A Fangirl in Mendrisio:

The first thing I saw on Sunday morning,the day of the Men Road Race at the World Championships of Mendrisio,was my alarm clock.It was ringing and it was showing me that it was just 6.45 am.Normally,when I wake up so early,some questions like "Why am I doing this? And why can't I go where I have to go in the afternoon?" always strike my mind.On Sunday instead I didn't ask myself anything:I knew that I had to get up that early if I wanted to arrive in Mendrisio before of the start of the race,and I was really excited at the idea of seeing my favourite riders "live".

30 minutes after getting up I was in a car,heading towards Chiasso.As soon as my family and I got there,we got off the car,walked towards Switzerland,entered in Switzerland by foot (that was cool!),got into the train station and got on the first train to Mendrisio.
As soon as we arrived in Mendrisio,my family and I started to walk towards the start of the race. At a certain point we heard some people screaming and we noticed a bus riding on the road in front of us.It was a bus like the ones that people normally use when they go on a school trip,so I was pretty surprised when I realised that the vehicle was actually carrying the Italian riders to the race start.The Italian tifosi (there were plenty of them around) of course became really excited and started to scream things like "Bravo Cunego!","Forza Ragazzi!","Andiamo a fare poker!".After a while some people started to scream "Paolo you're the best!","Paolo please give me your autograph!" and Logic got a bit confused."Who's Paolo?",she started to ask herself.

The answer came when she noticed that one of the men who were walking near to the Italian bus was Paolo Bettini.He was looking relaxed and happy and he also stopped to talk to some people. After managing to get over the entusiasthic Italian tifosi and the Silence-Lotto/Belgium bus,my family and I found ourselves outside of a big gazebo where supporters couldn't enter and where 3 Canadian riders and a rider from Belarus were sitted.I was looking at the gazebo,trying to recognise the Canadian riders,when I suddenly heard my sister whisper,in a very delighted way, the name "Thomas Lovkvist".I turned my head towards her and noticed that,inside a little Columbia bus near to the gazebo,there were 2 Swede riders,Thomas Lovkvist and Marcus Ljungqvist.Fangirl went:"OMG how gorgeous Swede men are!" and immediately tried to get rid of Logic,but Logic was ready to stop her before she could do something stupid.Lovkvist was looking as handsome as always,drinking coffee and talking to Ljungqvist.Marcus was looking really relaxed as well and often smiled and laughed.Of course my sister immediately started to take pics of Lovkvist and to behave like Fangirls normally do when they meet their favourite riders,while me instead was thinking random things like "Uhm,Lovkvist wasn't that thin in May...He's probably lost some weight.And Marcus doesn't look so thin,so good-looking and so tall on tv!"
Anyway,after a few minutes I started to look for Luxembourgian bus and,as soon as I found it,I went towards it.Andy Schleck was there,but disappeared inside the bus after few seconds. Fangirl wanted to jump over the barriers and get on the bus,but Logic stopped her and Fangirl decided to calm down for a while.
While I was there,waiting for Luxembourgian riders to appear,I could see some cyclists riding to the start.For example,I spotted De Greef (Fangirl had another attack of craziness when she saw him),Farrar,Visconti,Freire,Cunego,Paolini,Rene Mandri,Vinokourov and the Swede riders.
As soon as Lovkvist and Ljungqvist left their bus,my sister came up to me and I could finally use my photo camera.Here are some pics I've taken:
Luxembourg bikes (Andy's bike is the first one): Johnny Schleck:
Kim Kirchen (I know,I'm not a good photographer):
Jean Pierre Drucker:
After about 15 minutes,Andy Schleck finally appeared.Fagirl was speechless:she'd never seen Andy so close before,and was obviously really excited.Excited,and speechless.So speechless that,when Andy rode past her and signed some autographs,she couldn't even tell him "Good Luck" or things like that,but just let him go without even thinking about jumping over the barriers and ask him some stupid things that would have caused Andy to call the police in order to protect his own security.
Of course,as soon as Andy disappeared,Fangirl recuperated her voice and started to shout at Logic:"Why didn't you wake me up when Andy was there? I could have said him something, instead...It's your fault!" Logic thought that Fangirl had a point there and tried to distract her by bringing her in front of the Cervélo/Norwegy bus.There Fangirl could see Thor Hushovd,Stein Remme (photo below) and Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

