Unstoppable Cavendish takes the rainbow jersey!!

First of all, let's say that I'm not in a very good mood right now. I couldn't see the Worlds 'live' (I've just finished watching the recordings), I didn't sleep enough last night and I must learn how to write every letter of the Cyrillic aphabet in corsive characters before tomorrow. Therefore, I hope you will forgive me for the bitchy moments that I'll have while writing this post.

So, the Copenhagen Worlds 2011 - also known as the only Tour de France flat stage that was raced at the wrong time of the year (today, 25th September 2011) and in the wrong part of Europe. Seriously,in my opinion the only difference between the Copenhagen Worlds and the boring flat stages of the Touris the fact that the winner of a TdF flat stage usually receives a yellow jersey, whereas the cyclist who won today's special stage received a special rainbow jersey.

To prove you that I'm not joking when I say that today's Worlds race was just like a TdF stage, I'll give you 3 proves:

First: HTC ruled the race, just like it usually does at the Tour.

Second: the last 2 kms of race featured 8 traffic islands, one roundabout and a curve with 800 meters to go - just like at the Tour.

Three: Thomas Voeckler attacked.

Anyway, back to 'seriousness'. During the whole race (which lasted 5 hours and 40 minutes) I counted three thrilling moments: the final sprint, the crash that destroyed Hushovd's hopes of winning another edition of the Worlds and the moment when they showed Bjarne Riis next to his super-hot son. Yes, these were the three top moments of the race. Every single breakaway in fact looked hopeless even before it was created, especially because the whole British team worked extremely hard in order to chase every man that managed to break clear from the peloton. The funny thing is that, since Great Britain didn't look strong enough, with 18 kms to go someone (the Irish rider Brammeier) decided to help Wiggo & Co. in their attempt of chasing the brave riders (Voeckler, Lodewyck, N. Sorensen and Hoogerland) who had just managed to create the last, desperate breakaway. Of course, the British/Irish poursuivants succeeded without problems.

The last 5 kms of race were the only exciting things of the day. Great Britain looked perfect, Australia was struggling to find a place in the sun for Goss, Italy and Spain were desperately trying to create a leadout train. Sagan was in the first part of the peloton, Boasson Hagen was invisible, the cameras still hadn't caught a glimpse of Farrar's face.

And in the end, after about 5'39" hours of race, the final sprint began: Cavendish ruled it, Goss arrived second, an amazing Greipel was third. Fourth was a super surprising Cancellara (well done to Barbara who yesterday evening included both him and Cav in his 'top favourites' list!!), 5th was Roelandts, 6th was Romain Feillu. The underestimated Bozic was 7th and he crossed the finish-line right before Boasson Hagen, Freire and Farrar. Sagan was 12th, Bennati was 14th. Frank Schleck didn't finish the race whereas his brother Andy didn't bother taking part in it because of some strange connections between his wisdom teeth problems and a possible heart muscle infection (his words, not mine!).

Anyway. The 2011 Worlds have come and gone and they'll always be remembered as the race with the easiest parcours of the last 10 years. Cipollini, who won the rainbow jersey in Zolder in 2002, said that this year the parcours was even easier than on that occasion. As an Italian chronist said, 'this year the roads of the Worlds Championship didn't choose the World Champion of cycling, they chose the World Champion of sprinters'. Of course we all know that Cavendish is a champion (he won Sanremo in 2009 and everyone knows that La Primavera isn't an easy race at all), but this parcours was simply too easy to be fun/good: not a hill, not a climb, not a slope. Nothing. I personally compared it to a TdF stage, but with a difference (as well as the 'colour of the jersey' one): in the TdF you need also a lot of luck to win a flat stage and, even if you fail winning the first bunch sprint of the race, you can give it another try about 24 hours later. This afternoon, instead, it was a matter of 'do or die': those who weren't lucky enough or who had problems with their leadout trains will never get a second chance.

Talking about 'having problems with your leadout train': Italy made a mess in the last kms of race, but I think everyone expected that. Bennati is a good rider, but not a champion, whereas Modolo and Viviani are still too young to win a World Championship. Criticising the boys is useless, because Bettini created the best possible team for this Worlds. And if you're disappointed because the Azzurri didn't win any medal, then go ask the Italian Cycling Federayion why they didn't allow us to bring Petacchi to Copenhagen.

So, the 2011 Worlds week is over. Now some riders will go on holiday, whereas some will keep on fighting until Tour of Lombardy. In the meanwhile, cycling market and polemics will surely keep us busy: Cancellara and Fuglsang in fact have recently announced that they've signed a contract with team RaNT (chorus of 'Nooooooo!!' coming from the fangirls of the whole world), whereas Teutenberg, Bronzini and Vos reacted openly to Pat McQuaid's words about the creation of a 'minimum wage rule' for women riders. The UCI president in fact has stated that the women's movement 'hasn't developed enough' to deserve a rule like that. Of course, these words are going to create a very hot debate in the next days.

PS: LeopardTrek's information system gave us another special moment this afternoon. In fact, right after the race, on their Facebook page they published an article called 'Cancellara takes the bronze medal also in the Road Race!' Amazing, isn't it?

Vuelta, Padania and the Leopard Trek / Radioshack affaire:

Ladies and gentlemen, miss Fede is happy to announce you that she's finally come back from her great holiday in Senigallia, a seaside town located in 'shitty Italy' - as someone called it a few days ago.

My holiday was excellent, although reading the newspapers everyday caused me to get very angry almost daily - and not just because of political / economical reasons. Anyway, let's go in order and talk about cycling.

First of all I must say that, as predictable, I won the virtual bet that I had made with my father: in fact, the tv in our little flat in Senigallia didn't broadcast the Vuelta. As a consequence, no cycling races for me in the last two weeks. However, I did manage to keep myself in touch with the cycling world thanks to 'la Gazzetta dello Sport' and, in this way, I soon realised that my Vuelta predictions were terribly wrong. In fact Antòn was dropped during the first mountain stage, whereas Rodriguez and Menchov couldn't get any good result. Nibali was the most active rider in the first 10 days of race, but then he couldn't keep the pace of Wiggins on the hardest Spanish climbs. Nevertheless, I really loved his racng style in that first week of competition. Vincenzo in fact always manages to make races become exciting and he attacks whenever he has the chance. He probably isn't the best climber out there (nor is he the best time trialist), but the boy has passion and determination. Moreover, when I watch him racing I have the feeling that he wants the race to be exciting and entertaining for the supporters - a thing that I completely approve. So, Vincenzo: don't get angry because of your final GC result because you've made us dream sweet dreams anyway ;)

Unfortunately for us Italians, Nibali wasn't the only 'azzurro' who had problems during the Spanish race: Scarponi in fact abandoned the race after a few stages ('I don't know what's going on, I feel tired', he told la Gazzetta) and Petacchi and Bennati still haven't won anything. The young Gavazzi, on the other hand, shone two days ago, when he won the Nojas stage ahead of Vandewalle.

So far, however, the riders who have had the best results in this Vuelta are Chris Froome and Juan José Cobo: in fact the Kenyan rider won a mountain stage and is now second in the GC, whereas JJ 'Buffalo' Cobo is the race leader with just two stages to go. Wiggins, instead, is 3rd: hadn't he broken his collarbone in July, I believe he would have been on the TdF podium.

Talking about other races: the Tour of Colorado saw some good victories by Viviani and Oss and an interesting breakaway by Schleck the Younger, whereas Gilbert has recently won GP Quebec. That man is a monster, no doubts about that!

Another competition who's receiving a lot of attention in these days is the so-called 'Giro di Padania', which is a stage race organised by the Northern League, an Italian right-winged party which would like to cut Italy in two parts: Padania and the South. The people who are part of this party are a bit, well, odd and they show their peculiarities even during this race: after every stage in fact the daily winner gets a 'golem' which represents a cyclist riding in front of the Cervino, whereas the second rider to cross the finish-line receives a shield which, if necessary, can become a spade (everyone would love to own one, right?); the third rider instead receives a M-shaped pyramid (no, I'm not drunk, it's written on the website of the race) with some runes on. As if this wasn't enough, the race started from the Monviso, where the son of the leader of the party, Renzo 'The Trout' Bossi, took some water from the 'Holy River Po' and put it in a little bottle. Some of you may think that the Northern League is just a little party formed by strange people who read too many medieval books, but unfortunately some Italian ministers belong to it and even make some laws. One of the most important members of the party, the above-mentioned 'Trout' (son of the party lader Umberto), had to take the Matura exam three times before being able to pass it. Nevertheless, he earns 12.000 euros pro month because he's a politician. And guess what? The money of his wage obviously derive from the taxes that we poor stupid people pay. Yes, sometimes I need to quote our beloved first Minister: Italy is a really shitty country. 

