And the winner is...Cadel Evans!!!

And so the World Championships are over also for this year.And,unfortunately for Fangirl,there were no Italians,no Danes,no Dutch and no Luxembourgian (sigh!) on the podium of the Elite Men Road Race.On said podium there were in fact an Australian (Cadel Evans),a Spaniard (Joaquin Rodriguez) and a Russian (Alexandr Kolobnev).
Someone may be unhappy with this podium,but that's not my case.I mean,of course I would have loved to see Andy Schleck or a Dane rider on the highest spot of yesterday's podium,but not always things go as you want them to go.And then,I must admit that I'm happy for Cadel Evans.Yesterday he attacked with 5 kms to go and achieved a great victory,the biggest one of his career.After so many podiums,he really deserved it!

Best Sexy Banker was the Russian Alexandr Kolobnev,who came in 2nd just like he did in 2007. 3rd wasJoaquin Rodriguez,a Spaniard that I pretty like.

4th was another Spaniard,Samuel Sanchez,while 5th was Cancellara,that broke into tears as soon as he crossed the finish-line.If I were him,I would have done the same.He tried so hard to win!Also Cadel Evans broke into tears on the podium,even if his ones were tears of joy and not of disappointment (like Cancellara's ones).IMO,it was really moving to see Cadel on the podium, with the rainbow jersey on,looking as happy as a child,kissing his wedding ring and waving to his wife.

Btw,talking about Fangirl's favourites,the best Dane rider was Matti Breschel,7th.6th was the Belgian Gilbert,while Cunego came in 8th and turned out to be the best Italian rider.

You can probably imagine what's been going on in Italy in the last 24 hours: nearly everyone is angry at Cunego and I can't actually understand why.If Cunego had won,he would have been treated as a hero,but he's lost and so now everybody treats him badly and say it was his fault if Italy didn't get any medal.Perhaps people who say these things need someone to explain them that,in cycling and in life,you can't always win.And,after all,Italy still has a World Champion,the amazing Tatiana Guderzo.

Talking about other riders,Alejandro Valverde eventually came in 9th,while Chris-Anker Soerensen was 13th.

And Andy,you may ask,what did he do? Well,Andy was the 21st rider to get retired yesterday. Yesterday's one was also his last race of this season,at least according to what L'Equipe wrote on their website (see link:http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2009/20090928_200200_a-schleck-stoppe-sa-saison.html ).Fangirl wasn't very happy when she read this news (she was already planning to go and support Andy at the Tour of Lombardy),but she thinks that,after a very long,very tiring and also very good season Andy really deserves a good rest.That's why she wishes him a good and long holiday.

PS: To read a report of what happened yesterday in Mendrisio,check the blog between few days: yesterday I was there to see the race and I'll write a post about it as soon as I can.That's all for now!

(Pic by Scanferla)

GRANDISSIME RAGAZZE!!!!

Eh sì,2 anni dopo Stoccarda un'altra italiana è diventata campionessa del mondo.L'italiana in questione è Tatiana Guderzo,che ha fatto una magnifica gara e ha vinto con 19" di vantaggio su Marianne Vos.Terza un'altra fantastica ciclista italiana,Noemi Cantele.
Purtroppo per motivi non dipendenti dalla mia volontà (scuola) ho potuto vedere solo gli ultimi 10 km di gara.Tatiana ha attaccato sulla penultima salita e ha guadagnato una manciata di secondi su un gruppetto di atlete formato da Marianne Vos,Kristin Armstrong e Noemi Cantele. La 25enne di Marostica (già bronzo alle Olimpiadi di Pechino) ha dimostrato tutta la sua forza ed è perfino riuscita ad incrementare il suo vantaggio sul terzetto inseguitore negli ultimi km della corsa.
La volata per l'argento è stata vinta da Marianne Vos,mentre Noemi Cantele è arrivata 3°.La varesina è stata davvero bravissima a proteggere la fuga della Guderzo e torna a casa da Mendrisio con 2 medaglie al collo.
L'americana Kristin Armstrong,oro nella cronometro,ha douto accontentarsi del 4° posto.
5° è arrivata la lituana Diana Ziliute,che ha regolato allo sprint Arndt,Willock,Braendli,Verbeke, Cheatley,Johansson,Corset,Pucinskaite,Pooley e Stevens.

Le altre ragazze italiane in corsa oggi erano Fabiana Luperini (30° posto finale per lei),Monica Baccaille (46°),Luisa Tamanini (47°) e Giorgia Bronzini.Complimenti a tutte loro e anche al ct Savoldi: hanno fatto una gara perfetta.

English post here: I've already said that in these days I'm more patriotic than usual,and this post half in Italian and half in English probably demonstrates it.Anyway don't worry,I'll be back to normality on Monday (if Andy doesn't win tomorrow...If he does,I think I'll have big problems with coming back to normality!).As you probably already know,Italian Tatiana Guderzo won the women road race this morning and Noemi Cantele came in 3rd,so I'm a bit euphoric about that.

