Random randomness, Fiuggi Terme and Tropea's stages of the Giro, Agnoli proposes to his girlfriend and Leopard Trek remembers WW Special:

Given the horrible weather, I'm not going out this evening, so I have some time to rewrite that post of mine that Blogger deleted two days ago and to talk a bit also about today's stage. However, feel free to leave comments also in the comment areas of my previous entries: I'll take a look at my old posts regularly during this month!

SAPRI-TROPEA:
NB: Today's stage of the Giro was dedicated to the memory of 8 amateur cyclist who were killed by a car last December. The car's driver was on drugs and he ran over this group of men as they rode outside Lamezia Terme. 7 riders immediately died, whereas the 8th one perished in hospital a few weeks after the accident.

Sapri - Tropea offered us another exciting final sprint and some jawdropping sea landscapes.
The two breakawayers du jour were Leonardo Giordani (U23 world champion in 1999) and Mirko Selvaggi, who were caught by the peloton with 9.5 kms to go. Those two athletes train together whenever they can and that's why, at the end of their adventure, they embraced each other in a very friendly way.
Today's stage had a very particular finale. In fact, the last kms of race were full of curves and presented a very peculiar climb. Said climb in fact was short and easy, but it presented two hairpin turns which forced many riders to slow down and brake, causing them to lose some seconds from the riders who were at the front of the peloton. Saxo Bank guys knew this and that's why they worked hard at the front of the group in the last kms of race.
With about 2 kms to go, when the riders still hadn't got over the last climb, Farnese's Oscar Gatto launched an attack. Right after Gatto attacked, another rider escaped from the peloton and started to chase him. Said rider was Alberto Contador and I had to check his face twice before I could finally believe what I was seeing.
No one else managed to follow the Spaniard, who was reducing his gap from Gatto in a very fast way.
Eventually, luckily for him, Gatto managed to get the stage victory, while Contador (second in the stage) received a time bonus of 12". Add these 12" to the 5" he gained on the rest of the peloton and you'll discover that, on a simple stage like this one, Contador managed to steal 17" from his main contenders. A bad morale blow for the other Gc contenders, isn't it?
Third in the stage was Petacchi, whereas Kristoff was a surprising 4th.
As a consequence of his great team work, Richie Porte lost 1'43" from Gatto in today's stage, whereas Fabio Duarte got retired during the stage (does anyone know why?).

I must say that I was very happy for Oscar Gatto's victory. In fact you must know that he was considered a great cycling promise as he turned pro, but then he seemed to have lost his sprinting abilities. This year, finally, Oscar has finally returned back to his good old level and he's already got many good victories. As they say, today's victory in the Giro can be considered 'the icing on the cake' - now, what about adding a participation in the Copenhagen's Worlds to that delicious cake? ;)

This afternoon I was also very surprised by Contador's attack, which I didn't expect at all. But still, I think he wanted to send a psychological message to Scarponi (who attacked and almost dropped the Spaniard yesterday) and to Nibali.
Actually, my surprise for Contador's attack made me behave in a very bitter way. In fact, when he escaped from the peloton, my dad said: 'Contador?!? Why is he attacking? I mean, this climb doesn't suit him!!'. Insensitive to my father's excitement, I went: 'Well, it's actually very simple, dad: everyone else's chain must have popped, otherwise Contador would have never attacked. D'you remember le Tour?' Sorry, but at times I really can't handle my bitterness.
Talking about something different, after the stage poor Fabrizio Piacente (RAI's unexperienced journalist) didn't manage to interview Contador for the second time in a week. Dear Fabrizio, I just want you to know that you have all my support.
Moreover, after the stage I was reminded that Kreuziger isn't Italian (he speaks better than me, but this afternoon he failed to understand a question during an interview) and I discovered that Andrea De Luca and Paolo Savoldelli (RAI's journalists) are very good friends. In fact, they watched a post-stage vid together with other journalists and, in the end, they both started to laugh. Asked about this fact, De Luca said that he was laughing because of the vid, whereas Savoldelli said that 'watching De Luca makes me laugh'. What a couple of hilarious boys.