The funny thing about Arvesen is that I'd never seen him before of Sunday.To solve this problem,on Sunday I managed to see him not just at the start of the race,but also other 14 times. Because of this,if someone now asks me "Who did you see at the Worlds?", my answer is always the same:"I saw Arvesen! And then Andy Schleck,Hushovd,Farrar,Arvesen,De Greef, Vinokourov,Arvesen,Martin,Evans,Kirchen,Arvesen,Ramme,Rogers...Did I mention that I saw Arvesen?" Btw,after watching the Norwegian riders I walked in front of the Astana/Kazakhistan's bus.There I could see Valentin Iglinsky (photo below),while outside of Rabobank/Holland's bus I could see Karsten Kroon.

However,the moment of the race start was soon approaching and nearly all the riders had already left their buses,so my family and I decided to direct ourselves towards the Novazzano climb.While I was walking there,Fangirl asked Logic whether she'd seen any Dane rider at the start."No I haven't.What about you?" "I didn't see them either.Where were they?",Fangirl asked."I don't know.They were probably in the Italy/Spain area,that's why we didn't see them. Anyway don't worry:you're gonna see them in 20 minutes time".Of course Logic was right.In fact,during the following hours,I could see every Dane rider pretty well.
As soon as the race began,my family and I started to walk from a place to another and managed to notice many different supporter's groups.In fact there were lots of Italian,Swiss,Belgian,Dutch and Norwegian tifosi on the parcours and it was really nice to see them all together,laughing and supporting their riders.The Belgian had their own place with a big screen just for them,the Norwegian had taken possession of an area with some tables and a big screen and had shared it with some Irish supporters.The Kazakhs were near to Pozzato's tifosi,while the Luxembourgians had their own place as well.
Belgian then kept on screaming "Tom Boonen,Tom Boonen,Tom Boonen",while the Swiss battle scream was "Vola Fabian!".Also the Spaniards were very entusiasthic and kept on screaming: "Espana,Espana,Espana!" every time the peloton rode in front of them.The Italian instead kept on screaming their national anthem.
Lots of funny things happened to me during the race,but it would be too long to describe them all.Anyway,here are some pics I took during the race (sorry for the bad quality):
Here's Kurt-Asle Arvesen:

This one instead is Thomas Lovkvist:
Francis De Greef:
Fabian Cancellara:Pierrick Fedrigo:Chris-Anker Sorensen!Laurent Didier:
Matti Breschel:
Alejandro Valverde:

With 2 laps to go,my family and I moved to the last km of the race.There was a big screen there,but the comment was in Dutch and I couldn't see properly because of the flags between me and the screen.Anyway I already knew that Andy had abandoned the race,so I was in a really "Allez Chris-Anker!" mood.
Eventually Evans turned out to be the strongest.He rode past me in a very fast way and everyone-Swiss,Italians,Belgians and so on-clapped their hands at him.It was a really nice moment.
After Evans,Kolobnev and Rodriguez came,followed by Cancellara and Gilbert.And then also the other riders arrived,one after the other.
When the last rider had ended his race,I moved towards the "podium area" and watched Evans' premiation.