Marianne Vos came in 2nd,while Kristin Armstrong was eventually 4th.5th was Diane Ziliute.

And to think that Cyclingnews didn't even mention the Italian women team in their report about the Worlds...

Anyway,this afternoon there is also the U-23 road race,while tomorrow it's the Elite Men Road Race day.Of course tomorrow I won't be as patriotic as today,but of course I'll be moderately happy if an Italian rider wins.Talking about the Worlds,here are some random links about Luxembourg,,Denmark and Bellis:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/small-luxembourg-team-laying-low :little article in English about Luxembourg team for the Worlds.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/successful-knee-surgery-for-frank-schleck :in this article it is said that Frank's surgery went well and that he's now using crutches for a few days,since his knee is still slightly swollen.

http://twitter.com/Mattibreschel :As far as I know,Matti Breschel was the last cyclist that surrended to Twitter-mania.

http://www.feltet.dk/index.php?id_parent=1&id=28&id_nyhed=22134 :Chris-Anker Sorensen has stated that he's dreaming of a Worlds podium.Fangirl agrees and thinks that,if Chris-Anker really makes it to the gold medal,Logic should leave her completely free for at least 2 days.

http://www.feltet.dk/index.php?id_parent=1&id=28&id_nyhed=22108 :The other Sorensen,Nicki ("the one who won a stage during this year Tour",to put it like Italian chronists do) won't be racing tomorrow because he has temperature and sore throat.His place in the team will be taken by Frank Hoj.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bellis-undergoes-successful-surgery-remains-in-coma :Jonathan Bellis is still in critical but stable conditions.Fingers crossed for him.

(Pics by Bettini and Sirotti)

Worlds Men TT race = More Faboulous Than Usual Fabian!!!

So,today there was the Worlds Championship TT race in Mendrisio.
Italian tv started to broadcast the race at 3.30 pm.At that time the best time was Tom Zirbel's one and Pinotti hadn't finished his race yet.The Professor's timechecks were all better than Zirbel's ones,so me was really hoping for a good placement for him.Unfortunately the Professor slowed down in the last part of the parcours and placed himself few seconds behind Zirbel.
At the beginning I didn't think that Pinotti's time was a very good one,but then I turned out to be wrong.The Italian rider in fact rode better than guys like Konovalovas,Vinokourov, Rabon, Brajkovic,Tuft and Rosseler.
The problems for the Professor (and also for USA's Zirbel) began when Toni Martin, Bradley Wiggins,Gustav Larsson,Fabian Cancellara and Bert Grabsch started their own races.
Toni immediately set the best time at the first timecheck,while Cancellara rode in a very aggressive way since the beginning.Anyway,Pinotti's time at the first timecheck was better than Larsson's,Wiggo's and Grabsch's ones-and of course me was very happy about this.
Then the Cancellara show began.Fabian firstly caught Larsson,who stayed behind him for some kms.After some time the Swiss rider caught also Bradley Wiggins and Sebastian Rosseler (who had already been caught by Toni Martin as well).
The gold medal soon started to look out of reach for everyone but Cancellara,while Larsson seemed to be heading towards the silver medal.Wiggo and Martin instead were fighting hard to get the bronze medal.
At the top of the hardest climb of the parcours,Wiggo suddenly had a mechanical problem.He got off the saddle,saw that the team car wasn't behind him,grabbed his bike and threw it on the road,looking very angry and disappointed.
I felt very sorry for Wiggo in that moment and I have to admit that,if I were him,I would have grabbed my bike and throw it over the barriers in David Millar's style (see this vid-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIW1MAvyPD4-if you want to understand what I mean).But unfortunately,bad luck happens,and it usually happens when you less expect it.
Anyway,as old Latin used to say,"mors tua vita mea".Thanks to Wiggo's mechanical problem,Toni Martin could eventually get the bronze medal.The young German rider sat on the ground as soon as he crossed the finish-line and looked completely worn out.
Few seconds after him,Cancellara arrived.Lots of people were supporting him and he raised his arms before of crossing the finish-line.Then Larsson arrived and got his silver medal,coming in 2nd place.
Wiggo arrived after Gustav and finally came in 20th,while Grabsch was the last rider to finish the race.
The final top 10 was the following:
1 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) 0:57:55.74
2 Gustav Larsson (Sweden) 0:01:27.13
3 Tony Martin (Germany) 0:02:30.18
4 Tom Zirbel (United States Of America) 0:02:47.12
5 Marco Pinotti (Italy) 0:03:02.88
6 Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia) 0:03:08.49
7 Koos Moerenhout (Netherlands) 0:03:11.59
8 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) 0:03:20.95
9 Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania) 0:03:33.88
10 Bert Grabsch (Germany) 0:03:37.39 .