Anyway, after explaining what the Northern League is, let's go back to the Giro di Padania: given its political origin, this race has recently been sharply criticised. The Italian Cycling Federation couldn't change its name and many riders decided to take part in it because, all in all, this race offers an interesting parcours and takes place right before the Worlds. Unfortunately for these riders, in the last days they had to bear lots of insults ('Sons of b****es', 'Betrayers' and 'Bastards' were the most popular ones), they had to be careful not to ride over people laid down in the middle of the roads and  a neo pro, Sonny Colbrelli, was even punched on the eye by a 'supporter'. Unfortunately, as usual the ones who take the worst consequences of others' actions are the riders, whereas the politicians simply hide themselves in their big cars with a private chauffeur. Oh, and by the way: so far the race has seen victories by Modolo, Viviani and Basso.

Anyway. After talking about Giro di Padania and Vuelta, let's face a news that really shocked me when I first read it on la Gazzetta. Said news regards the merge between Leopard Trek and Radioshack.

Now, the few people who have been reading this blog since it was created on a cold afternoon back in 2008 may have noticed that, year after year, my attitude towards the Schleck brothers has changed. At first I was the usual Fangirl who just cares about her heroes, but then (luckily!!!) I slowly became a true cycling supporter and I soon learned to criticise even my favourite riders. As I faced these changes, my favourite cyclists grew older and, last year, they changed team. And, as some of you might have noticed it, I never really accepted this change. At first in fact I thought that everything was too secret, then the team PRs started to blow their own trumpets and in the end the ds often seemed unable to make the riders work as a team. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed these things, so that the owner of the team, mr. Flavio Becca, recently chose to change things in order to make things better. So, what did our man do? Simple: he had Leopard Trek merged with Team Radioshack.

Now, first question raised by this move: if Becca wanted to improve his team, why merging Leopard with Radioshack when he could have merged it with HTC Columbia? Wait a moment and you'll have a possible answer to this question.

According to la Gazzetta (also known as 'The queen of the rumours which later turn out to be oh so true'), Becca wanted the Shack and Leopard to merge because he was disappointed by the lack of good results that his team had during this season. In particular, at the end of theTdF the disappointed Becca referred to his team by saying: 'I feel like the owner of an excellent airplane with a great crew but without a commander'. Moreover, mr. B was reported to believe that Andy Schleck can't win a Grand Tour without a great ds on his team car. Therefore our man started to look for a great ds who could create a good race strategy for his little Luxembourgian jewel. And whom did he find? Johan Bruyneel, who has always liked Andy and who probably promoted 'Merge-Gate'. In fact, by merging RS and LT los Schlecks got a great ds (a cunning man like Bruyneel) and Becca got the chance of improving his team and sharing the team's costs with an important sponsor.

Unfortunately, there's a little problem in this great economical move: LT in fact has about 25 riders, whereas RS has about 9 riders. And, according to UCI, one single team can have just 28 riders plus 2 neopros pro year. This means that, halfway through September, about 6 former riders from Leopard Trek or Radioshack will find themselves without a contract - and I don't even want to talk about all the bus drivers, soigneurs and so on that will lose their jobs because of this merge (amongst the guys who were fired by LT there is also Brian Nygaard).

Talking about the riders, it is already known that nor Leipheimer nor O'Grady will join this new team (which is called 'Radioshack Nissan Trek' or something like that) because they are heading towards other teams. Apparently, the former Radioshack guys who will be racing for this new team in 2012 may be: the evergreen Chris Horner; ol' Armstrong's helper Kloeden; Janez Brajkovic; Matt Bussche; Markel Irizar; Ben King; Nelson Oliveira; Jesse Sergent; Haimar Zubeldia.

Personally, I would have avoided keeping Horner, Kloden and Brajkovic: can you imagine next year TdF team? Schleck, Schleck, Kloden, Horner, Brajkovic, Kloden, Cancellara, Zubeldia and Voigt. On paper it looks great, but who will sacrifice himself for the others?

Anyway, back to the riders' contracts. The part related to Leopard Trek former athletes looks really tragic: in fact Bruno Pires, Thomas Rohregger and Martin Pedersen are likely to be fired because they all signed a one-year contract. Other riders, instead, found out about the merge just thanks to the media. Amongst those guys there are strong riders like Brice Feillu, Tom Stamsnijder, Joost Posthuma and Jakob Fuglsang. In particular, la Gazzetta claims that the Danish rider may leave Leopard next year. In my opinion, if this happened, it would be a shame: Jakob in fact is one of the best young riders out there, so I think that giving a contract to Horner and not to him would be a very stupid move.

Still talking about Leopard former riders, it is said that even Cancellara might leave los Schlecks. In this way, the Leopards who would end up racing for RNT would be: Daniele Bennati, William Clarke, Stefan Denifl, Linus Gerdemann, Dominik Klemme, Anders Lund, Maxime Monfort, Giacomo Nizzolo, Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, Davide Viganò, Robert Wagner, Fabian Wegmann, Oliver Zaugg and Jens Voigt. That would leave 3 free spots for some new riders. Given that this summer RS already signed Galoppin, Kruopis and Meersman, and that LT signed Rast and Hermans, now I really wonder who amongst these 5 riders will see his new contract disappear all of a sudden.

As you can understand, this new super team already seems to have lots of problems. Moreover, as if this wasn't enough, I'll add another problem myself. And that problem is: all the team's sponsors are American. Therefore, I think I can already say 'farewell' to the chance of seeing the Schleck brothers racing the Giro or la Vuelta next year. And talking about the Schleck brothers: they often talk about values like friendship and loyalty, but the way they're abandoning the people who last year believed in their new team project (and risked their career because of that) really lets me down. Kim Andersen, Nygaard, Fuglsang, the soigneurs, even the bus driver... They all abandoned their safe jobs in order to start a new adventure, but now they've been let down. I don't know if the brothers are actually involved in this merge but, to be honest, this whole story leaves me angry. Cycling isn't about love, friendship and loyalty, it's about money and success. Too bad that people often pretend to ignore this fact and even manage to take in other people by doing so.

Luckily, there is at least one happy news to cheer us up in this strange month of September: a few days ago in fact An-Sophie De Graeve, girlfriend of the unforgettable Wouter Weylandt, gave birth to the couple's first child. The baby girl was named Alizée, measures 51 centimetres and weighs 3.6 kg . I really wish a lot of strength to her mum and I wish Alizée a long, happy and serene life: little one, your father (and every single cycling supporter on Earh) will always be with you  <3

Some random cycling links (updated with some other Schleck videos):

Right after the end of the Tour, people often find themselves with nothing to do during the afternoons. Therefore, miss Fede decided to collect a few random links related to cycling (which she collected especially thanks to her kind readers) in order to amuse herself and her readers. Have fun!

VIDEOS:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kin72YxiDsg : Kat, a kind Danish reader, has recently updated on YouTube a video in which mr. Jakob Fuglsang gets his daily massage during the Tour. She uploaded it just for us, so let's thank her before starting to drool over the Leopard Trek rider (it's advisable to watch this video when you're alone).

- http://youtu.be/VrNv89dqMP0 : Marleen from 'Ride On!' has kindly pointed out this other video, featuring the Schleck brothers, de Zjonnies and an old car. In it Andy and Frank show their driving skills and, as they drive, they also find the time to damage the vehicle in many different ways.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovgs9CFoFCk : They're everyone's favourite cycling chronists: Christian Paasche and Johan Kaggestad. In this video you'll see them go bananas as Edvald Boasson Hagen wins his second TdF stage of the year. From 0:24, things get really ridicolous and at 0:58 you can see an unknown chronist that sneaks into the Norwegian room and puts his headphones next to Christian's mouth, so that his viewers can realise how hard it is to work next to the Norwegian chronists.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3wHT5OJRWg (via miss Sansen): Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov, together, in just one video: in it they speak English, they talk about their wives and they almost forget for how long they have been married. Moreover, they laugh . In particular, Menchov has a great time while talking about how he met his wife. And the worst thing is that there's nothing hilarious in that.