After the premiation (and after having seen Italian chronists,Davide Cassani and Auro Bulbarelli, waving to the crowd) I could go back to the start area.There I saw Edvald Boasson Hagen, Arvesen (twice!) and Millar giving interviews.Michael Rogers instead was outside of Australia's bus showing everyone his 2 beautiful daughters.Outside of Columbia/Sweden bus I could see Thomas Lovkvist again,while Tom Boonen was chatting with some supporters outside of Belgium bus and Cancellara was alone,head in hand,looking really disappointed outside of Switzerland bus.Btw,near to Columbia's bus I could also see Toni Martin.He was there with his family,with a pump in his right hand,looking relaxed and happy.He kindly gave me his autograph and smiled at me.
After meeting Toni,I went outside of Luxembourg bus and could see Joel Zangerle,an U23 rider. Random thought? "Man,he looks soooo YOUNG!!!"
Then,after meeting Zangerle,I saw Pozzato.He was outside of Italy's bus together with Ballan and was talking with some supporters.That surprised me and I must say that,since that moment,my opinion about him has slightly changed.
Finally,at 7 o'clock pm,after having walked through the whole start area,my family was ready to go home.Unfortunately,someone (Fangirl) didn't want to leave.
"Have you seen any Dane rider here in this area?",she asked to Logic."No I haven't"."So you don't know where they are?"."No,I don't"."But they must be somewhere!",Fangirl cried."Yes,but unfortunately I don't know where this somewhere is.Anyway,I think they're using a Saxo Bank bus,so if we find a Saxo Bank bus here around we should manage to find the Dane riders as well"",Logic added,noticing that Fangirl was looking a bit disappointed.
In that very same moment,Fangirl noticed a very little Saxo Bank bus near to her."What about that?",she screamed hopefully."Naaah,look more carefully.There are bikes and wheels in it.I don't think a single person could manage to enter in that bus,let alone 6 men.",Logic said."But where are the Dane riders,then?",Fangirl asked again."I don't know",Logic answered.At that point,Fangirl had an idea:"Hey,I could ask Uncle Bjarne whether he knows where the Dane riders are!" "Great idea,but you don't have Riis' telephone number,right?"."No,but I can see him"."What the hell are you saying?"."Take a look,Uncle Bjarne's there!",Fangirl screamed.And,surprisingly,she was right:Bjarne Riis was right in front of her,walking towards..."The Dane bus! He's surely going to congratulate the boys on their amazing ride!" "No, you must be wrong"."Well,why don't we follow him and see who's right and who's wrong then?", Fangirl proposed.Logic looked disgusted at the idea,but decided to give it a try.
Sadly enough,Fangirl and Logic soon found out that Bjarne wasn't going towards the Dane bus. "Hey,he's going to the car park!",Fangirl stated in a very disappointed way."Yes,and I don't think he's lended his car to the Dane riders,so it's high time you stopped following him and come with me at the station",Logic said.Of course,Fangirl had to obey.
So,this was my day at the Mendrisio Worlds.It was a great day (even if I couldn't find the Dane bus anywhere),I had a lot of fun-even if my podium predictions turned out to be oh so terribly wrong!-and I hope I can go to another cycling race soon.
NB: All the pics that appear in this post were taken by the worst cycling photographer of the world,aka ME!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Pic by Scanferla)

GRANDISSIME RAGAZZE!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Pics by Bettini and Sirotti)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amazing Kristin-Bravissima Noemi!

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

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

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

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

Do you remember...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video with Andy,some Worlds team and random randomness:

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

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

WORLDS WORLDS WORLDS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VUELTA:

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

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

RANDOM RANDOMNESS:

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

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

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

Random post involving the Worlds,il Trittico Lombardo and 2 random links:

So,here's one of my usual random posts.
First of all:do you remember my last post about Denmark's team for the Worlds? If you remember it,forget it:Feltet.dk (the website on which I read the news) has written an article in which they apologize and say that they've made a mistake.In fact Denmark will have 6 riders at the Worlds,not 3.Of course I'm glad to hear about this,because in this way both los Sorensens, Matti Breschel and Jakob Fuglsang should easily find a place in the Worlds team.

Talking about the words,here's a list of the nations who will compete in the Worlds.
The 9 riders teams will be Spain,Italy,Australia,Germany,Russia,Luxembourg,Belgium,Great Britain,Usa and Norwegy.
Italy would love to be the first nation to win 4 Worlds in a row,so the Azzurri will be very motivated.

Australia and Germany will have 9 riders both,but me wonders on which team will Heinrich Haussler race.

Luxembourg's team will probably be formed by 6 riders,since there aren't 9 pro-riders from that country.

