After two days spent between San Pellegrino and Bergamo, stalking Smiley Menchov and bringing bad luck to Pinotti and Lewis, here I'm back again, resuming the last 3 stages of the race.
Morbegno- San Pellegrino Terme
Pinotti and the other Bergamask riders really wanted to win this stage, which ended in a villagethat is famous worldwide because of its mineral water. Actually, at the beginning of the 19th century San Pellegrino was also a very famous holiday location and its 'Grand Hotel' hosted members of the Romanoff and of the Savoia families, as well as celebrities like Maria Callas and Federico Fellini, the football players of Helenio Herrera's Inter and Italian poets like Quasimodo and Montale.
Anyway, back to the Giro. Amongst the Bergamasks who tried their luck on Thursday there were Carrara, Vanotti and Pinotti. Possoni remained hidden in the peloton, whereas the Sicilian Tiralongo decided to attack too (he lives near San Pellegrino as well).
The first hour of race was really fast (the riders had an average speed of 53 kmph) because everyone wanted to enter a breakaway. Eventually, in Bergamo Alta some riders managed to escape from the peloton. They were Carlos Sastre (he's aliveeee!), Oscar Gatto, Gianluca Brambilla, Russel Downing, Bram Tankink, Jerome Pineau, Paolo Tiralongo, Marco Pinotti, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Jan Bakelandts and Eros Capecchi.
On Passo Ganda (and not 'Gandalf') just Seeldrayers, Capecchi and Pinotti managed to remain at the head of the race. The trio reached San Pellegrino with a minute of advantage on Brambilla and Tiralongo, so they had a lot of time to 'study' each other. In the end, the victory was decided by a sprint, won by Capecchi.
This was the first professional victory for Eros, who comes from a family of farmers and who, according to Gazzetta, is 'so handsome that every day even the podium misses turn their heads towards him as he rides towards the start'. Eros gave us a very emotional moment after the stage, when he burst into tears after remembering his grandfather, who died 5 years ago, and his cousin Rudi, who died last winter at 18.
In the meanwhile, Pinotti did look disappointed, but he was also very happy because the people on the road (including the 5 inhabitants of Tagliata, one of the least populated village of Italy) supported him in a great way.
I'll just tell you that, when he reached the spot where I was staying, I screamed 'Go go Marco!!!' as loud as I could. In spite of my effort (and in spite of hurting one of my vocal chords while doing that), I couldn't even hear my voice, such was the noise made by the crowd. And then, as soon as we got the news of Capecchi's victory, everyone stopped screaming and talking. But still, we were all very proud and happy - both for Pinotti and for Eros.
Bergamo - Macugnaga:
On the following day, me went to the start in Bergamo. Amongst the riders I saw there were Pinotti and Lewis, who were really kind with me and with the other supporters. I got Craig's autograph (he was really nice with me) and I wished Marco good luck, happy because I had also managed to take a pic with him.
However, as soon as I got home I learned that Marco had broken his 'acetabolo', which is the part of the femur that ends in the pelvis. Ooops...
A few seconds later, my dad told me that also an American teammate of Marco had crashed. 'What? Don't tell me...It wasn't Lewis, right?', I asked, worried. 'No, it wasn't. Or perhaps...No no, you're right, it was Craig Lewis, he broke his femur', he said, putting an end to my hopes. Well, at least now I know that I'll have to avoid the HTC bus for a lot of time now :P
The Macugnaga stage saw the victory of Tiralongo, who eventually got his first (deserved) victory as a pro at the tender age of 34. For that result he really has to thank His Majesty Contador, who let him win the stage (Alberto and Paolo are really good friends).
Contador yesterday had a very good reason to be happy, since his trial has been postponed. Therefore Riis is already talking about bringing him to the Tour, causing great despair amongst cycling fans, who don't want to see Alberto ruling another Grand Tour in such a boring way
Verbania-Sestriere:
Pinotti and the other Bergamask riders really wanted to win this stage, which ended in a villagethat is famous worldwide because of its mineral water. Actually, at the beginning of the 19th century San Pellegrino was also a very famous holiday location and its 'Grand Hotel' hosted members of the Romanoff and of the Savoia families, as well as celebrities like Maria Callas and Federico Fellini, the football players of Helenio Herrera's Inter and Italian poets like Quasimodo and Montale.
Anyway, back to the Giro. Amongst the Bergamasks who tried their luck on Thursday there were Carrara, Vanotti and Pinotti. Possoni remained hidden in the peloton, whereas the Sicilian Tiralongo decided to attack too (he lives near San Pellegrino as well).
