Random Randomness du October:

After a long period of silence, miss Fede has finally taken up blogging again. Said period of silence was mainly due to the that the Italian academic year began just last week, so that in the last few days me has been terribly busy trying to follow every first-year lesson and trying to understand my timetable (this may sound easy, but I assure you it is one of the most complicated things I've ever done).  Moreover, me has been recently shocked by a few school-related discoveries that I've made this week. Here are some of them:

1. the university canteen is a great place, but unfortunately it is always extremely crowded. It opens at midday and you must be outside it at 11.59 am if you want to secure yourself a comfortable table and a warm dish of pasta. In fact, if you arrive at that magic building at 12.05 (like I did the other day), you can say 'adieu' to your hopes of eating something warm and tasty - or, better, you can say 'adieu' to those hopes unless you decide to spend 30 minutes of your precious one-hour break in the long queue that goes from the entry of the building to the room where they actually give you the food.

2. Jesus could multiply food, but the beginning of the academic year can multiply the number of those who decide to study Russian. At the beginning of our little Russian course in September in fact we were about 60, at the end of it we were about 35/40. The other day instead just 28 people attended our first Russian lesson of the year, whereas yesterday we were just 23. This morning, instead, 90 (90!!!) people turned up at our first lesson with the Professor that will teach us every secret of the Russian language in the next two years. The annoying thing is that most of these people didn't attend the September course, so that now we have to face every topic very slowly so that they can understand it too. Moreover, having so many new people at our lessons risks to destroy the nice atmosphere of comradeship that we had managed to create during the September course. Geez, I had just started to recognise every single Russian classmate of mine, and now 60 new people start attending the lessons too. That's so confusing!!

3. Never talk loudly next to the 'safety exits' of the university buildings. In fact, they may suddenly turn out to be classrooms, just like it happened the other day (I was talking to a friend, friend started talking loudly, Professor came out of the classroom and told friend off, me looked shocked because friend and I both hadn't realised we were right outside a classroom).

4. Never say 'You don't need a degree to do that!' (one of my favourite sentences!) when you're in a university building. In fact, a Professor could hear you and be offended by that sentence.

5. At some hours of the day, going to the Upper City by foot takes you less than going there by bus. Amazing, isn't it?

Of course, in the last few days I've also been shocked by a few cycling-related events: Pozzato winning a race in a great way, the Giro and the Tour stages being leaked, Cyclingnews calling the Cavendish/Sky affaire 'the worst kept secret in cycling'... Anyway, let's go in order.

First of all, a 'Team RAnT' update: Geoffrey Lequatre has signed a contract with Bretagne Schuller. Right now the Radioshack riders who still need to find themselves a contract for next year are: Bewley, Popovych, Rovny and Selander. Also Gianni Meersman and Toni Gallopin (who both signed a contract with RS a few months ago) are still 'lost in the merger'.

Talking about Team RAnT, I really do hope that next year it will include Oliver Zaugg. The Swiss ride, although he's never won any race since he's turned pro, is a great helper and last Saturday he showed us his class at Giro dell'Emilia, one of the hardest races of the year. Unfortunately the LT rider found on his way an incredible Carlos Betancurt, a young Colombian rider who got his first victory in the pro rankings by dropping Oliver on the San Luca climb. Second in the race was Mollema (the poor thing thought he had won...), while third was Uran.

Talking about Betancurt, I think it's nice to remember that this boy sends all the money he earns to his familiars, who still live in Colombia. Nice guy, isn't he?

Another important Italian race du fin de saison is the GP Beghelli, which was won by an amazing Pozzato. I often joke about Pippo, but this time I really can't say anything about his victory: the Katiusha rider in fact put in an amazing attack and won in a very classy way. Hopefully this is a good sign for his future.

As some of you probably know, in the last few days there have been other two important races: Paris-Tours and Tour of Beijing. Paris - Tours was won by Greg Van Avermaet, who outsprinted the good Marco Marcato. The Vacansoleil rider gave it all once again, but unfortunately luck is never good to him. Hopefully, things will change on Saturday, during the Tour of Lombardy.

Talking about the Tour of Beijing, get ready to answer some questions. First of all: did you know that this is the only race that is completely organised and sponsored by the UCI? And did you know that in May the riders said they would have boycotted it because of Radio-Gate? And then, did you know that next year the Tour of Lombardy will change date in the calendar, so that the Tour of Beijing will become the last race of the season? And did you know that Paris-Tours, in spite of its beauty and tradition, isn't part of the ProTour anymore? I love cycling, but when I see these things I can't help but think that my favourite sport is governed by a panel of selected idiots. Paris-Tours has got history and tradition on his side, Tour of Beijing hasn't got anything but the money - and a spot in the ProTour, of course. The whole ProTour systems leaves me disgusted and the fact that the Tour of Lombardy next year will be raced one week after the Worlds almost make me puke. 'Why?' You may ask. 'In that way, the Schleck brothers may race it! Aren't you happy??' No, unfortunately I'm not happy. I'm not happy because, if Tour of Lombardy changes date, I wonder what will happen to amazing races like Giro dell'Emilia or Giro del Piemonte, which are usually used as a 'training' for the Tour of Lombardy. Thinking that these races may be forgotten by everyone leaves me sad and angry, especially if I think that all these moves are made in order to promote the Tour of Beijing. Pollution and supporters kept far from the cyclists on the one hand, passion and great landscapes on the other one. Money and ProTour points on the one hand, history and tradition on the other one. What do you prefer? I have my answer, Pat McQuaid and the other UCI guys have their own. And you? 

Oh, and talking about the Tour of Beijing: I couldn't see any stage of it because I didn't have any free morning last week. But still, I've read on la Gazzetta that, although the race was perfectly organised, the supporters were kept very far from the riders. This obviously reminded of the 2008 Olympics, when you could hear the riders screaming at each other because there were no supporters along the route of the race, so that the only sounds one could hear via television were the screams of the cyclists. Anyway, I realise I'm digressing.

On to another news, Riccò has recently confessed blood doping and now he risks to be banned for 12 years (yes, Evil Me considers this a happy news).

Another breakout news instead announces that Cavendish and Eisel are both off to Team Sky. Cyclingnews called it 'the worst kept secret of cycling', but in my opinion nothing can beat the 'secrecy' of the Cancellara-Leopard Trek affaire.

Last but not least, my 50 cents about the Giro/Tourleaks: I don't trust these rumours and, more important, I think they're useless. One can match two cities on a map in a hundred different ways, but in order to know the true route of those two Grand Tours we'll surely have to wait until next week. Then, finally, we'll be able to start complaining talking about the suits worn by the athlets attending the events  the race parcours.

So, that's all from me for the moment. Have a great weekend and a great tour of Lombardy everyone!