6 riders teams will be Switzerland, Colombia, Venezuela, Kazakhistan, France,Holland, Slovenia, Poland,Ucraine,Denmark, South Africa.

Of course I'm very very very happy to see that Denmark will have 6 riders and not 3,especially because both Fangirl and Logic believe that the Dane riders will do very well in the next Worlds.

A thing that worries me is to think about Kazakhistan team:will Vino be included in it? Me hopes not.

3 riders teams will be Latvia,Estonia,Tunisia,Argentina,Brazil,Canada,Iran,Japan,Portugal, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Estonia,Hungary,Latvia,Serbia, Sweden,Ireland, Czech Republic and Belarus.

Sweden will have 3 riders and of course Fangirl hopes that Thomas Lovkvist will be included.

1 rider teams will be Lithuania,Finland,Namibia,Cuba,Chile,Costa Rica,Ecuador, Uruguay and Bulgarien.

Logic predicts that Lithuania's rider will be Konovalovas and that Finland's rider will be Veikkanen,but Worlds team selections are often unpredictable.

Anyway,now it's time for some random links...

Article about Lovkvist: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lovkvist-tuning-for-worlds-at-eneco .Lovkvist told Cyclingnews: "Hopefully I can have a good second half of the season as I normally I perform all year round.I feel fresher and that might be good for the Worlds. That’s the big aim". With no contract for 2010,Lövkvist will use the remainder of the season to resolve his future, having spent the last two seasons with Columbia."I’ve not signed a contract with Columbia yet so there is a possibility of a change but nothing has been confirmed in either direction". However any contract distractions haven’t affected his dedication or training, with the Swede having already profiled the World championship road course."I’ve been down to look at the course already.It will be a very demanding race but I hope I’ll be on my best day.I’m pleased with my season.I took two wins and led the Giro, where I was up there with the big guys for quite a while. I’m happy and I’ve taken a step in the right direction."

Random link n.2: Jens Voigt: Making a visit to the Athletics World Championships in Berlin (9'58"! 9'58"! 9'58"! Usain Bolt!-ok,feel free to ignore me when I behave this way),Jens Voigt has said that he would like to come back racing in September at the Tour of Missouri.Here's the link to the article: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/voigt-back-in-action-at-missouri .Of course me's looking forward to see his Amazingness on the roads again.

Here instead are the coverages of the 3 Valli Varesine and of the Coppa Agostoni.

3 Valli Varesine: the "Trittico Lombardo" started yesterday with the 3 Valli Varesine.After some kms of race,12 men escpaed from the group.They were Stangelj,Botcharov,Santambrogio, Salerno,Savini,Cheula,Biondo,Marzano,Proni,Masciarelli,Paolini and Bertolini.

With 50 kms to go the 12 riders had 5 minutes of advantadge on the peloton and 3 minutes of advantadge on Torosantucci,that chased the breakaway alone for a lot of time and eventually came in 13th.

With about 20 kms to go,Proni attacked.He was then caught again by the riders of the peloton but decided to attack again with 15 kms to go.This time he was followed by Paolini and Bertolini.

These 3 riders were caught before of the last 3 kms,which were completely uphill.

As soon as the climb began,Stefano Masciarelli went to set the pace at the head of the little group of riders.Just Botcharov and Santambrogio were able to follow Masciarelli and,with 250 meters to go,Santambrogio started the sprint and won the race.Masciarelli came in 2nd,while Botcharov was 3rd.

"Today I had a huge desire to win,"said Santambrogio."The Tour of Portugal didn't go my way and I wanted to do something here.It has been five years since my last win.It is an emotional win, near my home in Como where there are lots of people who love me."

Today there was the second race of the Trittico Lombardo,the Coppa Agostoni.At the start-line there was also Emanuele Sella,who's already come back in the group after having been banned for one year.
The weather was really hot today,so just 31 riders arrived at the finish-line.

With 20 kms to go,during the 6th and last ascent of the Lissolo climb,6 men (Visconti,Ventoso, Scarponi,Bertolini,Santambrogio and Rubiano Chavez) escaped from the main peloton.