The first hour of race was really fast (the riders had an average speed of 53 kmph) because everyone wanted to enter a breakaway. Eventually, in Bergamo Alta some riders managed to escape from the peloton. They were Carlos Sastre (he's aliveeee!), Oscar Gatto, Gianluca Brambilla, Russel Downing, Bram Tankink, Jerome Pineau, Paolo Tiralongo, Marco Pinotti, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Jan Bakelandts and Eros Capecchi.
On Passo Ganda (and not 'Gandalf') just Seeldrayers, Capecchi and Pinotti managed to remain at the head of the race. The trio reached San Pellegrino with a minute of advantage on Brambilla and Tiralongo, so they had a lot of time to 'study' each other. In the end, the victory was decided by a sprint, won by Capecchi.
This was the first professional victory for Eros, who comes from a family of farmers and who, according to Gazzetta, is 'so handsome that every day even the podium misses turn their heads towards him as he rides towards the start'. Eros gave us a very emotional moment after the stage, when he burst into tears after remembering his grandfather, who died 5 years ago, and his cousin Rudi, who died last winter at 18.
In the meanwhile, Pinotti did look disappointed, but he was also very happy because the people on the road (including the 5 inhabitants of Tagliata, one of the least populated village of Italy) supported him in a great way.I'll just tell you that, when he reached the spot where I was staying, I screamed 'Go go Marco!!!' as loud as I could. In spite of my effort (and in spite of hurting one of my vocal chords while doing that), I couldn't even hear my voice, such was the noise made by the crowd. And then, as soon as we got the news of Capecchi's victory, everyone stopped screaming and talking. But still, we were all very proud and happy - both for Pinotti and for Eros.
Bergamo - Macugnaga:
On the following day, me went to the start in Bergamo. Amongst the riders I saw there were Pinotti and Lewis, who were really kind with me and with the other supporters. I got Craig's autograph (he was really nice with me) and I wished Marco good luck, happy because I had also managed to take a pic with him.
However, as soon as I got home I learned that Marco had broken his 'acetabolo', which is the part of the femur that ends in the pelvis. Ooops...
A few seconds later, my dad told me that also an American teammate of Marco had crashed. 'What? Don't tell me...It wasn't Lewis, right?', I asked, worried. 'No, it wasn't. Or perhaps...No no, you're right, it was Craig Lewis, he broke his femur', he said, putting an end to my hopes. Well, at least now I know that I'll have to avoid the HTC bus for a lot of time now :P
The Macugnaga stage saw the victory of Tiralongo, who eventually got his first (deserved) victory as a pro at the tender age of 34. For that result he really has to thank His Majesty Contador, who let him win the stage (Alberto and Paolo are really good friends).
Contador yesterday had a very good reason to be happy, since his trial has been postponed. Therefore Riis is already talking about bringing him to the Tour, causing great despair amongst cycling fans, who don't want to see Alberto ruling another Grand Tour in such a boring way
Verbania-Sestriere:
Today's stage was another tough one. The riders had to face Colle delle Finestre, where Savoldelli won the 2005 Giro. Colle delle Finestre is about 20 kms long, has 45 (45!) hairpin turns and it isn't completely asphalted. The scenery, as usual, was great, although I don't know how some supporters could watch the race from the top of the mountains.
The riders who went on a breakaway this afternoon were Yaroslav Popovych, Kevin Seeldrayers (again!), Eduard Vorganov (who didn't pull a meter), Angel Vicioso, Frederik Veuchelen, Luca Mazzanti, Josep Jufre, Vasil Kiryienka, Sebastian Lang, Cristiano Salerno, Diego Ulissi (this time it was him who complained about Vorganov's lack of collaboration, and not the opposite), Carlos Betancourt (the youngest rider of the race) and Miguel Minguez.
On Colle delle Finestre Kiryenka abandoned his companions, whereas Szmyd set the pace at the front of the peloton (welcome back at the front, Sylwester!). Rujano attacked a lot of times and eventually managed to escape the group of the best riders. He wasn't the only one who absolutely wanted to break free this afternoon. In fact, Kruijswijk often attacked in order to annoy (and possibly drop) Kreuziger, while Gadret wanted to drop Nibali and Menchov attacked in order to improve his GC placement (no, I didn't wish him good luck when I saw him the other day :P).
Eventually, the ones who got the worst consequences from this stage were Sivstov and Nieve. Poor Kanstantin arrived 9 minutes after the winner, whereas Nieve arrived 1 minute before him. However, we must point out that the winner, aka the amazing Kiryenka, won with 6 minutes of advantage on Contador, Scarponi and the other GC riders.