Before of talking a bit about some of the best riders of the race,I'd like to talk a bit about Eduard Novak,a Romanian rider who finally came in 63th and took 11 minutes more than Cancellara to finish the race.This incredible rider in fact has just one leg and won the Worlds for people with physical handicap 10 days ago.Eduard had a car accident in 1996 and since then he has lived without a leg.Today he's said that he "didn't want to finish last" and achieved his goal.To read more about Novak,here's a 2008 interview about him: http://www.gsp.ro/english/gsp-special/superreportaje/read-here-eduard-novak-s-story-the-champion-without-leg-a-hero-in-the-saddle-109380.html .

Post race comments:
BRADLEY WIGGINS_"I dropped my chain at the bottom of the climb but I did the climb anyway,I did not want to change the wheel at the bottom.I jumped off my bike at the top without knowing the car wasn't there."
Prior to the mechanical issues on the final climb, Wiggins admitted that had eased off after being passed by Cancellara.He said he was by the the Swiss rider's slipstream although he was following at distance considered fair by race commissares.
"I thought 'I am just going to sit up,this is no way to win the bronze.'I felt like I was cheating a bit. ...The same thing with Larsson,I don't think he is a worthy silver medallist.Tony Martin is a silver medallist for me."

Also MARCO PINOTTI talked about Larsson."I'm a bit disappointed about my race,since I hoped to get better in the last part of the parcours but I couldn't.Anyway today's placement means that in the future I may even get better.Larsson? He was helped by Cancellara,that didn't realise it.To see another rider in front of you while you're riding a TT really helps you.In my opinon,Tony Martin was the true silver medallist".The Professor is becoming father in 2 months time and,when asked about this,he replied: "I'm very happy about this.There isn't just cycling in life.Today was just a TT,a race,there are nicer and most important things in life".

GUSTAV LARSSON said that he wasn’t surprised to be caught by Cancellara."Like he said himself,he was going out really,really hard,"said the Swede."I was going hard, but not super hard.I thought he would come from behind;he has won by big margins before,so I wasn’t frightened.I saw as I crossed the line after one lap that I was five seconds faster than everyone else and I was going fast.Anyway,I don’t think that a minute gap between the riders is enough.It should be two minutes and usually it is two minutes in big time trials.I think that’s how it should be.It’s really hard with so many riders, and there were five groups today,but I think it’s important."
Catching Wiggo was a surprise for Gustav."It was a good feeling.I know one minute is not that far,but I was a little bit surprised that I caught him.On the first lap I saw his car ahead of me so I already felt that he was getting closer to me.I was a bit surprised,but it was a good sign for me,it confirmed I was going well."
As for Cancellara,Larsson could only say:"You have to give it him–he’s the better man.I don’t think it’s impossible to beat him some day in the future,but I really need to step up my game.I need to work on my own performance.Everybody can improve on everything.But it will be really hard to do.I know when he gets it right he has phenomenal power."

FABIAN CANCELLARA said: "It was a perfect day,a perfect time trial,but it's difficult to say if it's my best.Beijing and today were the most beautiful ones.The Olympics and the worlds are very different.The Olympics are the biggest thing an athlete can do,but winning at home is also a fantastic experience.The support from the crowd, and the Swiss flags-it helpe.Above all, I had prepared mentally. My tactic was to give it my maximum.Larsson was one of the favourites and I had the advantage starting behind him.To take so much time out of him demonstrates that I did everything right".
"Last year I prepared well for Beijing, but I didn't have the confidence for the road race" said Cancellara."This year I am confident;I have the mental strength.My legs are ready but so is my head.I dream of doing the double.I said during the Vuelta that I think I can do it.I have the motivation,the determination,and the confidence. always achieve what I say is a target,but of course the World Championship road race has its own rules.We have a six-man team.Others have nine, and the race will be very hard.But I have set the bar high,and I have the belief.If I didn't,I would stay at home."

Tomorrow there is the rest day at the Worlds,then on Saturday there will be the U-23 and the women road race.

Amazing Kristin-Bravissima Noemi!

The Mendrisio Worlds have begun today with the U-23 TT race and the women TT race. Unfortunately I couldn't see the U-23 race because of school,but I was able to see the woman race and I really liked it.