RANDOM LINK TO JOUR:
On http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schleck-hopes-for-a-strong-performance-at-the-amgen-tour-of-california there's an interview with Andy schleck about Tour of California. I won't be covering this race in the next days (I prefer the Giro to ToC), but I'm sure you'll find regular updates on other blogs ('Eisen Andy', for example). However, if you have tales coming up from ToC, I remind you to send them to Bananas About Bikes: you'll see them published in no time :D

FIUGGI TERME STAGE:
Let's now go back in time talk a bit about Fiuggi Terme's stage, which was won by Ventoso. That was the first 'normal' stage that the riders faced since Special WW's disappearance and I welcomed it with pleasure. Actually, the atmosphere on that day was still pretty tense because of the polemics caused by Orvieto's gravel roads. In particular, after ending that stage Contador declared that the cyclists had to ride on 'roads for goats' (I wonder, why didn't he say the same about Tour's cobblestones?), whereas Ongarato asked: 'Who else has died?' as soon as he crossed the finish-line. That was a terrible comment, to which Zomegnan answered by saying that he doesn't even know who Ongarato is.
However, it was Contador himself who put a stop to all the polemics ('The past has gone, now let's focus on the present), whereas Nibali told the viewers that: 'I'm a Sicilian and I know Etna: everything will be perfect on Sunday because Etna usually stops erupting after 48 hours'.

Fiuggi's stage saw Jussi Veikkanen (first virtual Maglia Rosa of the Giro 2011), Kristof Vandewalle, Yaroslav Popovych, Sacha Modolo and Frederik Veuchelen attacking after a few kms after the beginning. The last breakawayer, Vandewalle, was caught with about 4 kms to go.
Amongst the other attackers du jour there were Kiserlovski (yay!) and Pirazzi, who attacked twice.
The riders had to face a little climb in the last kms of race and the finish itself was slightly uphill. The peloton faced the final climb with a very high pace and many sprinters got dropped.
With 1.5 km to go, Di Luca attacked. He was chased by Petacchi, who then had to start another sprint in order to win the stage. However, Alessandro was so tired that he suddenly stopped pedalling with 5 meters to go, leaving the stage victory to an astonished Ventoso. After crossing the finish-line, Petacchi sat down and said that he had 'just lost 10 years of life'.
In the meanwhile, Garzelli was arguing with Marzoli, who hadn't helped him in the sprint. 'I'm the captain, did you get it?', he told his teammate.

After the finish-line, there were some very nice scenes at 'Il Processo alla Tappa', a very popular Italian transmission related to the Giro. Valerio Agnoli was amongst the 'guests of the day', together with Ongarato and Contador.
While answering the question of a journalist, Agnoli said that right now he's in a very particular moment of his life. Then he looked his girlfriend Giovanna (who was on the stage of the transmission too), took a ring out of his pocket, and asked her to marry him. The girl was really embarassed, but she obviously said 'yes' and she sat down next to her future husband. The couple whispered for some minutes, before we eventually discovered a few things about the proposal. First, Valerio had kept that ring in his suitcase, waiting for the perfect moment, for 6 days. Secondly, Giovanna was very surprised because she 'didn't think that Valerio was in favour of marriages'. Thirdly, she herself had chosen the ring, thinking that it was a present for the mum of Nibali's girlfriend, who is a great friend of hers. And instead she was taken in, since the ring didn't go to mrs. Nibali, but to the future mrs. Agnoli. How nice! (this makes me ask to my readers: which 'cyclistic' proposals did you prefer so far? Frank Schleck, Van Summeren or Agnoli's one?)

As said, one of the other guests of 'Il Processo alla Tappa' on that day was Alberto Contador, who surprised me by saying that Saxo Bank produces everything the riders eat, 'bread included', in order to avoi problems with clenbuterol. Shocking, isn't it?

REMEMBERING WW SPECIAL...
As you all already know, Wouter Weylandt's funeral (I can't believe I'm typing these words...) will take place in Gand on Wednesday morning.
Leopard Trek riders are remembering WW Special with some messages written on their website (link: http://www.leopardtrek.lu/remembering-wouter ) in their own mother tongues. Here's the translation of what Davide Viganò and Luca Guercilena wrote:
Davide Viganò: 'In this moment I’d like to say you a thousand things and, at the same time, I would like to remain silent. I would like to share with you other serene moments, with the smile on our faces, together with the team, in the peloton.
I would like to relive the successes of the past in an even better way, because in this moment I feel as if I haven’t lived them intensely enough.
Ciao WW Special, I’ll miss you…'
Luca Guercilena: "'What do you think man?' That's how you started our conversations every time you wanted some advice, an idea or even just an opinion about your life as a rider.
"I'll miss being able to give you an answer, I'll miss your serene smile every time we found a solution, I'll miss the times when you said 'Grinta' in Italian to make me understand that everything was clear.
"Now nothing is clear anymore. I say goodbye to you and I'm sure that you'll give us the Grinta and a smile to make us go straight towards the finish-line".

Still talking about Wouter, a little anedocte regarding the stage that his colleagues dedicated to him. While riding, Gorazd Stangelj saw a child who had written 'Wouter froever in our hearts' on a cartel. Moved, he tried to give the kid his water bottle, but the kid didn't see it on time and failed to grab it. Therefore Peter Stetina, who saw the scene, solved the problem by giving his own water bottle to the child. Cyclists can be such nice people...