Vasil was really moved towards the finish-line and he dedicated his victory to his fallen teammate Tondo (*sobs*). After the stage, Kiryenka admitted that he had worn his looking glasses in order to hide the tears.
Vasil is a really good rider and I think one can't help liking him. This rider from Belarus in fact has a very tough past, since in 1986 he lived near Chernobyl. As a consequence of the nuclear disaster, he lost both his parents and his brother. And the other day, he even lost a teammate. "This was the best way to remember a teammate that was with us only for this season, but yet seemed to have been here for so much time,” Kiryenka said after the stage. “We decided that the best form to pay him tribute was staying into the Giro, and I think we made a good choice because winning in such a hard mountain stage and from such a long break, it was a kind of winning that he liked so much”. Joaquim Rodriguez, interviewed after the race, didn't feel like commenting about Xavier's death, since he was a very close friend of his.
Back to the race, Kruijswijk, Gadret and Scarponi managed to gain a few seconds on Nibali and Kreuziger. This last rider made me close my eyes a few times during the descent from Colle delle Finestre, since he really risked a lot there.
Second in the stage (4'43" down on Kiryenka) was Rujano, whereas third was the promising Betancourt. Dupont (yes, I know you're all rooting for him now) was 12th, Brambilla 13th and Nieve 17th. 64 riders ended the race 42" after the winner.
So, these were the last 3 stages of the race. Tomorrow there will be the last stage of the Corsa Rosa, which is taking place in Milan (I can't go, desperation!). Let's hope it'll be an exciting one! (and please Denis, do not crash, really, I don't want a heart attack!)
Pic 1 by Sirotti, 2 by Scanferla, 3 by Bettini
The riders who went on a breakaway this afternoon were Yaroslav Popovych, Kevin Seeldrayers (again!), Eduard Vorganov (who didn't pull a meter), Angel Vicioso, Frederik Veuchelen, Luca Mazzanti, Josep Jufre, Vasil Kiryienka, Sebastian Lang, Cristiano Salerno, Diego Ulissi (this time it was him who complained about Vorganov's lack of collaboration, and not the opposite), Carlos Betancourt (the youngest rider of the race) and Miguel Minguez.
On Colle delle Finestre Kiryenka abandoned his companions, whereas Szmyd set the pace at the front of the peloton (welcome back at the front, Sylwester!). Rujano attacked a lot of times and eventually managed to escape the group of the best riders. He wasn't the only one who absolutely wanted to break free this afternoon. In fact, Kruijswijk often attacked in order to annoy (and possibly drop) Kreuziger, while Gadret wanted to drop Nibali and Menchov attacked in order to improve his GC placement (no, I didn't wish him good luck when I saw him the other day :P).
Eventually, the ones who got the worst consequences from this stage were Sivstov and Nieve. Poor Kanstantin arrived 9 minutes after the winner, whereas Nieve arrived 1 minute before him. However, we must point out that the winner, aka the amazing Kiryenka, won with 6 minutes of advantage on Contador, Scarponi and the other GC riders.
Vasil was really moved towards the finish-line and he dedicated his victory to his fallen teammate Tondo (*sobs*). After the stage, Kiryenka admitted that he had worn his looking glasses in order to hide the tears.
Vasil is a really good rider and I think one can't help liking him. This rider from Belarus in fact has a very tough past, since in 1986 he lived near Chernobyl. As a consequence of the nuclear disaster, he lost both his parents and his brother. And the other day, he even lost a teammate. "This was the best way to remember a teammate that was with us only for this season, but yet seemed to have been here for so much time,” Kiryenka said after the stage. “We decided that the best form to pay him tribute was staying into the Giro, and I think we made a good choice because winning in such a hard mountain stage and from such a long break, it was a kind of winning that he liked so much”. Joaquim Rodriguez, interviewed after the race, didn't feel like commenting about Xavier's death, since he was a very close friend of his.
Back to the race, Kruijswijk, Gadret and Scarponi managed to gain a few seconds on Nibali and Kreuziger. This last rider made me close my eyes a few times during the descent from Colle delle Finestre, since he really risked a lot there. Second in the stage (4'43" down on Kiryenka) was Rujano, whereas third was the promising Betancourt. Dupont (yes, I know you're all rooting for him now) was 12th, Brambilla 13th and Nieve 17th. 64 riders ended the race 42" after the winner.
So, these were the last 3 stages of the race. Tomorrow there will be the last stage of the Corsa Rosa, which is taking place in Milan (I can't go, desperation!). Let's hope it'll be an exciting one! (and please Denis, do not crash, really, I don't want a heart attack!)
Pic 1 by Sirotti, 2 by Scanferla, 3 by Bettini