The winner,as miss Sansen predicted few days ago,was American Kirstin Armstrong,who rode in an amazing way.
Armstrong is also the Olympic Champion and today she's won the World Championship TT race for the second time in her career."It does not matter what year and how many time you are world champion,it is always the best feeling in the world,"she said after the race.
The American rider won her first gold medal three year's ago in Salzburg,Austria.She prepared to arrive in top form for the Beijing Olympics in August last year and could only manage fifth at Worlds in Varese,Italy.
Armstrong's last race will be Saturday's World Championships road race.She will retire from competition and take up a management position with a team of developing riders in the USA. Talking about my country team,Italy had 2 cyclists in the race,Tatiana Guderzo and Noemi Cantele.Nobody expected a medal from them and so Cantele's amazing silver medal was welcomed in a great way.
Cantele's race was really emotional,at least for the Italian tifosi.In fact there was a great battle between Noemi and Linda Melanie Villumsen for the silver medal.With few kms to go there were just 2 seconds of difference between them,while Austrian Soeder was 6 seconds slower than the Italian.
When Villumsen started to get near to the finish-line (Cantele had already finished her race),Italian chronists started to count: "Villumsen's time is 36'and 19",36' and 20",36' and 21" and...She's slower than Cantele! Cantele is going to get a medal!! Cantele is going to be on the podium!! Cantele! A medal for Italy!"
Of course everyone was incredibly happy and also Noemi (who is 28 year-old,lives near to Varese and rides for the Swiss team Bigla) was really pleased with her performance.
"I rode without a heart rate monitor or a race radio,I just wanted to follow my feelings,"she said after the race."After the second time up the climb I heard I was going well via the car's speaker." Cantele said she was encouraged to race her first Worlds time trial after her first participation, and victory, at the Italian championships in June."Maybe it is a good idea to keep on trying to win the Worlds!"
Young Dane rider Linda Melanie Villumsen,24 year-old,finally came in 3rd,while Austrian Christiane Soder lost 20 seconds to Cantele in the last part of the race and finally came in 5th.4th was German Judith Arndt.
After the race,Villumsen said:"I am happy with my bronze medal and I'll be back next year to challenge for a higher place".
Other Italian rider,Tatiana Guderzo,finally came in 18th.

This morning instead there was the U-23 TT Race,that I couldn't see and that was won by Australia's Jack Bobridge,20-year-old."It's just topped off an awesome year for me.I could not ask for much else,to win for Australia,it's awesome,"said the Adelaide boy after the race.
Portugal's Nelson Oliveira finished second with a time of 41:03,18 seconds behind Bobridge. German Patrick Gretsch instead was third at 27 seconds behind the winner.
Oliveira and Gretsch were both happy with their placings.
"I wanted to ride in the top ten, so a second place is great,"said Oliveira.
Patrick Gretsch,one of the pre-race favourites,said:""It is always hard when you are in that position,but I can leave here happy with third." Italian Adriano Malori (I'm sorry but in this period I'll probably be more patriotic than usual-don't worry,I'll come back to normality on Monday) was really disappointed after his race."I had a bad day.The "normal" Malori could have won,instead...I've trained for a month for this race and now I realise that all the sacrificies I've made weren't useful at all.It's one of my worst defeats.The only good thing is that 2009 will soon be over.Next year I'll begin a new adventure between the pro-riders",said Malori,who has recently signed a contract with Lampre-Ngc.

As you probably already know,tomorrow there is the men TT race and my personal pick for tomorrow's podium is 1.Cancellara 2.Larsson 3.Wiggins.Fangirl (who in this period gets on even too well with Patriotism) would love to see Pinotti on the podium,but has to admit that the adversaires of the Professor will be very strong.
In Fangirl/Logic's common classification,the riders who may make it to the podium are Cancellara (of course),Larsson,Grabsch,Tuft,Wiggins,Brajkovic,Lang,Vinokourov & Kasheckin (perhaps I'm a bit evil,but I hope that none of these 2 Kazakhs will manage to get on the podium),Ignatiev and Boom.Fangirl hopes also in a surprise by Bak,Konovalovas and Kyrienkia.
(Pics by Bettini and Sirotti)

News about Frank Schleck and Jonathan Bellis:

Finally I've managed to find some news about Frank Schleck.On RTL.Lu there's an article whose title is "Frank Schleck: Operatioun um lénke Knéi gutt verlaf".Here it is:

Virun anerhallwer Woch gouf de Frank Schleck um lénke Knéi operéiert. De Frank Schleck huet RTL gesot, dass d'Operatioun gutt verlaf ass.Dem Saxo Bank-Profi gouf Knorpel ewech geholl.
Den Ament dréit hien nach eng Schinn,déi hien awer an de nächsten Deeg kann ausdoen.Déi nächsten3 Wochen däerf hien awer nach kee Vëlo fueren.Duerno fänkt da schonns d'Preparatioun op déi nei Saison un.

It's not a secret that I can't understand Luxembourgish,so if someone wants to help me with the translation,please leave a comment.However,here are the few things that I understood:
"About a week ago Frank Schleck had to undergo an operation on his left knee.Today Frank has told RTL.Lu that the operation went well.(???).The Saxo Bank rider won't be able to ride his bike for the next 3 weeks.After that time,Frank will be able to begin his preparation for the new season."Anyway that's not the only news I've found about Frank.On http://www.schleck.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=468:fraenk-hoopt-op-vroege-rentree&catid=7:nieuws&Itemid=14 in fact I've found another article.Here's my translation of it:

Frank Schleck's already thinking about his comeback.In fact he would like to participate in the Charity Bike Cup,a race held in Stuttgart for the organization Care Star,a charity organisation that cares about children.Frank's partecipation in the race depends on his left knee recovery.The race is held on the 3rd October.If he takes part in the race,Fränk will be the captain of the Radsportakademie & Partner team and will have to ride his bike for 100 kms.Other celebrities who are going to take part in the race are Jan Ullrich, Danilo Hondo,Steffen Wesemann,Rudi Altag and Hanka Kupfernagel.