Riccò's horrible news, latest races, radio bans and other random issues:

At 4.47 pm of the 8th of February 2010, aka today, miss Fede had just decided to write a new post on her blog. She was going to post a pic of Hippi and Hoppi (the new friends of Cougar Girl's Itsy and Bitsy, see pic at http://eisenandy.blogspot.com/ ), she was going to give her opinion about the latest protests against UCI's radio ban and, if she had had enough time, she would have liked to write the personal profile of Giacomo Nizzolo, Leopard Trek's rider.
At 4.49 pm, instead, miss Fede had already changed her mind, because she had just been shocked by the following 'Gazzetta dello Sport's article: http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/08-02-2011/ricco-nottata-tranquilla-8084685384.shtml . Protagonist of said article is Riccardo Riccò, the Vacansoleil's rider who was banned for doping in 2008. This year should have marked Riccò's return to the most important races of the world, since last year he couldn't take part in any Grand Tour and he didn't actually have the chance of taking part in any important ProTour race. But, as I was saying, this year Riccò was riding for a ProTour team and he already had the Giro d'Italia as his main goal.
I never liked Riccò, I'll be honest about it. I couldn't stand him in 2007, I couldn't stand him in 2008 (even before he resulted positive at the Tour) and I couldn't stand him last year, when he came back racing after helping cycling justice and getting a discount on his ban. Towards the end of last year, however, he started to cooperate with Aldo Sassi, 'a living biological passport', as Pastonesi called him in his necrology on Gazzetta dello Sport. I believed that that could make a difference in Riccò's life and I was ready to give him a bit of trust this year.

Trust is important in cycling because, if you lose trust in the riders, there's no point in following cycling races. So, although it wasn't easy, some weeks ago I had decided to give a bit of trust to Riccò.

Then, two days ago, Riccardo was rushed to hospital, officially because of a kidney ailment. There was an article about it on today's Gazzetta, which I found pretty strange. In it in fact there were the words of Riccardo's father, Rubino, who didn't seem to know a lot about the conditions of his son. He often said: 'I think...I believe... It seems...' . I don't know why, but I smelled a rat about that article. There was something wrong with it. And there was also something wrong in Riccò's problem. It didn't seem normal to me.

A few minutes ago, then, I went on Cyclingnews to read the latest news and there I could read that Italian police is ready to investigate Riccò for blood doping. 'What did I miss?', I asked myself. Somehow, the answer was already in my mind. I had thought about doping when I had read Gazzetta's article this morning, but then I sent that suspect away from my mind. 'Come on, the boy already has enough problems. Why do you always think of him as a doper?', I told myself.
And instead, according to Cyclingnews and Gazzetta, my suspect was completely right: in fact, Riccò apparently started to feel sick after practising blood doping. When he called the ambulance, in fact, Riccò told a doctor that he had done a blood transfusion and that he was worried about the poor conservation of the blood he had put back in his veins after having kept it in his home fridge for 25 days.
Personally, right now I'm waiting for someone to come and tell me that what I've just read on la Gazzetta's webite is a big joke. Come on, it can't be true. I had just started to trust Riccò, he had started to work his Aldo Sassi, 'a living biological passport'... And now, once again, I find myself disappointed by a doper. For the thousandth time in the last 5 years. It can't be true. Come on, it's impossible.
Right now, the evil part of me is in her 'I had told you that this would have happened!' mood. But still, this can't help me at all at the moment. Especially because, right now, I'm thinking about those who really trusted Riccò, who had always trusted him and who had always backed him, even while he was suspended.
And then, I'm thinking about Riccò's family. His fiancé, a cyclocross rider, was found positive at the anti-doping too last year, but the counter-analysis on her urine later resulted negative. If Riccardo has really practised doping again, her career is pretty much destroyed.

And then, we mustn't forget that Riccò has a 2 year-old child who will have to deal with such a heavy surname during his whole life. Riccò still had the chance to cancel his past, but he threw it away because of a stupid blood transfusion.
I'm disappointed, that's it. But perhaps, the best thing to do now is to shut up and think in silence about Riccò. Hopefully he'll be able to create himself a new life after this last news. Personally, I wish him to recover from his problem soon. And that's it.

RADIO PROTEST, SCHLECK'S NEWS:

On to another topic, let's now talk about radios and cycling. You all know that the results of the first stage of Mallorca Challenge were nullified because the riders protested against UCI's radio ban.