OTHER RANDOM LINKS:

After watching some videos, here are three other random links:

- http://womanmanfishbicyclemag.tumblr.com/ : the above-mentioned miss Sansen has recently surrendered to Tumblr. Visit her blog in order to read an exclusive 'from Fablish (or Fabianese) to English' vocabulary.

- http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/klar-parat-tour-fest: our special detective Susanne has recently provided us with some good pictures from the post-Tour parties in Paris. Enjoy!

- http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/the-cyclingnews-guide-to-rider-transfers-2011-2012 : the cycling market has already started and, so far, the interesting moves have been two: Van Hummel goes to Vacansoleil, Pozzato exits Katiusha (although his final destination is still unknown). What if he really joins Leopard Trek?

UPDATED PART:
Some kind readers have decided to add other amusing videos to this post. Lt's enjoy them!!
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFIKnK7GpeQ : Cancellara and Frank Schleck kidding with the cameras during the Tour. Lovely!
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbdFQ5rwEZs : What did the Schleck brothers and Fabian Cancellara do the day after Andy's victory in Liège 2009? In this video you have the answer! (this video, just like the previous one, has been found by our dear Cristin)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0tVAQech7g&feature=related : Also our friend Figbash decided to point out a link: it is an old classic which every Schleck fan should watch at least once pro day. Enjoy the jokes and the relaxing view!
- http://bananasaboutbikes.blogspot.com/ : After a period of break, 'Bananas about Bikes' is back with a new, exciting post by Marleen! If you haven't done it yet, I suggest you reading it. Moreover, I suggest you paying some attention to that blog in the next days: we have lots of tales coming up! If you're a supporter and you've had a great time while visiting a bike race, send us a description of your day at bananasaboutbikes@gmail.com . We accept stories related also to women cycling, cyclo-cross, track cycling, criteriums, whatever! Moreover, they don't have to be very recent. We can publish also posts that date back to some months or years ago, we're not strict at all!
(ok, end of the shameless self promotion part ;)

Enjoy the videos and the links!

A super Gilbert wins Amstel Gold Race:

A week after my last post, here I am, ready to write a post about Gilbert's victory in Amstel Gold Race. To give you an idea of why I haven't written anything in the last days, I just tell you that, when Andy Schleck attacked during today race, I was repeating the definition of 'asinctote'. Of course, as soon as Baby Schleck launched his attack, I threw the Maths book off of the couch and I interrupted myself in the middle of the definition. Maths can't wait, a Schleck attacking in AGR can't.
Talking about the race, it was a very exciting one, although Leopard Trek didn't have a lot of luck in it. The line-up was much better than the one for the North Classics, since it was formed by experienced guys like los Schlecks, Cancellara, Voigt, Fuglsang, Wegmann, Monfort and Lund. Useless to say that, if they rode in different teams, guys like Voigt, Cancellara, Frank, Andy and Fuglsang would all be team captains in a race like Amstel. Unfortunately, none of them could get on the podium today, especially because key riders like F. Schleck and Cancellara were both hit by bad luck with about 23 kms to go, when they crashed right before of the Kruisberg. This fact unfortunately forced them to say 'adieu!' to their dreams of glory and postpone them to the next race.
But let's now review some key moments of the race thanks a brief resume of mine.

Things started to become interesting with about 100 kms to go, when De Gand, De Negri, Timmer and Ponzi created a good breakaway. 40 kms later, Ponzi and Timmer had been dropped, but their place had been taken by Jan Ghyselinck and Carlos Barredo.
Unfortunately for these 4 riders, their adventure at the front wasn't destined to last long and they were soon caught by the peloton guys.
With about 24 kms to go, Fabian Cancellara crashed in the middle of the peloton (yes, I'm as surprised as you by this fact). His crash unfortunately forced also Frank Schleck to stop and, when Frankie arrived at the bottom of the following climb (the Kruisberg), bad luck hit him again by making his bike chain pop (aaaaargh! Memories of the past, leave me aloneee!). By the time he stopped and changed his bike, his chances of winning the race had vanished.
In the meanwhile, an attack by Joaquim Rodriguez made the difference on the climb and created a big selection inside the peloton. Just 20 riders (more or less) could follow the Spaniard and, with 13 kms to go, it was Andy Schleck's turn to attack.
Andy's attack was very strong and it lasted a lot, although his maximum advantage consisted in just 10 seconds. Unfortunately for Leopard Trek and for its supporters, Gilbert (the main favourite of the race) pulled the group of chasers together with Van Den Broeck and a great Vanendert and Schleck was caught on the Cauberg, with just 500 meters to go (sigh!). Rodriguez accelerated as soon as he saw Andy, but Gilbert's kick was much more devastating than the one of the Katiusha rider.
The Belgian passed JR in a very easy way and he crossed the finish-line in triumph. Second in the race was Rodriguez, while third was Gerrans. Fourth instead was a very good Fuglsang.

After the finish-line, Phil Gil (can I call him this way?) gave us a great moment of tenderness by bringing his little child on the podium. Rodriguez played a bit with the baby, who started to cry when Joaquim and Gerrans joined Philippe on the top spot of the podium. In that moment, I could clearly read Gilbert's lips (he went: 'Noooo!'), whereas Rodriguez and the short Gerrans smiled. What a cute image! After mentioning this little moment of tenderness, it's now time to analyse the race.
First of all, big congratulations to Omega-Pharma Lotto. Gilbert was the strongest and he showed the world that, on this kind of climbs, he has no rivals. Moreover, he also booked himself as a main favourite for the Worlds 2012, which take place in Valkenburg.
Gilbert's great form was highlighted also by the fact that he helped Vanendert when he was chasing Schleck. Phil gave a single turn at the front, but it allowed his teammate to take a little break and it showed everyone that he was ready to win this Classic for the second year in a row.
Talking about Jelle Vanendert, I must say I was very impressed by his performance. He pulled for a lot of time and when one of the Italian chronists said that the Belgian was still pulling at the head of the race, Fangirl actually went bananas. 'For what stupid reason is he still there pulling?', she asked. Luckily Logic was ready to remind her that poor Jelle was just 'doing his job. And his job makes him pull at the front when someone has escaped the group in which his captain is. Apologise to him now, or I'll never talk to you again', Logic told Fangirl in a very annoyed way. Of course, Fangirl apologised for what happened and is still deeply sorry for what she said in that moment of anger.
Also Jurgen Van Den Broeck rode really well and he was a very important rider for Phil Gil.
Another team who rode very well this afternoon, imo, was Leopard Trek. Unfortunately this strong team has had a lot of bad luck today, since Cancellara and Frank Schleck both crashed at a key point of the race. Btw, was I the only one who thought that Frankie was going to throw his bike away when his chain popped?
Talking about the other Schleck, I must say that I really liked Andy's attack (well, who didn't? ;). He had no chance of winning against a guy like Gilbert and, rather than ending up 5th, our Glorious Leader fought to get a great victory with a great assolo. His action didn't end up with a victory, but I was very happy to see him attacking anyway.
On to another cyclist, a great Jakob Fuglsang was 4th in the race and this is a very positive sign for the future. In fact this boy was 4th in Lombardy 2010 and today he's got a 4th place in Amstel. Something suggests me that we may soon be able to witness his first important victory in a road race, how exciting!
Second in the race was Joaquim Rodriguez,Katiusha's rider. Unfortunately Cauberg is too easy for a guy like 'Purito', who needs climbs like the Mur de Huy to shine properly. Btw, he 'tried his leg' for Wednesday race this afternoon and I must say that the results were really good. Also Ivanov rode well, just like Kolobnev (5th).
Third was a great Simon Gerrans, 'the climbing sprinter', as I used to call him when people used to say that he was a sprinter. His podium placement finally signs a good result for team Sky (it was high time!), how nice.
Btw, where has Thomas Lovkvist disappeared? A race like Amstel could suit him, but he wasn't even selected in the team-line up. Why?
Talking about another team, Vacansoleil had a good result with Leukemans (7th), whereas Hoogerland was 12th (Andy Schleck was 11th, while Frank was 22th). Johnny tried to break away in the last part of the race, whereas Bjorn got another good placement.
Talking about J.H., I was shocked when I discovered that he's already 27. How can it be? :(