Fränk said:"To me,helping children is a matter of honor and love.I just hope that my knee recovers soon so that I can be at the start of the Lila Logistik Charity Bike Cup on the 3rd of October.The goal of the race is to help children and this is the reason for which I'll do everything that's possible to be at the start line!"
Of course I hope Frank will manage to be at the start of the race,since helping children is always a really nice thing to do.

Unfortunately in contrast with the good news regarding Frank there's one bad news regarding Saxo Bank rider Jonathan Bellis.During the night between the 18th and the 19th of September,John had a motor scooter accident in Quarrata,near Florence.Fortunately today his condition has improved from "critical" to "stable".

Bellis suffered head injuries in the accident,that occurred at 3:30 am.Jonathan was wearing a helmet and travelling along Via IV Novembre,according to Il Tirreno.Medics took Bellis to a hospital in Careggi, north of Firenze.Police are determining the cause of the accident.National British Under 23 director Max Sciandri immediately joined Bellis at the hospital. Bellis' parents flew to Italy Saturday after they heard of the accident,according to isleofman.com.
Bellis is in Quarrata to train with other British riders and Sciandri.British Cycling had him listed him on the preliminary list of riders for elite World Championships Sunday in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
He finished third in the 2007 Under 23 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. After a trainee period with ProTour team Saxo Bank last fall, he turned professional with the team this season.
"We are saddened by the news of Jonathan's accident, but we know that he is in good hands at the hospital in Florence. Our thoughts and hopes go out to Jonathan, his family and friends,"said Saxo Bank team owner,Bjarne Riis.

Do you remember...

...the parrot mentioned by Andy in his last blog entry? Well,on Saxo Bank Taking The Lead website (http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=1615) there's a vid featuring the now famous (at least among Schleck-fans) parrot,Cancellara,Kolobnev,Fuglsang,Kroon and Breschel.Andy doesn't appear in the video,but the guys talk about him anyway...

Since there aren't lot of news about the Schleck brothers around,on this link (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/breschel-looking-forward-to-worlds) I've found a short article about Matti Breschel and the Worlds."If I can find the legs of last year,it should be good," Matti told Cyclingnews".I hope to go for a medal again,otherwise Jacob Fuglsang is showing he is ready and we have Chris Anker Sørensen as well".

After having repeated that a Dane rider will end up on the World podium,me was obviously happy when I read the names of the Dane riders who will take part in the Worlds.In fact the Danish team will be formed by both los Sorensens,Jakob Fuglsang,Matti Breschel and Lars Bak (who are all Saxo Bank riders,as you can notice).

Talking about the Worlds,here are the Spanish,the Australian,the Norwegian and the Colombian teams.Spain team will be formed by Oscar Freire,Juan Manuel Gárate,Alejandro Valverde,Joaquím Rodríguez,Daniel Moreno,Samuel Sánchez,Juan José Cobo,Carlos Barredo and Rubén Plaza.

The Australian riders will be Gerrans,Evans,Clarke,Davis,Hayman,M.Lloyd,O'Grady,Rogers and Sulzberger.

Norwegy will be formed by Boasson Hagen,Arvesen,Hushovd,Rasch,Nordhaug,Remme and Wilmann.

Colombian team instead will be formed by Ardila Cano,Serpa,Marin,Soler,Duque and Uran.
Finally,the French team will be formed by Sylvain Chavanel,Fedrigo,Voeckler,Dimitri,Le Mevel and Riblon.

Poor Robert Gesink!

Yes,I'm sorry for Robert Gesink.The Dutch rider today has lost 4 minutes and 44 seconds to Valverde,Basso,Mosquera,S.Sanchez,Evans,Tiralongo,Cobo and Moreno and is now 6th in the GC (this morning instead he was 2nd).
Robert fell 2 days ago and injured his knee.Today he had some problems in getting over the penultimate climb of the stage but eventually managed to join the group again before of the beginning of the last climb.Unfortunately for him,after about 2 kms uphill he was already losing 30 seconds from the other GC men. Of course Gesink's adversaires didn't feel sorry for him and so Euskaltel riders went to set the pace at the head of the peloton.Then it was Szmyd's turn to set the pace at the "cabeza de la carrera",that on the top of the climb was formed by Valverde,Samu Sanchez,Basso,Mosquera,Evans,Tiralongo,Cobo and Moreno.

As soon as the descent began,Sanchez attacked and was followed just by Valverde,who descended better than the Euskaltel rider.After some kms downhill the 2 men at the front of the race were joined also by the other riders that were with them on the top of the climb.
As soon as the road returned flat,Mosquera attacked.As soon as the other riders caught him,it was Tiralongo's time for attacking.The Italian didn't have a lot of luck and was soon caught again by the other riders.