Personally, I completely agree with the athletes' protest. In fact, I think that radios are important for riders' security and I don't believe that races will become more exciting if radios are banned. I mean: according to UCI, nowadays riders are always controlled by their ds during races and therefore UCI guys think that modern cyclists lack of originality. Btw: If you take away the radios and the ds, don't you think that perhaps the riders' (supposed) lack of originality will become even worse? If someone isn't brave enough to attack if his ds doesn't tell him to attack, do you really think he'll attack as soon as he can if he finds himself without a radio? Personally, I think that that rider would become even more unsure and unoriginal, because he would probably be afraid of being scolded by his ds at the end of the stage. Or, at least, that's what I would do if I was an unoriginal rider forced to ride without radios.

On the other hand, I think that original riders can show their talent even if they race with radios. Therefore, I think there's no point in banning race radios (just my opinion, of course).

Talking about Mallorca Challenge, Frank Schleck apparently didn't take part in today's part of the race because he decided to take a day off. Andy instead didn't take part in the first race of the Challenge because he didn't feel fine. Things that happen, especially if you consider that half of Europe right now is suffering from flu or things like that.

Talking about the brothers, sweet daddy Frank has told Cyclismactu(http://www.cyclismactu.net/news-trofeo_cala_millor_les_schleck_debutent_leur_saison-12372.html ) that he has recently made a vow to his wife Martine and his daughter Leea. 'It regards cycling, of course. However, I can't tell you what it is about'. Isn't he incredibly sweet? :)

Still talking about the brothers: you all probably know that Jakob Fuglsang has just moved to the apartment under Andy's one. As predictable, I've already applied to work as a servant in that block of apartments. Anyone wants to join me?

TOUR OF QATAR:

Talking about Tour of Qatar, the prologue was won by Lars Boom. Cancellara was second and imo this shouldn't be considered a surprise. The TT percours in fact was just 2 kms long and this isn't the best race length for Fabian. 3rd was a surprising Tom Veelers, while Jack Bobridge was 'just' 13th. But still, I can imagine he had a good amount of parties after his world record in the individual pursuit, so I don't blame him for his result ;)

The second stage was won by Boonen. I'm very happy about this, because Boonen's previous victory dated back to March 2010. Boonen also got the leader jersey, since Boom had some stomach problems during the stage won by Tom and lost a lot of time from the other riders.

Today stage instead has been won by Barbie Barbie, aka Heinrich Haussler. I was happy for his victory too, since it arrived after a very difficult period for Heinrich. I'm ready to bet on you for Sanremo, boy! ;)

However, I think it's important to notice that Haussler got his victory in front of Leopard Trek's Bennati. Considering that also Bennati hasn't won anything over the last months, I think there are high chances for him to win one of the next stages. We'll all be looking forward to that, you can bet on it! It is nice to see Bennati up there, especially because he's likely to be one of Italy's captain at Copenhagen 2011 worlds.

Talking about today stage, third in the sprint was the Russian rider Denis Galimzyanov. Note down this name, because this is a very interesting rider!

RANDOM SLIPPERS DU JOUR:

Before of closing this post, here are Hippo and Hippi, friends of the above-mentioned Itsy and Bitsy (I admit it: I was wearing my pijama when I took this picture): Here instead you have Hippi, who looks sad (and sleepy) because he needs to be sewed to his white slipper once again:
So, this is all for today. Waiting for further news about Riccò, I close this post and wish you all a good evening. Bye bye from me, Hippo and Hippi!!
(Schleck's picture by Reuters)

Voigt officially heading to Team Luxembourg + other random news du midweek:

Eventually, the end of the 2010 cycling season has come. In less than a week time, in fact, we'll also know the name of the Lombardy Tour's winner and the long and cold winter will begin.

From the cyclistic point of view, this winter will be very different from the past 3 ones. In fact, for the first time, me will have to divide her attention between the new upcoming Luxembourg team of the Schleck brothers and the old and fading team Saxo Bank.

I've been supporting Riis' team for the last 3 years of my life and in this period I could cheer on the boys' successes and, sometimes, also get desperate because of their problems/ defeats. In particular, me has always been a supporter of the Schleck brothers (that's obvious) and of Chris Anker Sorensen. As well as them, on my 'favourite riders' list there are also riders like Voigt and Breschel, who've been racing for Saxo Bank too. But from next year, things will change a lot for me. In fact not only are los Schlecks leaving Riis and creating their new team, but also Matti Breschel has decided to leave Bjarne and the only one (between my favourite riders) who's remaining faithful to his chief is Chris Sorensen. Therefore this Fangirl next year will have to divide her cyclistic support between 2/3 different teams and 3/4 different riders and this will obviously be a bit difficult.

