Szmyd,Basso's helper,who made a very great race.I really like some helpers and Szmyd is one of them.Perhaps he'll be able to have a free day here at the Giro and to get some good results.He'd deserve it.

Giro,Giro,Giro:2nd,3rd and 4th stage

Some not very nice things have happened in the last few days in cycling.For example, Boonen has been found AGAIN positive to cocaine and Valverde has been disqualified for 2 years on the Italian territory (even if it seems that Spanish people are ready to fight with CONI about this fact). Anyway I'm fed up about those problems and so in this post I'm going to talk just about the Giro.
So: after the TT,two stages were won by Petacchi.Yes,Petacchi and not Cavendish.And the Italian sprinter also got the pink jersey after yesterday’s victory. A lot of things happened yesterday in the last kms: Voigt and some other brave riders tried forming a breakaway,Leipheimer joined them and at the same time there was a fall in the last part of the peloton.Soler fell (he falls even more often than Frank!) and Cavendish and Menchov lost time.Cavendish also lost the pink jersey,a thing for which he was very angry.Menchov tried recuperating,but didn’t manage to.He had already lost 13 seconds because of a fall,so probably yesterday he was even less-smiley than usual (can you imagine it?).Another guy who wasn’t happy at all was Vandevelde,who had to ritire with a broken rib.Wish him a good recover.
Anyway,going back to yesterday’s last kms,also Bruseghin tried attacking after that the small breakaway was caught.The tifosi screamed a lot since he lives near to the place where yesterday’s stage ended.Unfortunately he was caught as well by the main group.The last rider who tried the winning action was Visconti,with that horrible ISD kit (Am I the only one who thinks that with that kit ISD riders look a bit like...Insects?).Unfortunately for him,he was caught as well and so the victory was decided by a sprint,which was won by Ale-Jet Petacchi.Second came Tyler Farrar,a young good rider of Garmin.
And let’s talk about today.Before of the San Martino di Castrozza’s climb Jens Voigt,De Bonis,Bellotti,Viganò,Stannard and Martinez went on a breakaway.Jens was the last to get caught,with just 3 kms to go (Damn!).At that point Soler attacked and managed to gain a little advantadge.Anyway 3 kms were too much for him and so Di Luca passed him in the last 500 meters and won the stage.Second came Garzelli,third Pellizotti.All the big names were in the first group,except Michael Rogers (who crossed the finish line 6 seconds after Di Luca) and sir Lancelot,who arrived after 15 seconds.Oh,and a funny thing about sir Lancelot was that,at a certain point during the breakaway,Italian tv showed the names of the riders who were in front.And that writing said:Voigt,Bellotti,De Bonis and ARMSTRONG.The Astana rider was actually in the group with the other riders,but this can tell you something about the attention that Italian medias pay to him.

Anyway,don’t worry: I haven’t forgotten who took the jersey today (especially because the joyful screams of someone are still ringing in my head).Thomas Lovkvist is a rider I really do like and he also seems to be a nice guy.And today he's taken the Giro’s pink jersey.Happiness.I laughed a lot (I know I'm a bit bad) when he went on the podium and had problems with opening his bottle of wine.It was pretty hilarious and it reminded me of when Andy Schleck (at the Giro as well) broke the zip of his white jersey during the premiation.He kept on looking at it and seemed to think “let’s hope nobody notices the broken zip!” Good old days back in Giro 2007.
So,tomorrow will be a tough stage (tougher than today's one,at least that's what people here in Italy say).I hope Lovkvist can keep his jersey at least until Saturday.Good luck Thomas!

First stage of the Giro: Columbia!!