With 2 kms to go Juan José Cobo set the winning attack and managed to win the stage.Valverde came in 2nd and Evans got 3rd.As I already wrote,Gesink crossed the finish line 4'44" after Cobo.He was with 2 teammates and with other riders.Unfortunately the 23 year-old Dutch rider probably won't be on the podium in Madrid and me's very sorry for him,since he rode very well during the whole Vuelta and it must be very disappointing to miss a podium in a Grand Tour just because of an injury.And then you mustn't forget that Gesink also had to quit the Tour de France because of an injury,so 2009 wasn't actually a very lucky year for him (or at least it wasn't a very lucky year for him so far-who knows,he may manage to win the Worlds or the Lombardy Tour).

Anyway.tomorrow there is the penultimate stage of the race,a TT that will probably decide who will win this year's Vuelta.At the moment the GC Top Ten is the following:
1 Alejandro Valverde,Caisse d'Epargne
2 Samuel Sanchez,Euskadi Euskaltel 01.26
3 Ivan Basso,Liquigas 01.45
4 Cadel Evans,Silence-Lotto 01.59
5 Ezequiel Mosquera,Xacobeo Galicia 02.11
6 Robert Gesink,Rabobank 05.30
7 Paolo Tiralongo,Lampre 06.49
8 Joaquin Rodriguez,Caisse d'Epargne 07.42
9 Deignan Philip,Cervélo Test Team 09.37
10 Juan José Cobo,Fuji-Servetto 10.40

Avila stage:Irish victory and great 3rd place for Fuglsang

Today's stage of the Vuelta ended in Avila,a very nice city.The stage wasn't easy,since the riders had to face about 30 kms uphill.
On the slopes of the first climb of the day,16 riders formed a breakaway."Los escapados" were Jesus Hernandez (Astana),Philip Deignan (Cervélo TestTeam),Bingen Fernandez (Cofidis),Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis),David Moncoutié (Cofidis),Tadej Valjiavec (AG2R La Mondiale),Rémy Di Gregorio (Française des Jeux),Mikael Cherel (Française des Jeux),Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi),Manuel Vasquez (Contentpolis-Ampo),Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas),David Herrero (Xacobeo Galicia),Del Nero Montes (Fuji-Servetto) and,last but not least,Sexy Bankers Jakob Fuglsang and Matti Breschel (allez guys!).
On the last climb of the stage Gilbert attacked and soon gained some seconds on the adversaires. Matti Breschel unfortunately got dropped,while Jakob,Kreuziger,Deignan,Herrero and Vasquez were the only breakaway riders able to catch Gilbert.As soon as they passed him,the Belgian slowed down a lot and finally crossed the finish line 3 minutes and a half behind the stage winner.
On the final descent towards Avila,Kreuziger and Deignan accelerated and left their breakaway companions behind.Jakob and Herrero started to chase them and the stage got even more exciting.
Unfortunately for Saxo Bank supporters,Kreuziger and Deignan managed to keep about 20 seconds of advantadge on Jakob (that during the last kms of the stage rode completely alone) and so the victory was decided in a 2 men sprint.Kreuziger isn't very fast and so Deignan won in an apparent easy way.
I must say I felt a bit sorry for Kreuziger (and I've started to wonder who's the fastest rider between he and Frank),but Deignan fully deserved his victory,the second one of his career.A great Jakob Fuglsang arrived rd,16 seconds behind the winner,while Matti Breschel came in 16th,7 minutes after Deignan (who now is also 9th in the GC).
Talking about the GC ,the biggest change was caused by Tom Danielson's retire."I have a bad infection in my lungs",he said after retiring from the race."I've been fighting illness for the last six days and I felt like I was in a good enough condition to fight it.I was in really good form,but I had no choice today.I couldn't race.I'm obviously really upset.I thought I had a chance of winning or finishing on the podium.I'll go to hospital tonight and get checked out.I think I might have broken a rib in my crash yesterday".Of course it's always sad to hear about an ill/injured rider and so I hope Danielson will soon feel better.
Between the people who didn't start/got retired today there were also Iglinsky, Hesjedal, Grabsch,Christian Meier,Julien Loubet,Ciolek and Leukemans.

Tomorrow there's the last mountain stage of this year Vuelta and I think there will be lots of attacks between the GC riders (or at least I hope so,since it would be nice to see some good attacks on tomorrow's climbs).
(Pic by Cyclingnews)

Video with Andy,some Worlds team and random randomness:

School began yesterday here in Italy,so me's terribly busy right now.The first 2 days went,erm,well,if you don't consider my epic fall in the school car park on the first day and the problems with my mobile phone this morning.My dear mobile in fact started ringing even if it was off and kept on ringing for a while because Logic didn't accept the idea of an "off-phone" who suddenly switches on and starts to ring.The teacher of course was pretty annoyed by this,noticed that the ring seemed to come from my jacket,looked at me and said: "Your mobile phone is ringing,why don't you switch it off?" "It's already off!" "No,it can't be off,it's ringing!" Of course Teacher was right and Logic was wrong.The problem was that 5 minutes later,the phone started ringing again! I immediately stated "It's not mine,my phone is off NOW! It's someone else's!" And instead it was still my phone.Finally a classmate suggested that perhaps I had the alarm clock function on ("it works also when your phone is off",she explained to me later),so I gave her the phone and she managed to make it shut up.Oh,peace.
Anyway,let's talk about cycling.