But still, the 'it ain't over 'til it's over' rule can be applied also to cycling (luckily), so here I stop getting depressed while thinking about the cyclistic future of my favourite riders and try to think about the upcoming races, without getting worried about the future of these boys (although I have to admit that, lately, I've been much more interested in my own problems than in those of cyclists and cycling teams).

Anyway, talking about the riders' exodus from Saxo Bank team, it is now official that Jens Voigt has signed a 1 year contract with the new Luxembourg team of the Schleck brothers (http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/artikel/2010/10/119201/routinier-voigt-ist-auch-mit-dabei.php ). To wort.lu Voigt also told that, in two weeks time, the team jerseys and the whole roster of riders should be decided.

RANDOM NEWS DU MIDWEEK:
BREAKOUT GESINK NEWS:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gesink-out-of-tour-of-lombardy : Robert Gesink, one of the main favourites for Giro di Lombardia, won't take part in the Classica delle foglie morte because his father had a bad crash with his mountain bike and so Robert decided to go back to Netherlands to stay close to his father in this delicate moment. Hopefully everything will end up well for the Gesink family.

HUSHOVD HAS NEVER SEEN DRUGS IN CYCLEDOM:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hushovd-i-have-never-seen-drugs-in-cycling . New World Champion Thor Hushovd said that he's never seen drugs in cycling or in society. He didn't deny the existence of these problems in sports and in society, but he has stated that the abuse of these substances "is about what you want to achieve. If I wanted to dope in the cycling context, I would have found it, and if I wanted to dope to have more fun on the town - if it's possible - I would have certainly found the drugs there, too, of course". By chance, these are the same words that Italian teachers use to reassure children when they start to go to the high schools. 'If you don't want to use drugs, you'll never discover where to find them. If you want to use them, you'll have no problems in getting them. It's all up to your will and to your conscience'. And the surprising thing is that, although this may sound very naive, during my scholastic experience I've found out that these words correspond to pure truth.

RIDERS WITHOUT CONTRACTS:

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/furlan-hopes-paris-tours-result-will-secure-new-contract ). After arriving second in Paris-Tours, Furlan has sent out messages to all the teams of Cycledom: 'if you want me, here I am, with no contract for next year'. Unfortunately this sad situation doesn't regard just Furlan but also another great Italian rider who's called Matteo Tosatto.

GP EMILIA:
Emilia is one of my favourite one day races since it's very hard and always has important people riding it. For the 18th year in a row me couldn't go to see it live because of some stupid reasons involving school and the fact that it's a 3 hours long drive from here to Bologna, but hopefully next year things will change.
Btw, the race this year was won by a great Robert Gesink, while second was Daniel Martin and third was Scarponi. 4th was Kolobnev (will he ever win a race?), 5th Nibali, 6th Pozzovivo and 7th was the surprising Coppel. 9th and 10th were too of the most loved people in Cycledom, Patrik Sinkewitz and Riccardo Riccò. I have to admit that, when Riccò was in the group together with all the best riders of the race, I feared he was going to win also this race (last week he had already won Coppa Sabatini). Luckily my horror dreams didn't turn into reality.

I swear that I do try to behave in a 'normal' way towards Riccò, but that's a kind of 'mission impossible' for me. I've never liked him as a person, but after what he did in the Tour 2008 my esteem for him got as low as possible. I know that the fact I like Vinokourov and dislike Riccò could make some of you think I'm a hypocrite, but I really can't do anything about this. I can stand Vinokourov but I can't stand Riccò. Perhaps it's because of the fact that Riccò in 2008 directly damaged some of my favourites riders, while Vino in 2007 didn't damage any of them; or perhaps it's because Riccò receives such a big attention from supporters here in Italy who consider him the savior of Italian cycling, while Vino is still seen as the cycling devil by a lot of people; or, more probably, you're right in saying that I'm a hypocrite. But the thing is, I can't stand Riccò. Sorry, but that's how things are right now.
Going down in the race classification,btw, we found Fuglsang at 11th and the incredible Johnny Hoogerland at 12th. They created one of the best action of the race and I was really sorry when I saw they wouldn't have won this race. Jakob is in an astonishing condition and Johnny impressed me once again with his strength and courage.
14th was Chris Anker Sorensen (yay!), while 17th was Niemiec and 19th was Szmyd.
Andy Schleck didn't finish the race and said on Twitter that he's a bit ill. Get well soon boy!