And so the Giro has finally started.I don’t know if this race is so important also in the other countries,but here in Italy it is.I think that every person that likes sport here in Italy has got some memories of the past Giri (Giri is the plural of Giro) that helps them to understand how time passes fast.My first "Giro memory" (or at least one of the firsts) brings me back to the Giro 2004 and to a certain cyclist who ran that race.Then I’ve got other memories of other Giri d’Italia.For example,talking about 2006 I remember very well the argument between Basso and Simoni during the stage of Aprica and the stage that Voigt left to his breakaway‘s companion Garate.And then there are the memories of 2005,with Savoldelli winning the Giro and Basso suffering a lot on the Stelvio (I wasn't very interested in cycling at that time,but I remember that my mother and I were in front of the tv that day and we were both thinking:"why the hell doesn’t he get retired?!?").It was just 3 years ago,but lots of things have changed in this period.Anyway,let's stop being sensible (sensible or sensitive? I always confuse these two words…) and let's start to talk about what happened today.

Unfortunately for me,today I managed to sit on my couch in front of the tv just at 16.30. “Who’s first?”,I asked.And who could answer if not my dear sister? “COLUMBIA is first! And Garmin is 2nd”,she said grinning.I tried ignoring her and supporting SB,but after 3 kms they had already left one boy of the team behind.At the end,they didn’t get any great result (even if Fab Fab looked pretty hot...).
Rabobank did pretty well,as well as Lpr.Astana of course did very good and the chronists kept on talking about how strong sir Lancelot is/was/will be in these next 3 weeks.Oh yeah,I was forgetting to talk about the chronists of the Giro: today there has been a very hilarious moment at the beginning of Astana’s TT.The subject of the discussion between the chronists turned out to be Levi Leipheimer.Levi is a rider I quite like and he's been racing as a pro since 1997.Well,Italian chronists have called him Levi (pronounced “Levi”) for 11 years,but today at 17.15 they decided,during the live coverage,that since that moment Leipheimer’s name would have become "Levi" pronounced as “Livai”.This really made me laugh a lot.Does someone of you know how the name "Levi" has to pronounced? You would solve a great mistery.
Another moment that I really liked was HGS’s interview after the race (don‘t get me wrong:I don‘t like him at all,but he made me laugh a lot this afternoon).He said: “Well,I’m a bit disappointed.I think we could have done better.There was a bit of wind and then perhaps they were tired”."They",not "we".In fact he was probably feeling better than his teammates because of his Hair Gel Power (HGP).Hopefully he won't force all his teammates to become addicted to gel in order to get that power as well.
Btw,at the end the stage was won by Team Columbia and Cavendish got the first Maglia Rosa of the 100th Giro d'Italia.I don’t have nothing against him and I really like his team,so I was pretty happy (of course someone else in my house was much happier than me and kept on making fun of the favourite team of someone else in the family).I think it could have gone worse: try to imagine sir Lancelot or HGS dressed in pink and you’ll immediate understand what I mean.
So,the first day of the Giro has come and gone.I don’t think I’ll be making posts about every single stage of the race and perhaps this may relieve you,considering my not-so-great posts about races.
Oh,I was forgetting: have you noticed who is 2nd in the overall classification behind Cavendish? Well,that’s the man I’m probably going to support in some stages.Why? Well,because of the simply reason that he really does rock! Allez Pinotti!

1 Team Columbia - Highroad 21.50 (56.33 km/h)
2 Garmin - Slipstream 0.06
3 Astana 0.13
4 LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini 0.22
5 ISD 0.27 6 Team Katusha 0.35
7 Rabobank 0.38 8 Liquigas 0.40
9 Lampre - NGC 0.42
10 Team Milram 0.49
11 Cervelo TestTeam
12 Barloworld 0.54
13 Team Saxo Bank 0.55
14 Caisse d'Epargne 0.58
15 Bbox Bouygues Telecom 1.01
16 Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 1.06
17 Quick Step 1.14
18 Xacobeo Galicia 1.19 19 Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo 1.21
20 Silence - Lotto 1.22
21 Ag2R La Mondiale 1.35
22 Fuji - Servetto 1.37

Giro's starting list

Well,last time I've talked about who won't take part in the Giro.In this post I'd like to talk a bit about the starting list.