I've found this video (http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=1610) on Saxo Bank Taking The Lead.It features Fuglsang,Arvesen,Andy and Model Matti and I decided to watch it because right now my right knee is violet with yellow and green stripes,so I thought that watching some serious injuries could have made me feel better...The audio doesn't work and I can't uderstand why.A little advice? Prepare yourself mentally before of watching the vid...

WORLDS WORLDS WORLDS:

The 27th of September is rapidly approaching,so yesterday Italian team was announced.The riders will be Cunego,Pozzato,Basso,Paolini,Garzelli,Tosatto,Bruseghin,Visconti,Santambrogio (yay!),Scarponi and Ballan.The only Italian who's going to race the Worlds TT race is the Professor Marco Pinotti.There was an other Italian rider (Maurizio Biondo) scheduled to run that race,but he failed an antidoping test and had to said adieu to the chance of racing the Worlds.

The women Italian team will be formed by Baccaille,Guderzo,Cantele,Berlato,Bronzini, Carretta,Luperini and Tamanini (Cantele and Guderzo will run also the TT).

Switzerland team instead will be formed by Fab Fab,Albasini,Bertogliati,Mathias Frank (yay!), Rast and Zaugg.The reserves will be Loosli,Salzinger and Morabito.

Belgium riders instead will be Tom Boonen,Francis De Greef (Fangirl's happy,very happy!), Kevin De Weert,Maxime Monfort,Nick Nuyens,Greg Van Avermaet and Maarten Wynants.The team leader will be Philippe Gilbert.

Devolder hasn't been included in the team and has said that this has been "the biggest humiliation" of his career.

Germany's team instead will be formed by Gerald Ciolek,Johannes Fröhlinger,André Greipel,Christian Knees,Paul Martens,Tony Martin (allez Tony!),Grischa Niermann,Marcel Sieberg and Fabian Wegmann.The reserve will be Simon Geschke.

Netherlands has announced 5 of the 6 Worlds riders.They are Lars Boom,Johnny Hoogerland,Robert Gesink,Karsten Kroon and Koos Moerenhout.Laurens Ten Dam,Sebastian Langeveld,Bram Tankink and Pieter Weening are the candidates for the final place.

Usa riders will be Tom Danielson,Tyler Farrar,Brent Bookwalter,Craig Lewis,Andrew Bajadali, Jason McCartney,Tim Duggan and Tom Peterson.

VUELTA:

Yesterday stage was won by Lars Boom,who left all his breakaway companions behind with about 25 kms to go and won the stage with 1'30" of advantadge on the second rider,Spaniard David Herrero.3rd was Roels,while Saxo Banker Kolobnev was 6th.

Today's stage ended up in a bunch sprint and was won by André Greipel.2nd was Bonnet,while 3rd was Bello Benna.

RANDOM RANDOMNESS:

First random news: Baden Cooke has signed a contract with SB.

Second random news: Jakob Fuglsang has Twitter.Probably you already know about this,but don't forget that me's been away from a computer for 15 days and so this is a news to me.

Random link: http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/entry335317.html :yes,Chris-Anker Sorensen has updated his blog.He talks a bit about USA and about his preparatin for the Worlds.He also compliments on Wozniacki's great performance in tennis.

Cunego!

Today's stage of la Vuelta was a great one,very exciting and with lots of attacks.

9 men formed a breakaway and built a big advantadge on the leader group.These 9 riders were Cunego,Alan Perez,Fuglsang (yay!),Knees,Palomares,Gonzalo Rabanal,Tankink,Xavier Florencio and De Weert.

With about 30 kms to go the advantadge of the "escapados" was of 8 minutes,but soon it started to decrease because of Euskaltel's and Caisse d'Epargne's efforts at the head of the peloton.

The final climb (divided in 2 Gpm) began with about 20 kms to go.Palomares attacked a lot of time on the first part of the climb (the longest but easiest one),but with 14 kms to go it was Damiano Cunego's time for attacking.The Little Prince soon started to gain time on the other 8 companions,while in the leader group Liquigas started to set the pace.

Zaugg,Kreuziger,Carlstrom and Szmyd did a great work on the climb and Basso attacked with 4 kms to go.Valverde lost some meters from the Italian rider,that was soon joined by Evans, Gesink and Mosquera in his action.Valverde was overpassed also by Samuel Sanchez,but then he managed to get over that bad moment and joined again the 4 riders (the olympic champion Sanchez did the same).Then Basso lost some meters,while Sanchez and Mosquera gained time on the other GC riders.In the meanwhile,Cunego had already crossed the finish-line and won his 2nd stage in this year's Vuelta.Gesink and Valverde then managed to drop Basso and Evans,and then Valverde also managed to gain few seconds on Gesink.