Talking about the disappointing teams du jour, Astana didn't particularly shine, although Iglinskiy tried a little attack and Gasparotto and Vinokourov could have done well in a race like this (Enrico was 2nd last year, Vino won it some years ago).
Also Lampre was disappointing, probably because its leader, Cunego, is suffering because of the doping rumours coming from Italy. Although he pretends the opposite, in fact, I've always had the feeling that Damiano isn't a Mster in handling pressure and so imo the news coming from Mantova may have played a role in his odiern poor performance.
Saxo Bank didn't get any striking result either, just like Garmin and HTC Columbia. Actually, Garmin's leader, Ryder Hesjedal, was stopped by stomach problems that forced him to get off his bike and ring a house on the parcours to beg the house owners to let him use their toilet for a few minutes. Then, he hopped back on his bike and finished the race 14 minutes after Gilbert. Amazing, isn't it?
Talking about Columbia, it showed us a very funny guy , the 24 year-old Jan Ghyselinck . After joining the original breakaway, this rider clearly made the usual 'I can't go on anymore!' gesture to the other breakaway guys. Of course, the other cyclists got pretty angry at him (especially De Negri did) and poor Jan had to take his turns at the front anyway. Poor thing!
However, we must say that Columbia has never shone in the Ardennes Classics and that this year team was formed by really young riders.
Another disappointing team was Euskaltel Euskadi (Samuel Sanchez didn't look in a very good form), whereas the only Liquigas rider that I could see during the race was the poor Dominique Nerz, who crashed with about 30 kms to go.
Farnese Vini didn't get any stunning result either, but at least one of the team riders was in a breakaway and poor Visconti has a good excuse for his disappointing result (he didn't feel well during the week).
However, the most disappointing team imo was Rabobank . At the beginning of the last climb in fact Freire, Martens, Gesink and Tankink were all part of the main group. In the end, the best team result was Freire's 6th placement. A bit disappointing, isn't it?
Perhaps one of the team guys could have tried to break away with Andy Schleck or they could have tried to anticipate Gilbert, instead they didn't do anything. And if you arrive at the foot of the Cauberg without a strategy, things can be very hard even if you have 3 teammates next to you.

So, this is all from me for this evening. Let's get ready to enjoy another great race on Wednesday!! Who will win on the mur de Huy? That is the question! Have a good evening all!
(Pic by Sirotti)

Eroica, Paris-Nice and more random things:

Good evening everyone, dear readers. The serious races have finally started but, unfortunately for me, I haven't managed to watch any of them on real time yet. In fact, first of all, Italian tv didn't broadcast Eroica Strade Bianche until 19.30 of Saturday (at 20.oo of that day Fangirl was cheering happily for the riders, when Logic suddenly told her: 'They stopped racing 4 hours ago, so why the hell are you screaming in such a loud way?'- Fangirl was so shocked that she stopped screaming for good!); then, me had to miss the first stage of Paris-Nice because 'Come on, it is Carnival day! You can't stay the whole day trapped inside your house to watch a cycling race! You'll have plenty of time for that during the year!', Logic told Fangirl; moreover, I had to miss the second stage of P-N because I was 'working'. Therefore, I'm honoured to tell you that, on the 7th of March 2011, my personal cycling situation is the following: zero races seen on real time on television, zero races seen 'live' and a few races seen in the evening. I guess it's useless to add that my cycling withdrawal syntomps are getting worse than even.

Anyway. Let's talk cycling and, more precisely, let's talk Eroica Strade Bianche. First of all, I must say that I made a beginner's mistake when I didn't include Gilbert in my podium prediction. He won Tour of Lombardy in October 2010, he's won Eroica in March 2011. A monster. Ladies, watch out for him in Sanremo! During the race, I was happily surprised to see some riders riding better than expected. For example, Andy Schleck seemed in a good form and he worked hard to help Cancellara. Fabian could keep the pace of riders like Hesjedal and Cunego also on some of the toughest climbs and, of course, this is a very good news. Also O'Grady was very good, just like Fabian Wegmann. Talking about Fab the Blonde, I'm afraid I may a little crush on him. He always looks so sweet and cute! And I can always recognise him by looking at his riding style. Strange.
However, miss Fede didn't pay attention just to Leopard Trek's guys. In fact, me really liked Rocchetti's performance (the boy's got talent, he goes on a breakaway whenever he can!) and I was extremely glad to see Cunego and Ballan up there again. In fact, Alessandro had disappeared from supporter's radars in 2009 and it's great to see that he's finally back at a top level.
Also Gatto rode surprisingly well, considering that he's a sprinter. Also Jure Kocjan, that rides for Team Type 1, got a very good 4th place.
Amongst the best riders, imo, there were also the young Craig Lewis and Przemyslaw Niemiec. The Polish rider was simply great and he worked very hard in order to help his captain Cunego. Moreover, he allowed me to show my familiars my great Polish skills, since I pronounced his name without any problems. 'How can you do that?', they asked. 'Misteri della Fede', I answered.
On to the 'disappointing riders' du day, I expected more from Sagan and Oss. As far as Hesjedal is concerned, I predicted him as likely winner of the race, but he couldn't resist Gilbert's final attack. However, I really liked the way he rode because, although he wasn't in a good condition, Ryder tried hard to make the race harder.

Talking about Paris-Nice, I could watch yesterday's stage at dinner-time. Jens Voigt was part of a great 3 men breakaway and his companions were Thomas De Gendt and Jeremy Roy. These 3 riders are very good when it comes to riding fast on a flat terrain, so they could arrive at the flamme rouge with a few seconds of advantage on the peloton. The escapers were really loyal to each other (none of them skipped his turn to pull and they didn't waste time looking at each other in the final meters of the race) and, in spite of the large, long road that led to the finish, they could cross the finish-line before of the peloton guys. Or, at least, that's what Thomas De Gendt and Jeremy Roy could do. Voigt in fact was outsprinted by Haussler, Sagan and Henderson and came 6th. De Gendt instead could raise his arms to the sky, while Roy got a second place.
However, is this just me, or was De Gendt wearing a Fugl-scarf during the race? On to today's stage of the race (which I'm off to see in 15 minutes time), it was won by Henderson in front of Goss, Galimzyanov (the boy is strong, I've already told you that!), Haussler and Sagan.
The stage was very nervous because there was strong wind and everyone wanted to stay at the front of the race. Vinokourov apparently made a great work at the front with his team (you've gotta love that man), while Frank Schleck and Jakob Fuglsang crashed. They both managed to end the race (Jakob arrived 1 minute after the winner) and they both seem likely to continue the race. Frank's crash was said to be 'without consequences', while Fuglsang's one as a bit more serious. I've found something about it on http://www.fyens.dk/article/1802006:Sport--Leopard-afskriver-Fuglsang-med-snitsaar and I tried to translate it with Google. According to it, Kim Andersen said that Jakob (why does Google keep on calling him 'James'?) 'got hurt seriously in a lot of places. He also had a deep cut in one hand, which bled a lot. However, he seems able to continue the race, although I don't know what his results will be. Jakob had to stop because Frank had crashed and, when he stopped, another rider hit him with his bike. Fuglsang's bike was damaged, so he needed a new one. After changing it, Jakob started to chase the peloton but, when he arrived at a roundabout, he entered it too fast and he fell'. Hopefully our boy will feel better soon.

Talking about other news, in the comment area of the previous post I mentioned Michael Matthews' victory in Vuelta a Murcia. You're not interested in knowing who won the overall title and the last stage, are you? Anyway, 3rd on the last stage (a ITT) was Denis Menchov (yay!!), second was the surprising Coppel, 4th was Dowsett, 5th Kiryenka and 6th was Saxo Banker Manuele Boaro, who is a very promising athlete.
As far as the second stage of the race is concerned, the only thing to know is that Menchov was second and Coppel 3rd.
Here above you have a picture of Menchov who, in spite of the great news he's received today, doesn't look that smiley. 'What great news?, I hear you ask. Simple: his team was invited to the Giro. Yay for Menchov!
The great thing is that Zomegnan managed to get the permission to invite 23 teams, and not 22, to the Italian Grand Tour, so that not only Geox will be riding in the Belpaese in May, but together with it and the other 18 ProTour teams there will be also Acqua&Sapone, Androni Gocattoli, Colnago-CSF and Farnese Vini (as I had predicted ;).