During the last km of race Daniele Muto made a very good action and managed to join,all alone, the 6 men group.As soon as he joined the head of the race,Muto tried to attack.Unfortunately for him,Ventoso,Visconti and Santambrogio were ready to react.The first one to sprint was the Spaniard,who was then outsprinted by Santambrogio and Visconti,who won the race.

"I've never been a 'pure climber',so to win here means that I'm in a great condition",said the winner."I dedicate my victory to my girlfriend Katy:on the 23rd of november we'll become parents and we'll call the baby Thomas.And I dedicate the victory also to Fabio Fazio and to Alessandro Shapoval,2 young racers of our society that passed away a few days ago.As soon as I crossed the finish line,I thought about them.(...) My goal now is to race the Worlds.During that race I would work for the team,for example I may enter in an early breakaway and become an important rider during the final part of the race".

Santambrogio,24 year-old,said:"I really wanted to win this race,also because today between the finish-line and the place where I live there were just 10 kms.Perhaps I started the sprint too soon,so in the last meters I slowed down a lot.Now I must try and mantain this form and this concentration and exploit this golden period.I'm happy to be in the list of riders that may be in the Italian team at the Worlds and tomorrow I'll be at the start of the Coppa Bernocchi."

Santambrogio in fact has been the best rider of the Trittico Lombardo so far and if he gets a good result also tomorrow he will win the diamond that Lombardy gives to the best rider of the 3 races.

Unfortunately for those of you (not many,I think) that like my race coverages,I won't be able to blog for the next few days and so I won't be able to cover the Coppa Bernocchi.

Hamburg Classic (and random thoughts of mine about the Worlds):

Not a lot of journalists here in Italy noticed it,but today there was the Vattenfall Cyclassic Hamburg (or how else it is called).
Few kms after the start Sergio De Lis and Krivtsov escaped from the group.Don't worry if you don't know anything about De Lis:he's a very young neo-pro and will turn 23 in December. Unfortunately for him and Krivstov,the group caught them with about 40 kms to go.
On the Waseberg climb Matti Breschel attacked,but nobody followed him and so the Dane rider let himself drop back.
After Matti's attack,Gilbert and Nick Nuyens escaped from the group.They were then joined by Fabian Cancellara,Bandiera,Roche,Bennati and Reda.Then other riders (about 20,I think) caught Cancellara's group.Between these riders there were also Sylvain Chavanel and Turgot,who tried to attack but didn't have a lot of success (they were caught by the whole group after about a minute).Talking about Turgot:while he was chasing Cancellara's little group,something of really funny happened;the Frenchman in fact kept on moving his elbow because he wanted somebody to start pulling and let him rest a while,but he didn't realise that he was actually alone and so nobody could help him.
Anyway,on the final Waseberg's ascent,Gilbert attacked again.This time he was followed by O'Grady (allez Saxo Bank!),Mori and Roche.They gained just few seconds on the peloton and were soon caught.
With some hundreds of meters to go,Napolitano,Maaskant and Langeveld fell in a curve and so they couldn't take part in the sprint.Maaskant and Langeveld aren't sprinters,but Napolitano could get a good result today,so I was a bit sorry for him.
The sprint saw Ciolek and Breschel riding head-to-head on the left side on the road,while Farrar was on the left.Me was really hoping for a Saxo Bank's victory,but Farrar eventually turned out to be the fastest today.

Second came Matti Breschel,while third was Ciolek (I love the way the German moves his head while sprinting!).
The 2 last riders to arrive were De Lis and Krivtsov.
Although Matti didn't win,I was happy for Farrar.This rider has arrived 2nd behind Cavendish many many many times and so he really deserved a victory in an important race!