PARIS-TOURS:
Paris- Tours is a very strange-and difficult-race. You never know how it will finish-in a bunch sprint? in a sprint between 4 or 5 riders? or will someone get to the finish-line alone?
The great charme of this race then lies in its very beautiful landscape: little narrow streets in the woods and, in the end, the great Avenue du Grammont, a 2.7 kms long road which is very large and doesn't have any curve. Unfortunately this was the last time the race arrived on this road, since next year a tramline will be built in the traditional finish zone. What a shame.
Btw, with 20 kms to go the breakawayers du jour had been caught by the peloton. Everyone was awaiting for an attack of Philippe Gilbert, but the Belgian kept on hiding himself (just like Pozzato). With a few kms to go Radioshack's stylist,ehm, rider, Lequatre, launched a solo attack. In the peloton there were some moments of confusion in which no one pulled, so that Lequatre soon reached an advantage of about 30". Some riders like Tosatto or the always good Van Marcke tried to chase him, but didn't manage to. So, with 2.7 kms to go, Lequatre was alone at the head of the race, with 20" of advantage on the peloton.
Poor Geoffre was caught with just 400 meters to go (I felt awfully sorry for him) and at that point also the sprint was launched. Hondo appeared on the right of everyone's tv screen, then Furlan rode past him in a much faster way. Then, from behind, a rider with an orange kit on appeared, rode past Furlan and raised his arms to the sky. This rider was Oscarito Freire, who's said that he'll finish his career in 2011. Oscar had a great sprint, since he managed to win although during the sprint he had been closed against the barriers twice. Third was Steegmans, while second was Furlan.
4th was a surprising Lodewyck (Topsport is a very good team, they always have new surprising riders!), 5th was the amazing Arashiro, 6th R. Feillu, 7th the good Offred, 8th Weylandt and 9th was Eisel. Sebastien Chavanel was 10th, 11th was McEwen,14th was Hondo,15th Vanmarcke, 16th Van Avermaet.
18th was a very good Fabien Bacquet, a 24 year-old rider who rides for the Continental Team Big Mat- Suber 93. Fabien is a very good rider and, although this year he didn't achieve any victory, he got some very good results anyway. After this 18th placement in such a hard race, I'm sure Fabien can head into holidays in a very serene way and enjoy a very well deserved period of rest. If you want to know more about him, here's the link to his official website: http://fanclub-fabienbacquet.com/default.aspx .
Breschel was then 25th while Bennati was 42nd; last year's runner up Bozic instead got lost in the middle of the classification just like Gilbert and Pozzato.

Random marketing reflections du comeback: Schleck-Contador-Riis, Riccò and more

To the joy of everyone except me, I'm back in the cold and rainy Bergamo after 2 weeks spent at sea with my best friends. It was probably the best holiday of my life so far,especially because my friends and I behaved in a totally stupid way half of the time.

Many remarkable things happened over the last 2 weeks.I discovered that I can stand Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' (it's hard,but I can make it),Waka Waka (I actually start to sing and dance every time I hear it) and that horrible 'tamarrata' called 'Panico Paura' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSERMhD_VFw&feature=player_embedded ); I lost 3 kgs (*a big smile appears on her face*); I once went to bed at 4 am and woke up spontaneously at 8 am (at 1 pm I had to run to the bar and drink a coffee,but it doesn't matter); we ate pizza at 1.30 am; two of my friends received promises of marriage (a few minutes later,one of the future husbands was discovered behind a tent,kissing another girl); I 'learnt' to dance merengue; after a long night in the disco I was woken up at 7.30 am by the terrified screams of my best friend ("There is a frog in the bathroom!!) and went to save her; I thanked God for making a thunderstorm begin 2 minutes after the end of the party beach of Ferragosto; I discovered I can dance 'liscio' even if I'm wearing high heels; and then,obviously,I fell in love with the usual 'good-looking but impossible (for job reasons)' boy and had the feeling of being in a film when,on the eve of my departure,he came up to me and asked me for a last dance together.I don't fall in love very often,but when I do, well, I do it seriously.

Anyway,now I hear you ask: how did you manage to keep up with cycling while you were on holiday,distracted by blue-eyed boys,frogs and so on?

Well,let's say that in the first days I bought La Gazzetta everyday.Then I had to stop because my friends didn't want to lose their precious time in queues inside the supermarket when there was a free Gazzetta available in the bar.Therefore,from the 5th day I began to read La Gazzetta in the bar,although sometimes it wasn't available. As far as races in tv are concerned, I managed to watch just GP Carnago (Basso won) and then, on a rainy day, I bought BiciSport of August (I was going to burn it after reading Beppe Conti's article, but my friends stopped me).

Talking about cycling, while I was away some marketing news came. For example, Contador will officially go to Saxo Bank (who remains as main sponsor of Riis' team), Breschel will go to Rabobank, Riccò to Vacansoleil, Kreuziger to Astana (together with Kiserlovski), Greipel to Omega-Pharma Lotto, and O'Grady, Fuglsang and Voigt are close to the Schleck's new team.