On to other news regarding Paris-Nice, Frank Schleck has said that, in his opinion, the race is likely to be won by Toni Martin. Vinokourov instead has said he'll go for a stage victory. Can't wait for that! In the meanwhile, I'm going to catch up with today's stage, whose broadcast is starting in 30 seconds time ;)

Have a good night everyone and don't forget to take a look at the comment area of my previous post. If you're interested in working at Leela, Mar, Marleen, Susanne and Fede's cycling blog, you're still on time to join us! ;)

(first picture by Bettini, second one by Isabelle Duchesne, third one by Rafa Gomez)

Team Leopard-Trek presentation:

To everyone's joy, miss Fede is back on her blog after an entertaining (and devasting) short holiday in Vienna. Many things have happened in the cycling world and in the Blogosphere over the last days, so let's start talking about them.
First of all, I want to say that I'm very sorry for the disappearance of the Schleckland blog. However, I'm sure that Cougar Girl had her good reasons to stop writing it and I think that she's not obliged to tell us what happened. Btw, I'd like to thank her here for the good time I had while reading her hilarious posts. I'm going to miss them a lot, CG, and I wish you all of the best for your future.

On to another issue, someone has recently come across my blog by writing 'radom' in Google. I'm astonished.
Anyway, let's now talk about some important events that happened last week. Or, better, let's talk about THE event that took place last week, aka Team Luxembourg's presentation. During it, we poor supporters finally discovered that the official name of the team is Team Leopard-Trek and we could finally see the team's kits. It was high time (and the guys in the pic below completely agree with me)!!

First of all, let's say that the presentation was attended by about 4000 fans and by Pat McQuaid in person. At the beginning the riders were wearing black suits and white shirts. None of them wore a tie, a thing that surprised me a bit. In fact, miss Fede has always loved men with suits and ties, mainly because that's what John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd were wearing in the Blues Brothers movie (my favourite film ever). Anyway, the Leopard riders accompanied their suits with some scarves. Talking about scarves, here you have a nice picture of Fuglsang, looking as lovely as usual at the presentation.
If you, like me, couldn't watch it live, on http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-leopard-trek-presentation-video there's a video of the presentation, which made me notice Kim Andersen's good German. From the vid the presentation looked very exciting, no doubts that the organisers did a very good job with it. However, why did the guy playing with the circle wear a zebra kit? It should have been a leopard kit, shouldn't it?
Anyway. Talking about the part of the show in which the riders were presented, it was very nice to see the new guys, especially the young 'unknown' ones.
Stefan Denifl looked really handsome, although I had the impression he was a bit embarassed. Martin Pedersen looked very nice too, although he looked short next to the woman who was presenting (she was wearing very high heels and that didn't help at all).
When the woman had to present Bennati and Viganò, she obviously pronounced those names in a pretty wrong way. Italian names aren't easy to pronounce, but here's a clue for everyone of you who'd like to say them correctly. First of all, the double 'n' in Bennati's name and the accent on Viganò's last 'o' aren't there just because they look good. They're there because you should stress the last 'o' of Davide's surname and because you should double the 'n' in Daniele's one. Oh, and since I'm talking about this boring subject, let me remind you that you should say Nìbali (and not Nibàli) and Cùnego (and not Cunégo). Ok?
Talking about Bello Benna, he looked very nice on the stage and the man who was presenting told him (in Italian) that he was a very handsome boy. What a funny man. Still talking about the riders on the stage, Brice Feillu looked taller than ever, while Fuglsang was incredibly lovely and made many fangirls melt (right Leela and Mar?).
The Schleck brothers were the last guys to be presented, together with Fabian Cancellara. The brothers received great applauses, that were completely deserved. They got on the stage with their new bikes and I must say that I really do like them (although light blue isn't actually one of my favourite colours).Let's now talk briefly about the team kits. I'm not that keen on classic looks, therefore I find the new jerseys boring and unoriginal. Moreover, I don't like the national champions jerseys at all (how are we supposed to recognise those riders during the races?). But still, the designers were intelligent enough to use black shorts and they didn't make a complete disaster. So, I think we can all have a sigh of relief now that we've seen the new kit, which isn't as horrible as Footon Servetto's 2010 one. In addition, I predict we'll get used to it in few weeks time.My last thought about the team presentation is that it looked as if there was a very thrilling atmosphere in Luxembourg that night. It was pretty strange to realise this, because it doesn't happen often to feel such strong emotions while watching a video on the computer. Actually, while watching the replay of the presentation I had the feeling that a big new adventure has begun. If I feel this way and I'm just a supporter, I can't imagine how the guys on the team must feel now...
So, this was the long awaited presentation of team Leopard-Trek. My post doesn't probably add anything new to what has already been said/written/thought about it over the last days, also because I've come back in contact with the cycling world just today. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it anyway. As I said, a new big adventure has just begun- and now, finally, it is true racing time.

(pictures from Bettini and Cyclingnews)

Team Luxembourg's mistery, Saxo Bank's training camp in Didier and Sorensen's words:

Hear ye, hear ye- and be part of this blogger's joy: miss Fede has no homeworks for tomorrow (it's the first time since September that I can write this sentence!!) and so she's going to write a new random post. Happiness!
So, first of all, let's talk a bit about Team Luxembourg. Or whatever its name will be. In fact, yesterday the team's name mistery was apparently solved by our dear Jakob Fuglsang, who told Cyclingnews that the new squadra was going to be called 'Team Leopard'. Moreover, he added that the team kit should have a classical design and should also have a big leopard printed on it.
This news had actually got me in despair, since the idea of screaming 'Go go Leopards!' to my favourite riders for the next 4 years doesn't actually appeal that much to me. About the leopard on the kit, well, I would have bet they would have printed the Luxembourg lion on it, instead I was wrong. How strange.
Btw this morning Brian Nygaard denied the news that Jakob had given yesterday and he said that, to know the true name of the team, we'll have to wait until the 5th of January. Now, let's reflect a bit about this.

Some weeks ago, Nygaard had already said that the team wasn't going to be called 'Team Leopard'. Therefore, after reading Fuglsang's words, me was a bit sceptical about them and that's why I didn't publish the news immediately. In fact, Nygaard has denied it earlier today.

But still, me smells a rat about this story. I mean: Jakob seems an intelligent guy, so I don't think he said that name, 'Team Leopard', completely by chance. Moreover, me was a bit disturbed by Nygaard's reaction. In fact not only did he deny the news immediately, but he also seemed a bit angry on his Twitter. In fact there he said it was time people stopped all these speculation about the team's name and he added that we have to wait until the 5th of January if we want to know more about the team.

The little problem is that, unfortunately, the day of the team presentation I will be in Austria, with no Internet connection. Does this mean that I'll have to wait until the 10th of January just to know the name of m favourite riders' team and what their new kits will look like? Gosh, don't people at team Lux realise that we've been waiting for these details since August?

I had already got fed up by this 'secret-mania' in September, so you can imagine how I feel about it right now. And the funny thing is that Nygaard also got angry at those who speculate about the new name of the team. Ask yourself some questions, dear.

Still talking about the secret-mania: everyone talked about Crans Montana's training camp in a very happy and entusiasthic way, but no one mentioned that O'Grady crashed while skiing and broke two ribs (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ogrady-set-for-tour-down-under-in-spite-of-skiing-accident ). Now, if I'm on a training camp and one of the people who are there with me breaks 2 ribs while skiing, I wouldn't probably talk about said training camp in very euphoric terms. But still, guys at team Lux didn't mention O'Grady's injury until yesterday. And, still talking about that training camp, I haven't seen any 'official' picture from it yet.

Did I miss something or are the only pictures of the training camps the ones that the riders posted on Twitter? Is someone else fed up by this secret-mania, or is it just a product of my impatient imagination?
Anyway, back to the name's mistery, Frank Schleck has recently given an interview to Tageblatt (which appeared also on Cyclingnews) in which he said: ”I like 'Team Lëtzebuerg' (as a new name for the team)”. I have to admit I like it too, although almost everything is better than team Leopard. I mean, leopards are cute (see pic below), but I just can't imagine to see my favourite riders being called 'leopards' in every single race of next year. That would be a bit disturbing, imo.