Second came a great Jakob Fuglsang (did he read what I wrote yesterday,perhaps?),while 3rd was Sanchez.4th came Mosquera,while 5th was Valverde.Gesink came in 6th,while Evans was 7th and Basso 9th.Here's the new GC Top 10:
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:31
3 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:10
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:28
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 0:01:51
6 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:01:54
7 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:05:53
8 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-NGC 0:06:24
9 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:08:28
10 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 0:10:45

I must say I'm happy about the stage's final results.Cunego is one of my favourite Italian riders (Pozzatolocks is clearly not included in that list),while Fuglsang is not just a Saxo Bank rider but he's also an ex-mountain biker and seems a very nice boy.Sanchez is a very good rider, while Mosquera is probably my favourite Spanish rider.

Regarding the GC,I'm a bit sorry about Basso.His team worked a lot for him (Zaugg was just great),but unfortunately he couldn't make the difference.

(Photo Afp)

Randomness du comeback:

After 14 days of holiday during which I had a lot of fun,read a lot of books (Bill Bryson rocks!) and had many meetings with jellyfish (they all ended up with someone-me,a member of my family or another unlucky tourist screaming:"F****** animal,you got me!"),here I am again.Lots of things have happened in the last few days: the FA Jens Voigt has returned racing,Italian team for the Worlds is almost ready (and it includes mr.Pozzatolocks,unfortunately for me), Kroon,Burghardt,Hincapie,Ballan and Santambrogio have decided to go to BMC team, Boasson Hagen,Lovkvist,Thomas,Arvesen and lots of other riders have signed a contract with Team Sky,Kirchen has decided to go to Katusha,Bak and Goss have signed with Columbia,Berlusconi has made me feel ashamed of being Italian...And then of course there were the 2 news regarding the Schleck brothers.As you probably already know,Andy left the Vuelta because he was ill (I don't know why,but an Italian journalist wrote:"he's got talent,but he still has a lot to learn".Does it mean that expert cyclists know how to avoid illness?),while Frank had to leave the race because in order to face a surgery operation on his left knee.

Frank was operated yesterday in Gand,Belgium,and won't be racing until 2010."The problem actually began back in the Basque Country Tour in April where I was wondering about how the classics would turn out from my part.I did OK through the spring but I could tell that my knee was not feeling as it should be.After my break from racing everything went really well,although the problem still appeared now and then.After the Tour of Luxembourg and the Tour de Suisse the pain returned and I must admit that I had some really tough days during the Tour where most days darkened because of the knee.Fortunately managed to finish the race and make some results with the team which I am enormously proud of.But now it has come to a point where an operation is the only way out,so I can be ready again for the next season.I am sorry that this season ends like this but after all,I have been in progress continuously since February and it makes it worth while finishing the season now.The most important thing is that after surgery I can compete without pain when the new season starts”, Fränk said.According to the doctors,he will be able to get back on the bike after four weeks and without permanent injury.

"Frank has had big problems with his knee and the decision to abandon the Vuelta to have surgery is the only right thing to do.He has now been riding with pain since April and the following year and in principle the rest of his career in mind we have to take the situation seriously.Fortunately,he will soon be on the operating table and although he stands in front of a long break he can easily make up for the new season.He is obviously not happy to drop out of the Vuelta and miss the World Cup and Lombardy,where he could have done really well.However,he can look back on a great season and look forward to next year's challenges without having to endure the pain”,said Kim Andersen.

Of course I wish Frank a fast recover and hope he'll come back even stronger next year. Unfortunately this news completely destroyed Fangirl's project for the "Perfect Worlds Road Race Podium in Mendrisio".In fact her dream podium for the Worlds would have been the following: 1st Frank,2nd C.A. Sorensen,3rd Andy Schleck.Fangirl would have liked to see C.A. on the podium because Logic has finally convincted her that a Dane rider will end up on the Worlds podium and also because her ideal race-finish would have been very similar to the Grand Bornard one,with Frank winning and Andy 3rd,very happy and with arms raised up to the sky.

But since Frank won't be racing the Worlds,Fangirl's new perfect podium is the following: 1st Andy (who else?),2nd C.A. and 3rd an Italian rider (Cunego or Garzelli).

As you probably know,the Vuelta is still on.Today's stage was won by a great David Moncoutié.Second came Mosquera,while 3rd was the race leader Valverde.Evans punctured with about 15 kms to go and lost over a minute from Valverde,Gesink and Basso.Also Danielson lost a lot of time.

When the Vuelta began,I thought that the final Top 5 could have been formed by Evans, Valverde,Basso,Gesink and Fuglsang.Unfortunately Fuglsang is already out of games, but the other 4 riders are all in the high rankings of the GC.

Tomorrow's stage will be another hard one,and perhaps Jakob could do well there.In this way he would be the 2nd rider of Saxo Bank to win a stage at this year's Vuelta,since Fab Fab has already won 2 TTs.
Regarding other Saxo Bankers,Haedo won a stage at the Tour of Missouri some days ago,while Matthew Goss has won Paris-Brussels this afternoon.