As I said,Model Matti arrived 2nd,but was happy with his result anyway."Actually my legs felt a little heavy early in the race where two riders took off and created a gap and when Columbia went to the front of the peloton to control the pace my legs gradually felt better.Towards the end of the course I launched an attack but since no one wanted to follow I let myself drop back so I would be ready for the sprint.Frank Høj, Fabian and Stuart did an awful lot of hard work put me in a good position,but Farrar was really strong in the sprint and he has really deserved the victory after several podium places lately.The outcome was to me better than expected,so I am quite satisfied. I am now looking forward to Tour of Ireland which route in many ways looks promising to me and even later on I'm thrilled to be riding the Vuelta again",he said after the race.
Farrar instead said:"This season has gone very well for me,although the really big success didn't come until now.After the many second places in the Giro and the Tour, it is great to finally stand on top of the podium.The team rode together, at the front,all day.We had some bad luck with crashes,but the boys really came through today.It's nice to win a big one..."
Also Ciolek,who finally came in 3rd,was satisfied with his result."On one hand,of course,there were two riders faster than me.But on the other hand,it not really a loss.That was my only my second race since the Tour de France.At times it was very difficult for me to go with the high tempo in the finale."

Breschel's good race gives me the chance to talk a bit about the Worlds and especially about something I've found out today.As you probably already know,Italy,Spain,Germany,Usa,Russia, Luxembourg,Australia,Belgium,Britain and Norwegy will have 9 riders at the Worlds.
Netherlands,France,Slovenia,Columbia (the country,not the team),Switzerland,other countries I don't remember and Venezuela will have 6 riders.And already here,reading that France and Netherlands will have jus 6 riders,Logic went "WTF? France and Netherlands will have just 6 riders? That's absurd,Frenchmen rode very well at this year Tour and they will have just 6 riders!".But I was even more surprised by another news I read this morning.
Some days ago I wrote that,in my opinion,a Dane rider may win a medal in Mendrisio's Worlds. But today I've found out that Denmark will have just 3 riders at the Worlds.I write it again: Denmark will have just 3 riders at the Worlds.In my opinion,this is absurd.I mean,take los Sorensens and Denmark has 2 riders,add one rider between Fuglsang and Breschel and they already have 3 men in the team.And I've written the 4 names that came in my mind first.As well as these riders,there are also people like Bak,Vandborg,Klostergaard and Hoj that ride for Denmark.And,strangely enough,I can't think of any famous rider from Venezuela right now.And Venezuela will bring 6 riders to the Worlds.Is it just a lapsus of mine,or is it because Venezuela actually hasn't any very strong riders right now? I don't want to say bad things about Venezuela,but to me it seems evident that something inside the way people decide how many riders pro team will go the Worlds is wrong. Your opinions?

Andy won Emmen Criterium + Worlds News:

Yesterday's criterium in Emmen,Holland,was won by Andy Schleck.Second came Robert Gesink, while third was Albert Timmer.
If you are in Luxembourg right now,I've got a little news for you.Tonight in Mondorf-Les-Bains there's the celebration of the results achieved by Andy and Frank at Le Tour.If someone of you is interested,on this link (http://station.lu/newsDetails.cfm?id=24454 ) and on the luxembourgish fan club of the 2 brothers there are some info about the event.

Worlds:As you all know,between a month and a half there will be the Worlds in Mendrisio. Luxembourg team is allowed to bring 9 riders at this race,but the president of the FSCL (Federation du Sport Cycliste Luxembourgeois),Jean Regenwetter,has said that,more probably,just 6 riders will take part in the Worlds Championship Road Race (see link: http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/les-sports/5013.html for more info).Regenwetter in fact said: "Just like last year,we're allowed to bring 9 riders at the Worlds.Last year I didn't want to take so many riders to that race,but eventually our team was formed by 9 men.This year I think we'll ride in 6.Of course there will be the Schleck brothers and Kim Kirchen.The other 3 riders may be Christian Poos,Laurent Didier and Jempy Drucker".
Last year the Luxembourg team was formed by the Schleck brothers,Kim Kirchen,Vincenzo Centrone,Laurent Didier,Jempy Drucker,Steve Fogen,Benoit Joachim,Christian Poos and Claude Wolter.
Talking about the Worlds,between the teams that will be allowed to have 9 riders there will be also USA and Norway,while Netherlands will have just 6 riders.
(pic by Serge Waldbillig)