On http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/frank-schleck-eager-for-2011-season-with-number-one-team , Frank also talked about the new team in a very entusiasthic way. He also said that Linus Gerdemann is a nice guy. This is funny, since Chris Anker Sorensen actually can't stand poor Linus and also said that, in the peloton, Gerdemann hasn't got so many friends.
In the interview Frank also said: “We can't wait until things finally start and we can finally do what which we do best – that is, ride races.” I can't wait either!

SAXO BANK NEWS...
Talking about the other team, Saxo Bank, on http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/news/dossier/%20newsletter/story/28605173 there's a nice interview with Laurent Didier, one of the riders who didn't follow los Schlecks in their new team. This is actually a bit strange, since Laurent is Luxembourgian and Frank Schleck praised his skills last year.
Talking about the training camp in Fuerteventura, Laurent said that everything went well - in other words, no one broke anything. Didier also said that at first the Spaniards had remained a bit on their own, while in the following days he spent a lot of time with Navarro. The Luxembourgian also claimed that the training camp was also a good chance to practise English. Considering that I need to practise my spoken English too, can I join you in your next training camp too? I'm small and tidy! ;)
Talking about los Schleck brothers, Laurent said that they're good friends of his, but that he's paid by Saxo Bank and so he's riding for them also in 2011. He also adds that he had been in contact with Kim Andersen, but then Riis didn't want him to leave the team and so he decided to respect his contract. 'This is normal when you're a pro cyclist', said Laurent, who ended the interview by saying that he doesn't want to talk about a possible team change in 2012 yet.

Still talking about Saxo Bank's training camp, Chris Anker Sorensen wrote a very funny (as usual) post about it. Here's a little translation of it.
'Morkov and I chatted about the fact that we were happy that, during this camp, we did not have to sleep on some mountains with BS in a rainy weather. It goes without saying that this year's team building was very different from the survival camps with BS. I would say that both camps have their advantages and I can't actually decide what the best training camp method is (...)', Chris wrote about the survival camps.
Then he talked about the different things he did during this year camp. Talking about the strange human pyramids and things like that, he said: 'We may use some of the things we have learned in the training camp during the presentations of some of the 2011 races . For example, we could build a human pyramid, a thing on which we are quite keen now. One thing that none of us really liked instead was kitesurfing. We all went down like flies. I kept on checking whether my falling teammates were going to land on my head (ndt: there may be something wrong in this sentence, since Google Translater translates it in a very strange way :P). Surfing was much better, I really liked it and I think I could do it again. However I was a little annoyed by the fact that, between all the clips in which I was surfing perfectly, TV2 chose to broadcast one of the few ones in which I was having some troubles'.
Then Chris said something about being a 'culture bearer' of Cycling. Or, at least, that's what Google said that Chris wrote. Shall I trust the damn thing or not? Mistery.
Then Chris said: "Also this year we played some tennis (...). Our doubles matches Vandborg / Chris Anker vs. Morkov / Nicki always ended up with a victory for Vandborg and me, mainly because of Brian's skills. If a sport consisting of tennis, badminton, table tennis and cycling existed, Vandborg would be a champion in it".
The guys also had apnea lessons during the training camp and Chris wrote: "I started the training as the absolute worst hold breather, in fierce competition with our Pole Jaroslaw. In fact, we got an impressive result of 15 and 16 seconds in the first attempt we did of holding our breathes. After three days of training however I improved my performances and could hold my breath for 1:45. I could have probably reached the goal of the 2 min, if JJ and I hadn't swum into each other".
Surprisingly, Chris ends his post by wishing everyone a merry Santa Lucia. This is the proof that Chris knows what Santa Lucia is - and this makes me like him even more.
However, I've already talked too much for today. So here I close this random post too.

PS: I obviously offer my condolences to the family of Aldo Sassi. He was a great man, a 'living biologic passport', as Pastonesi called him on today's Gazzetta, and cycling has lost a great personality after his death. Rest in peace Aldo.

ProTour licenses, some riders heading to Saxo Bank, article about Fuglsang, fangirlistic videos ad more:

In spite of all the problems miss Fede has had over the last days (her telephone doesn't ring anymore, her wallet pretended to disappear making her feel desperate, Logic forced her to swallow her pride a few times in order to stop childish battles), here she is with a post about what's been going on in Cycledom over the last days.
First of all, you probably know that today UCI announced which the 2011 ProTour teams are.
On http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/507898/uci-announces-2011-proteams-early.html you can find a list of all ProTour and continental teams, which I write below in case you're too lazy to click on the link above:
UCI ProTeams
Ag2r (FRA)
Garmin-Cervélo (USA)
Katusha (RUS)
Lampre-ISD (ITA)
Omega Pharma-Lotto (BEL)
Quick Step (BEL)
Rabobank (NED)
Saxo Bank SunGard (DEN)
Sky ProCycling (GBR)
Team RadioShack (USA)

ProTeams renewed or received its first licence
BMC Racing Team (SUI) 2011-2014
Euskaltel-Euskadi (ESP) 2011-2012
HTC-Highroad (USA) 2011-2014
Liquigas-Cannondale (ITA) 2011-2014
Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project (LUX) 2011-2014
Movistar Team (ESP) 2011-2013
Pro Team Astana (KAZ) 2011-2013
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro (NED) 2011-2013

I'm very glad to see that Euskaltel managed to get its Pro Tour license also this year, while I'm simply entusiasthic about knowing that Vacansoleil now is a ProTour team too. This means we'll see a lot of breakaways starring Johnny Hoogerland in 2011 GTs and this is something I'm really looking forward.
Btw, one important name is missing from the list above: Geox in fact didn't manage to get a ProTour license. This news ruined Fangirl's day, since now it isn't known whether Denis Menchov will be able to take part in all the most important races of the world next year. Stupid ProTour system.
Btw, if you thought that I had forgotten about the team of the Schleck's brothers, don't worry: dulcis in fundo, Team Luxembourg got a 4 year long Pro Tour license and this is a very exciting news for me. Btw I'm also glad to know that Saxo Bank got a ProTour license too, since for Bjarne failing to reach this little target would have probably been the most terrible blow of the last 12 months (at least imo).
Talking about Team Luxembourg, Brian Nygaard said that he's obviously satisfied with this new Pro Tour license (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brian-nygaard-weve-done-our-homework ). However he added that he's not going to reveal the main sponsor of the team before of January and he also said that the final line up of the team will be known soon. Imo I've already been waiting a bit too long for knowing these details, but probably guys at 'Team Luxembourg-Schleck the best, fuck the rest' think that all this mistery is good for the team. Let them believe so then.

However, here's the line up of the team so far. Nice to see that there are some young Italians too!
Will Clarke (Genesys Wealth Advisors), Stefan Denifl (Cervelo), Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil), Daniele Bennati (Liquigas), Davide Viganò (Team Sky), Giacomo Nizzolo (neo), Bruno Pires (Barbot Siper), Maxime Monfort (HTC-Columbia), Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step), Dominic Klemme (Saxo Bank), Linus Gerdemann (Milram), Fabian Wegmann (Milram), Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank), Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank), Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank), Anders Lund (Saxo Bank), Martin Mortensen (Vacansoleil), Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank)

And now, to celebrate this happy news, I'd suggest you all taking a look at the old vid here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH6EV3mjofI&feature=player_embedded . It lasts just 15 seconds and, if you haven't seen it before, it is very likely to make your day. I know that the oldest supporters have probably already seen it (I first saw it back in 2008), but I also know that some of my readers in 2008 didn't even know who Andy Schleck was (nothing bad in it, don't worry; I'm not going to begin an 'I'm the oldest Schleck fan of the Blogosphere!' fight ;) and so this vid might be very enjoyable for them. Moreover, it contains the official anthem of Andy's supporters from all over the world: Allez Andy, allez Andy, allez Andy...

Anyway, let's now forget about Andy for a while and let's talk about Saxo Bank. Although Andy and Frank have left the team, I won't start ignoring SB completely from now on, especially because Chris Sorensen is one of the few guys who've remained faithful to Bjarne over the last months (and, if you still hadn't realised it, Chris is one of my 3 favourite riders).