Let's start with Acqua&Sapone: the team is formed by Garzelli,Andriotto,Massimo Codol, Donati,Failli,Marzoli,Andrea and Francesco Masciarelli,Giuseppe Palumbo.Garzelli is a strong rider,he won the Giro in 2000 and he also won Bergamo's stage in 2007.This year there's another stage ending up in Bergamo and perhaps he may be able to do something good there.Francesco Masciarelli is a young rider (he was born in 1986) and won last year's Giro del Lazio,a pretty important Italian race.Paolini was scheduled to ride the Giro as well,but he's having an inquest for an old doping story in these days and so his team decided to find a substitute for him.AG2R La Mondiale:

Dion.Hinault,Krivtsov,Loubet,Senac,Sonnery,Turpin,Alexander Efimkin,Valjavec.Valjavec is a pretty strong rider,he arrived 10th at last year's Tour de France (9th if you don't consider Kohl).Wait to see him in some stages.

Astana:

Armstrong,Brajkovic,Leiphemer,Popovych,Horner,Rubiera,Morabito,Zeits,Navarro.The team is facing some problems lately since nobody has been paying them for a while.Anyway,the Giro team is strong.Sir Lancelot,if he can still ride like he used to do some years ago,is pretty dangerous for the overall classification.Leipheimer is pretty dangerous as well,while Brajkovic is said to be a very promising rider.Popovych is a good helper who has already worn the Maglia Rosa in the past.They also may be able to win saturday's TT,a thing that I wouldn't like a lot because I prefer other teams.

Barloworld:

Augustyn,Bellotti,Caccia,Cheula,Froome,Cardenas,Longo Borghini,Hunter,Soler. You'll probably remember Augustyn because of his fall during the stage Curno-Jausiers in last year's Tour.Cardenas is a good climber,while Soler is one of the riders I like most.He was very unlucky last year,but hopefully this year he'll be able to get some good result.

Bouygues Telecom:

Chainel,Belgy,Géne,Haddou,Le Floch,Solokov,Sprick,Tschopp,Voeckler.The only names of this team that tell me something are Voeckler and Tschopp.

Caisse d'Epargne:

Charteau,Jeannesson,Latras,Lopez Garcia,Pérez,Perget,Kiryienka,Joaquim Rodriguez,Arroyo.Kiryienka won last year's stage of Monte Pora (I was there!!) and tried harder to get good results.He's another rider I really like and I hope he'll do well also this year. Rodriguez (also known as Mr.Montelupone will probably do something good in tough stages.

Cervelo:

Deignan,HuntKing,Konovalovas (nice surname!), Pauwels, Roulston,Gerrans,Gustov, Sastre.Gerrans won last year's stage of Prato Nevoso at Le Tour (I'm sure you remember that stage and perhaps he'll be able to do something good also here at the Giro.Gustov is a good helper (me's sure you remember him as well,he rode for Csc last year),while Sastre...Well,Sastre is Sastre: if you've forgotten it,he won the Alpe d'Huez stage at last year's Tour,made a great final TT and won the Tour de France.And he also got 3rd at the Vuelta.Watch out.

Fuji Servetto:

Camano (my computer can't produce the "egne"...),Capecchi,Del Nero,Gomez Gomez,De La Puebla,Gonzalez,Kessiakoff,Serrano,Viganò.As you can see,Ermanno Capelli won't race and so I have to find someone else to support on the road to Bergamo :( Of course someone else in my family won't have this kind of problems because their favourite rider is racing.

Garmin:

Danielson,Dean,Meyer,Farrar,Hesjedal,Millar,Pate,Tuft,Vandevelde.Look out for the first stage:this team knows how to WTTT ("win-a-team-time-trial").VdV arrived 5th (or 4th,it depends on the point of view) at last year's Tour and also wore the first Maglia Rosa of Giro 2008.Tuft,Millar and again VdV are great time trialist,while Farrar is a strong sprinter (as well as Julian Dean).Hesjedal is another rider that I quite like and perhaps he'll be able to get good results (hope so).