Let's now try to use my little brain and write some opinions of mine about the 'Schlecks-Contador-Riis' affaire. I've read some theories about Contador going to Saxo and the Schlecks going away, but I totally refuse the one known as 'They sabotated Andy's bike!". Come on, it's obvious that Riis, the mechanics, whoever else would have gained much more money if Andy had kept the yellow jersey in Bagneres De Luchon and won the Tour! And then,it was Andy who made a mistake by changing gear and no one could have planned that he would have had a problem with his chain at that moment!

As far as his teammates are concerned,then,it's true that the team wasn't as good as it seemed on paper. Nevertheless, I'm sure that they did everything they could to help Andy. They gave Andy their support,but it simply wasn't enough. I'm sure that they would have loved to see Andy winning the Tour, because in that case they would have entered cycling history together with their captain (and more money would have entered their wallets...).

I've read also some observations about Riis' comments after the infamous 'Chain stage'. Ok,Riis didn't look particularly pissed off that day,but I believe that, even if he had gone to the journalists screaming "That fucking bastard has stolen the Tour from my boy!!",things wouldn't have changed at all.Perhaps,they would have got worse since,imo,such behaviour would have been a sign of weakness.

So,I don't share the sabotage theory at all.

As far as Contador's employment is concerned,then,I think it's obvious that,without the Schlecks, Riis wanted to have a new strong Grand Tour rider inside his team. Knowing that Specialized would have helped him, he decided to try to have Contador. That's life,that's cycling, that's what every intelligent ds would have done. Fangirl obviously doesn't approve this fact ('Bjarne will reveal Andy's secrets to Contador!!!'), but Logic does.

Logic also tells me one thing. Seen from outside, many people (especially those who live in the public eye) seem to care just about feelings, friendship, loyalty and all those kind of things. But, after all, they care about money as well. You can't make a living out of friendship, loyalty, love,etc. To survive, you also need money and you also need to be cunny . That's why Bjarne employed Contador and, probably, that's why the Schlecks left Saxo Bank. It's obvious that we don't know everything about what really happened inside the team. We don't know it and, probably, we'll never know it. But still, Logic doesn't see anything bad in Riis in employing Contador. Heart and business don't get on at all, unfortunately.

As far as the new team of the Schleck brothers (apropos,what will its new name be? 'New Luxembourg'? 'Auchan'? 'We're the cutest brothers of the peloton'?) is concerned,then, I think they probably had some problems with Bjarne and took the chance of getting rid of him. They were offered the chance of creating a new team, without Riis, in which they could have decided their teammates, their ds,and so on. They were offered the chance of honouring Luxembourg with a new team. Probably,they were also offered a higher salary.

In these cases,you spend more than one night thinking about what to do.You feel you have the chance of your life and you probably don't want to let it slip away. Eventually, they decided to go away. We can agree or not with that move, but it's not our life we're talking about. It's their lives, so they have the right of taking decisions for themselves.

In a few words, Andy and Frank took an important decision in their lives. Bjarne took another one to compensate the decision the brothers. That's it. We can think that the Schlecks had no reason to leave Riis and we can think that Riis was unloyal in employing Contador, but this won't change anything at all. It's their lives- we're just watching.

On to other marketing moves, anyway, the new team of the Schlecks will probably be formed by guys like Didier,Voigt,O'Grady, Fuglsang and Gerdemann.

Matti Breschel instead is leaving Riis in order to go to Rabobank.I think that was understandable already from April,when he had mechanical problems in Gand-Wevelgem and in Flanders.And then,if Cancellara stays with Riis,Matti would have always been the second choice of the team.

As far as Astana is concerned,so far they've made some interesting marketing moves.Kiserlovski and Kreuziger are both very interesting riders and they may become great Grand Tour riders in the future.Vinokorouv then said he's going to race also next year (if I was Contador,I would be worried),so the team will be strong also in the next season.

Last thing to say for today,Riccò is going to Vacansoleil. 'Can someone explain me this move,please?',I've heard many people ask. Perhaps,I have understood something about it (I can understand why Riccò makes some moves rather than other ones and this worries me...).

So,let's start from the beginning (more or less) of the story. You sign a contract with a team at the beginning of 2010. You say you're outraged because your team wasn't invited to the Giro (although you knew that your chances of racing la corsa rosa for that team weren't actually that good). Quick Step,a Pro Tour team who always gets invited to Grand Tours,wants you to ride for them. With them you could race la Vuelta and all the other big races of the season.You pretend you're going to sign a contract with them,but then,in August, you decide to go to Vacansoleil,a team who wasn't invited to la Vuelta. Why? And why in August?