This evening I'm writing about this team because I wanted to inform you that between the guys who are racing for SB next year there will be also Tosatto (he was the best Italian rider in Melbourne in my opinion), Gustov and the young Italian Manuele Boaro. It's nice to see young Italian boys turning professional with such important teams like SB and Team Lux, and I think it is also a great relief to know that Tosatto has finally found a new contract for next year. He completely deserved it!

Talking about SB, on http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/entry388829.html there's the latest entry of Chris Sorensen's blog. In it the Dane says bad things about a book that he's recently read ('it took me a lot to read it, not because it was in English but because it was very bad') and he also expresses his surprise at discovering that we Italians call 'Russian salad' the Italian salad (or, at least, that's what my translater says). This makes me wonder: does a salad that foreign people call 'Italian salad' actually exist, or is Google Translater translating worse than usual?

To close this post, then, here's a link about Jakob Fuglsang: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/6440/Jakob-Fuglsang-dreaming-of-Tour-de-France-leadership.aspx .
Here instead there's a vid ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1YPlkTFd_U ) that Mar (thank you girl!) pointed out to us some days ago. It is probably one of the most fangirlistic videos that I've ever seen and I'm sure that Cancellara, Fuglsang and Schlecks' s supporters are going to enjoy it very much :)

That's all for now, good night to everyone.

PS: As you probably know, on this blog it is possible to leave comments even if you don't own any Google account. In that case, the comments will appear as written by an Anonimo.

Over the last days I've noticed an increase of the 'Anonimos' commentators on this blog. Since talking to different Anonimos without knowing whether they are the same anonimos that wrote to me some days before is a bit strange, I have a little favour to ask you: if you don't own any Google account, could you please sign your comments? I don't want to know your true names, a number or a letter would be enough. You know, I'd like to know if I'm always talking to the same person or if there are different Anonimos around this blog ;)

Thank you very much for the attention and wish you all (again) a good night :)

Picspam time: wonderful pictures of Jakob Fuglsang (kindly offered us by Mar)!

Dear readers, as you may think, winter is a hard time for us bloggers: there are no daily interesting news, there are no races, we have to study/work a lot without the distraction of cycling... And things can even get worse when, after watching Tim De Waele/Corvos' pictures from Curaçao, you realise that those two photographers took very few photos of Jakob Fuglsang, one of the best (and hottest) riders of Cycledom (and great friend of Andy Schleck too).

To put a remedy to this lack of pictures from Curaçao, our great blogmate Mar has sent me some amazing pictures of Jakob that I had never seen before. They're very nice, so I owe a big 'THANK YOU!!!' to our friend Mar (thank you very much, these pictures really made the day of this Fangirl =)

And now, let's enjoy the view girls!

First of all, here's a picture of Jakob looking very cool and lovely. As Mar pointed out, the boy's got a nice fashion sense (Dolce& Gabbana's scarf, a simple t-shirt, nice shoes...). Andy, I think we've found you a new personal shopper! ;)

Another nice pic of Jakob, still wearing very cool clothes. And the landscape is very nice too.
Jakob and Andy Schleck at sea (or, at least, I think so). Again, very good clothes' choice (and very skinny legs ;).
Our boy's putting a wheel on his bike and showing us that he knows how to wear jeans.Can we help you, Jakob? ;) What a lovely smile!
In the picture below, you can see Jakob's wearing the new Team Luxembourg kit (I'm joking). I love his expression and the bike he's riding (the pink bell is great)!
Jakob laughing at a joke.
Jakob wearing the infamous Claudia Schiffer's t-shirts, but looking very good anyway.

The famous 'zzzzzz I'm sleeping' picture. Let's just hope that our boy didn't fall of the couch ;)
And a last pic of Jakob...I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I did. Jakob is very good-looking and so it' always nice to see pictures of his. The comments I made to the pictures may sound a bit too fangirlistic, but I'm a girl who hasn't seen any cycling race for the last 20 days, therefore, I beg you to be clement with me.

Before of ending this post, however, I thank Mar once again. She made a great work by collecting the pictures and she also gave me inspiration as far as the pictures' captions are concerned. Thank you again girl!

PS: as I said in the first lines of this post, I've run out of ideas lately, so if any of you readers have some ideas for new posts, feel free to tell me!

First pictures from Curaçao are here!

To the joy of us Fangirls, the first pictures from Curaçao have finally appeared on the Net. They were made by CorVos and they show us the Schleck brothers talking quietly around a table. And I must say that, although in these pictures they're not swimming with dolphins and they're not half-naked, the brothers offer us a very good show anyway ;)

Pictures from http://www.corvospro.com/arimages.aspx .

On Corvos' website there are also some pictures featuring Koos Moerenhout, who will retire from professional cycling right after Curaçao.
More pictures (Jakob and Andy included) can be seen at http://www.wielerland.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13736&Itemid=36 (Jakob's lovers, it worths watching!) ;)

Marketing Rumours about the Schleck Brothers (plus few random links):

"My first race today and I'm happy did good work 'til I pull out after 160, but my knee didn't hurt only in the end a bit so that's good!!!!! ".Yes,this is what Andy Schleck wrote on his Twitter 2 almost 2 days ago.
Considering that Andy's happy,I think all his supporters should feel more optmistic about his form.After all,if my memory doesn't fail me,also last year he had some problems with his knee (he even had to abandon Tirreno because of this) but then he managed to get over them in a great way,therefore I'm confident that Andy will be able to get good results in the April Classics,aka his first goal of the season.
Anyway,the main reason I'm writing this post is a rumour that appeared on today's La Gazzetta dello Sport.In fact,according to the newspaper,the Schleck brothers are going to create their own team next year.It seems that the team manager of this "Schleck-team" would be Marc Biver,whereas the first ds could be Kim Andersen and the first "marketing goal" would be a certain Fabian Cancellara.The newspaper then points out the fact that Bivier,58 year-old, Luxembourgian,was the man who after Operacion Puerto (2006) transformed Liberty Seguros into Astana-and we all know how it ended up with Astana in 2007 (for those of you who have forgotten the 2007 Tour de France,I write here 4 names: Kessler, Mazzoleni, Vinokourov, Kasheckin. What do they suggest you?).

Of course the journalist who wrote the article also pointed out Kim Andersen's past.In fact Kim was the first Danish rider to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France in 1983,but then he resulted positive to an antidoping test and therefore he got 1 year suspension.He soon started riding again,but in 1992 he resulted positive once again and this put an end to his career.
Talking about Cancellara,Fabian's contract with Riis ends in 2011,so he won't probably become a "Schleck rider" in 2011 (of course it isn't known whether the Schleckteam will become reality next year).
If the Schlecks abandoned Riis then Team Saxo Bank (or whatever its name will be next year) might be able to sign a contract with a certain rider named Alberto Contador.In fact Contador's contract with Astana ends in 2010,but his contract with Specialized expires at the end of 2011.In order to mantain a contract with the best Grand Tour rider of the world,Specialized could pay 7 million dollars (!) in order to allow Riis to sign a contract with the Spaniard.

Now,I know that all the things that I've written above (and that I've translated from La Gazzetta website) are fantaciclismo (unrealistic cycling),but I think that the Schleck supporters out there who don't understand Italian could be glad to read about this rumour.Why do I call it "rumour",and not "news"? Well,firstly I know that we Italian sometimes go too far with our fantasy.Secondly,I don't believe to what the Gazzetta wrote.Not that I believe they have made up everything,mind you.Simply,in my opinion,a "Schleckteam" may be created just in case Bjarne Riis doesn't find any new sponsor for 2011. Otherwise,I think that the Schlecks will stay with Uncle Bjarne also next year,since they always say they owe a lot to him.In fact I think that Andy and Frank would never leave Bjarne and try to steal him Andersen and Cancellara (not if they aren't forced to,at least) because they seem very honest guys to me (that's why I support them),and honest guys don't do this kind of things.
Of course,in the awful event that Bjarne doesn't find a new sponsor before of the end of the year,the Schlecks will have to change team and I believe that just in that case they may decide to create a "personal" team.After all,the brothers are really popular (at least in Luxembourg), and a Schleckteam would be sure to get a lot of attention from the medias and money from the sponsors very soon.And considering that also the other Saxo Bank riders/mechanics/ managers/ and so on will need a new team,some of them may even decide to follow the brothers at their new team.