ISD:

Cioni,Gatto,Grabovskiy,Huzarski,Pidgornyy,Scarselli,Stannard,Grivko,Visconti.Visconti wore the Maglia Rosa for a lot of days in last year's Giro and is a strong rider.Better pay attention to him.Cioni arrived 4th in 2004 Giro,while Gatto won his first pro race this year,at the Giro di Sardegna.Will he be able to get a good result in the Giro?

Lampre:

Bono,Bruseghin,Caucchioli,Cunego,Tiralongo,Gasparotto,Da Dalto,Marzano,Mori.Good team.Cunego has said he feels well.As you may remember,he won 2004 Giro (I haven't forgotten it,no...).He didn't do particularly well in the Ardenne's classics,but he can be a dangerous rider (hopefully he'll ride better than he did in last year Tour).Bruseghin is simply a myth (he breeds donkeys in his home-town,and I love donkeys),this year he'll probably start the Giro as a Cunego's helper,but you shouldn't forget that last year he arrived 3rd in the GC.Gasparotto is another rider I like,I hope he'll win a stage (Bergamo perhaps?).

Liquigas:

Agnoli,Basso,Carlstrom,Miholjevic,Pellizotti,Quinziato,Stangelj,Szmyd (what a surname!),Vanotti.Here's another Italian strong team.Basso won Giro del Trentino 2 weeks ago and seems to be in a great condition.Pellizotti arrived 4th last year and he also wore the pink jersey (yes,he did).Look out to them.

LPR:

Bosisio,Chiarini,Di Luca,Ermeti,Golcer,Montaguti,Petacchi,Pietropolli,Spezialetti.The leader of course will be Di Luca,but pay attention also to riders like Bosisio and Pietropolli (especially for the stage-winnings).Bosisio last year made a wonderful Giro and perhaps he can get good results also this year.Petacchi will be the anti-Cav,but I prefer the English rider to him.

Quick Step:

Cataldo,Davis,Devenyns,Engels,Facci,Hulsmans,Malacarne,Reda,Seeldrayers.Pay attention to the last name:he was the best young rider in 2009 Paris-Nice.Cataldo has already won the "Giro baby",perhaps he'll be able to fight for the Maglia Bianca.

Rabobank:

Ardila Cano,Horrillo,De Groot,Kozontchouv,Stamsnijder,Menchov,Ten Dam,Van Emden,Tjallingii.Menchov has been seen smiling too much recently:is he proving his smile because he thinks he'll end up on the final podium in Rome?

Silence-Lotto:

Brandt,De Greef, Docks, Gilbert, Jacobs, Kaisen, Ljungblad, Vanendert,Wegellius.The name that tells me most inside this team is Gilbert.We'll see what he'll be able to do.

Katusha:

Swift,Eskov,Ignatiev,Brutt,Klimov,Mazzanti,Petrov,Serov,Pozzato.Pfannenberger was scheduled until yesterday,but then the news came that he resulted positive to an antidoping control.

Petrov will probably be the leader for the GC,while HGS will try winning some stages.He's said he wants to wear the Maglia Rosa,so I'm ready to every event.Swift is the poor rider who will have to share his room with him.If he retires without any evident reason,it will mean that the vision of just woken up HGS was too frightening for him.I wish Ben good luck,anyway.Ignatiev and Brutt will enter a lot of breakaways,or at least they will if they behave like they did some years ago.

Milram:

Forster,Markus & Thomas Fothen,Rohregger,Barla,Muller,Russ,Scholz,Schroeder.Sorry but my computer's keyboard can't produce "umlaut","the strange German 's'" and all the other strange characters which you normally find on the surnames of these riders.

Saxo Bank:

Bak,Cancellara,Goss,Haedo,Klostergard,Lund,McCartney,Voigt,Van Goolen.The team is good,I think (remember: my mind is always influenced by the fact that it belongs to a fangirl,reason for which I can't be partial towards SB).If Fab Fab has recovered from his problems,he'll probably be able to do something good in TT.I also think that the team could do well on Saturday,in the first stage.What about Voigt wearing the pink jersey after the first stage?? And what about a Saxo Bankers (said Voigt or Matthew Goss) winning in Bergamo (or in any other place)? My mind is traveling far,I know...