Anyway,I realise that we are in March and we can't make prediction about marketing yet,so here I stop.Apropos: did you remember when I wrote that Italian people sometimes go too far with their fantasy? Well,now you've probably understood what I meant when I wrote that... ;)

SAXO BANK LINKS:
http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/ :Chris Sorensen has updated his blog and he seems to have good expectations for the Paris-Nice.Allez Chris!

http://www.riis-cycling.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=2690 :Johnny Bellis has finally been released from the hospital.

Totally fangirlistic link whose publication on this blog is completely disapproved by Logic : http://twitpic.com/16mfqo (Jakob Fuglsang's new haircut).

(Pic by Waldbillig)

Some random randomness while waiting to know more about Andy's retire in Giro del Friuli:

Finally,Andy Schleck began his season this afternoon at the Giro del Fruli.Little problem: he didn't finish the race.Since I haven't found any further information about Andy's retire during today's race (not yet,at least),Logic has offered 2 options to Fangirl:

1.Andy's still having problems with his knee.

2. 55 riders got retired.Since it's unlikely that all these riders had health problems,some of them may have got retired just because they didn't feel like ending the race.Perhaps Andy was one of them.

Since I think that Andy isn't that kind of rider that gets retired during races just because he doesn't feel like ending them,I'm tempted to think that his knee is still giving him problems.But since the Fangirl in me firmly refuses to believe this,I will pretend that everything's alright at least until I don't get more information about Andy's retire.

Talking about the race,I must say that the news about it are,in my opinion,a bit disappointing. For example,on the official website it is written that 114 riders finished the race,but at the same time in the list of riders who crossed the finish line there are just 109 names.Who got lost?
Anyway,the few things that I've understood about the race are following: first of all,the winner was Roberto Ferrari,who got his second victory in a row after the GP Lugano.I'm happy for him because he didn't get a lot of attention after his victory in GP Lugano,so this time he'll surely be able to attract more attention on his skills.Other things that I know:Ferrari outsprinted Guarnieri and Rossi,4th was Sacha Modolo,5th was Pozzato,6th was Paolini,7th was Dall'Antonia. Best Saxo Bank rider was Breschel,14th (complete classification: http://www.girodelfriuli%20professionisti.it/images/stories/2010/ordinearrivo2010.pdf ).Chris Sorensen was 70th,Larsson came some positions after him and the other SB riders don't appear at all in the final classification listed on the website.Did they (Fuglsang,Porte,N.Sorensen) all get retired? Or are they 3 of the 5 riders missing from the final race classification? That's a mistery that hopefully will be solved during the night or,at least,tomorrow.
Talking again about Andy,and trying not to think about a possible new problem with his knee,he wrote on his Twitter that today he was woken up at 7 am by the music of Eros Ramazzotti,put on by the race organisers.From his surprise for this fact,me has started to suspect that Andy hasn't spent any summer holiday in an Italian camping village yet.In fact,everyone who's been in an Italian camping village during the summer knows that Italian love putting on an Eros Ramazzotti cd and start playing it as loud as possible when they want to attract everyone's attention to something they're organising (the reasons of this habit are unknown).Italian people normally get used to this national strange behaviour after their first camping village holiday,but I imagine that for non-Italian people this must apper as a very strange and absurd thing. Anyway,non-Italian people will be happy to know that in Italy there are also normal people (like me ;) who don't feel the need of putting on a cd every time they organise something.

RANDOM LINKS:

If you,like me,have some time to lose while you're waiting to know more about Andy's retire, here are some random links and 2 non-cyclistic random randomness that you might feel like reading.
Random Randomness n.1: The Italian athletes who took part in the Olympic Games 2010 (few names excluded) owe a lot of thanks to mister Giuliano Razzoli from Razzolo,new Olympic Champion in slalom,for moving the whole nation from the "why are we sucking so much?" feeling to the "Yay we are the best (at least in skiing)!!!" mood.
Random Randomness n.2: this morning,after a 2 hours long essay about Beccaria and the capital punishment,my faithful looking glasses broke.The specialist said there was nothing to do to repair them,so now I have to go 'round the house wearing my grandmother's looking glasses,feeling like a mole,and thinking about the glorious life of my poor looking glasses,whose lens allowed me to notice Andy Schleck and Chris Anker Sorensen in the good old 2007 days.

Saxo Bank Link n.1: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/fuglsang-hopes-his-early-season-woes-are-over :I really do hope Fuglsang's problems are over,because he's a rider that me pretty likes.

Saxo Bank Link n.2: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/le-samyn-1-1/results : Le Samyn was won by Jens Keukeleire.Second was Joseph,third was Pineau,4th was Hutarovich.Best Saxo Banker was Jonas Aaen Jorgensen,7th (me has started to like this rider!).Also Didier got a good result (40th),whereas Jaroslaw Marycz tried to break away from the group but unfortunately he didn't have any luck and ended the race in 75th.Also Alex Rasmussen entered a breakaway at the beginning of the race,but he was eventually caught.

Random Link: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riccos-believes-the-tifosi-are-on-his-side : "I think my real fans see me as a 23-year-old who made a mistake but who can't wait to see him race again.That's how I see it.Of course there are other kinds of cycling fans but that's the way I see things",Riccò said.I guess it's useless to highlight the fact that I belong to the "other kind of cycling fans" category (is it a bad thing,me wonders?).

Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne: The "relatively unknown" (is it an euphonism?) Bobbie Traksel won the Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne ahead of Flens and Stannard.If someone has betted on this podium,how much money has they won?!?

(Pic by Waldbillig)

Chris Anker has renewed his contract (plus few other random things):

Although the Tour Down Under has begun,I'm not going to talk about it because I haven't found any tv broadcast of that race yet and so I can't write anything interesting or new about it.By the way,I know that Greipel has won the first 2 stages and I also know that Greg Henderson won the Adelaide City Councer Classic.
Anyway,today this egoistic blogger has got some random stuff about Riis Cycling team.First of all,a pic of the new kit has appeared on Jakob Fuglsang's twitter (http://%20tweetphoto.com/%209075522 ).I like the new kit really much and I'm glad to realise that I'm not the only one that takes pics of herself by standing in front of a mirror (little differences between me and Jakob: my "camera" isn't so glamorous as his and I will never publish a pic of myself taken by myself because of ideological reasons).
Second (and most) important thing of the day: Chris Anker Sorensen has renewed his contract (http://www.riis-cycling.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=2619) with Riis-Cycling.On the team website there is a little article about the contract's renew and here's a part of it:

“Chris has an obvious potential which he repeatedly has been demonstrating at top level throughout the season. He has been through a really exciting development this last year and extending his contract with another three years was natural to me. In May, the time is ripe for him to even have a chance of running his own chance as a leader of the Team Saxo Bank line-up for the Giro d'Italia, “says team owner Bjarne Riis from the training camp on Furteventura.

“I am extremely pleased to extend my contract so I can stay with the Team for another three years. The amazing team spirit and the way Bjarne and the rest of the team thinks ahead and innovatively with an eye for the best equipment and training methods is beneficial to my future development and I know that I can continue that development at Team Saxo Bank. I will, to some degree, continue to fill out the role as a helper for the Schlecks but I am also grateful to Bjarne for letting me take on the role as a captain in the Giro d'Italia, "says Chris Anker Sørensen, adding:" As a Dane, I am, of course, proud to continue at a major Danish team.Chris' new contract expires by the end of 2012 (just like the rest of the world,at least according to some old prophecies and things like that),so we'll be able to see him racing in Riis team at least for other 3 years.

Talking about Chris Anker,in the last days he found the time to update his blog (http://blog-dyn.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/ ) with a post that has a very clear title:"It feels a bit like Christmas when the Oakley men come to visit us".After all,"The Oakley men are coming to Fuerteventura" sounds a bit like: "Santa Claus is coming to town"...

Chris also says that some tests have showed that he improved his watt power in the last 12 months.Of course,if Chris was sir Lancelot,we would have read this news not just on the Internet,but on every cycling magazine of the world.Sorry for this comparison,but when some newspapers dedicate a one page article to sir Lancelot and give it a name like "Lance says: 'I'm stronger than last year",me can't avoid to think that it should be natural for "the man of the comeback" to feel stronger than he did in 2009,but probably I'm the only one that sees things in this way and so here I stop because,after all,there must be a reason for this fact.