Galicia:

Castaño,Veloso,Fernández Cruz,David Garcia,Garcia,Isaichev,Mayoz,Rabuñal, Vorganov.I suppose this team has been invited because of Mosquera,who hasn't been able to take part to the race.

Columbia:

Barry,Boasson Hagen,Lovkvist,Pinotti,Possoni,Renshaw,Rogers,Siutsou.Good looking strong riders in this team.Cavendish will win a stage (if something of unexpected doesn't happen),Rogers may do well in the GC and perhaps also Emo-Boy Lovkvist will run well.And then of course there are Boasson Hagen,Siutsou,Pinotti and Possoni.Of course I will support the last two riders I've named on the next Saturday and I really wish them a lot of good luck.

So,here's the starting list.My hopes are: Voigt and Goss will win a stage,just like Pinotti.The GC won't be won by Armstrong,but by some young interesting riders (or,more likely,by Basso).Menchov and Bruseghin will run well.Emo-Boy will win a stage.Ben Swift will ask to change roommate after 2 nights.Hopefully my hopes are shared also by other people.Otherwise,"kein Problem".

Link about the Schlecks and SIMEONI's exclusion from the Giro:

So,here's a random post about random things.First of all,I suggest you taking a look at this link (thank you very much Marit for pointing it out!): http://www.losch.lu/gmll/vw/default.htm .On this link there are some photos of the Schleck brothers (and of KK) with a new car (a VW Tiguan).They are very pretty and they leave me with an answer: Did they change their car? Mistery.

And then:yes,I know,it's nearly Giro time and I'm pretty euphoric,even if the Schleck brothers are not racing.One of the riders who are taking part in this race is Vandevelde.If you're interested,there's an article about him on this link: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/giro09/?id=/features/2009/american_giro_stage_winners_may09 ).Anyway,in this post I'd like to focus my attention on someone who will not race the Giro: Simeoni.He's 37 year-old and he won the Italian championship last year.Even if he won that race,his team hasn't been invited to run the Giro.Why? Well,the official excuse is "His team (Ceramica Flaminia) is not enough strong to be invited at the Giro".In my opinion,also some teams of the last Giro weren't really strong,but they were invited to the race anyway.But maybe the thing that got more importance in this no-invitation is the fact that Simeoni "argued" with mr.Armstrong at the Tour 2004.Here's a short description of what happened:
Simeoni was a doped rider and he once said some sentences against the doctor of the Texan rider,mr.Ferrari.Aafter having been disqualified by the UCI in 2002,Simeoni took part at Tour 2004 and there one day he decided to enter in a breakaway formed by other 6 riders.And do you know what happened? Armstrong followed him,so that the other teams of the main group started to pull hard in order to catch the riders who were on the breakaway. Of course the 6 riders and Simeoni weren't very happy,and they asked Armstrong to come back to the group.And d'you know what sir Lancelot said to those guys?: "I'll let this breakaway go just if Simeoni comes back in the peloton with me.Otherwise,I'll stay here and won't let you form a breakaway".Of course Simeoni had to let the other 6 riders go,got back in the peloton and decided to retire from the race.
Now,5 years after,Simeoni hasn't been invited to the Giro of sir Lancelot's comeback.Is it just a coincidence? Giro director,Zomegnan,said some words about Simeoni's exclusion from the race. "We (Giro organisation) gave to Simeoni two chances.In fact we invited him at the Tirreno-Adriatico and also at the Milan-Sanremo.At the Tirreno Simeoni got retired and didn't ride well.At Sanremo,he didn't find the time to meet Armstrong and to talk with him about what happened in 2004 even if they rode together for 7 hours.That's not the way people behave in a civil society". Are you kidding meeee???!? This sentence,in my opinion,means that if someone gets on well with Armstrong,they can ride;otherwise they can't.
Perhaps you won't understand a lot of what I wrote (when I get angry my English becomes particularly difficult to understand),but I think that Simeoni should ride.If you've got some opinions on this bad story,let me know.