Now, you're going to read my personal explanation of the matter. It could be right but it could also be a total bullshit. Therefore,fasten your seat belts and follow me.

Perhaps right now the Cobra isn't in good form and prefers to skip la Vuelta (a bad result there would be seen in a very negative way from those who don't like him) in spite of everything he's said over the last months. Going to Vacansoleil now,he could skip la Vuelta,but he could race Lombardy Tour, a race that suits him (his old team, Flaminia, probably won't be invited to that race).

Vacansoleil then has great projects for next year. Leukemans,Hoogerland,Marcato and Carrara are good riders,add Devolder and Riccò (I'm not that blind to deny that the Cobra has talent) and you get a good team.Riccò probably chose this team also because,if compared to Quick Step,its riders are more suitable to Grand Tours rather than to classics.In Quick Step's Grand Tours' squad there are always some 'untouchable' riders: Boonen and his helpers, Chavanel, Barredo... With Riccò they should change some things. Instead,Vacansoleil already has good climbers like Marcato and Carrara and can still buy some interesting riders.And with riders like Riccò, Devolder, Hoogerland, Leukemans and so on, it will surely be invited to some of the best races of the world.

So,that's my explanation of Riccò's decision.As said,it might be true,but it could also be a total bullshit.

After writing my opinions in such a chaotic way (if you've understood them,you're veeeerry clever),here I end this random post.It's time to turn on the radio,put on the cd I bought on holiday and get depressed while thinking about him!

And in the end,they finally reached Paris: randomness,celebrations and links

Another Tour de France is over and another Tour de France was won by Alberto Contador. Cycling isn't maths (luckily),but 1 Giro plus 1 Vuelta plus 3 Tours makes 5 Grand Tours won by the Spaniard,which divided for 27 (the years of life of Contador) give the result of 'Great cycling champion'.So,chapeau to Alberto for winning this year race. As you could see from my last post,after the final TT I was a bit brainwashed.In my defense however I must say that,less than 5" after watching Andy losing this Tour,I had to hear a journalist reminding me that next year also Riccò will probably take part in the Grande Boucle.

"This year things ended up this way,but just imagine what an epic battle these two riders will offer us next year: Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck fighting on the French climbs, together with our Grand Tour hope Riccardo Riccò",the cycling historian Beppe Conti said with a smile on his face.

Now,me wonders, did he really think to make Schleck supporters feel better by saying that?

If so,well,thank you for the effort,sir. Really,thinking about Riccò's comeback in the Grand Tours was right what I needed after watching my favourite rider losing a Tour for 39". Really,that news made me jump around the house screaming happily "Oh,Riccò will come back soon! I'm so excited! Oh,I so hope Quick Step will sign a new contract with him and I so hope he'll be able to race Vuelta,steal a podium spot from a good honest rider and,why not,steal Lombardy Tour from Cunego or Gilbert.What a joy! What an excitement!"

However,I have to admit that Beppe Conti was totally right about one thing: Riccò (and not Nibali) is perfect for wearing the clothes of "Italian new hope for Grand Tours",especially if you consider that almost all the important cyclists who had doping problems over the last months were Italians (Di Luca, Rebellin, Riccò, Pellizotti, Basso...).He's the perfect flag for Italian cycling,no doubts about that.

And then,as many of Conti's colleagues point out every time he wins something,Vinokourov is 'unpleasant,too patriotic,too arrogant and is even a former doper', while Riccò is 'a boy who made a mistake' but,in spite of that,is the living portrait of humilty,modesty and is a very pleasant person,a person who left his girlfriend after that she was found positive (or not?) at the anti-doping. Geez,what a jerk,ehm,what a great cycling champion we Italians have.And to say that some people still detest that rider.I wonder why...

Anyway I realise that,as usual,I'm straying away from the point.So let's forget about Riccò and Beppe Conti and go to the heart of this post: yesterday Tour de France stage,the podium and the celebrations.

During the first part of the Paris stage,as usual, the riders were seen riding happily towards the Champs Elysées. Arashiro ate a lollipop,Vinokourov attacked a packet of crisps,Contador drank a glass of champagne...At a certain point,the Spaniard and Andy Schleck decided to simulate an attack and,to my horror,they had to stop because Andy had a mechanical problem and had to change his bike.This time,however,Contador waited for the Luxembourgian.

On Champs Elysées the atmosphere changed,since the fight for the green jersey was still open and some riders tried to form a beakaway before of the last spint of this Tour.Those riders were Nicki Sorensen,Christian Knees and Karsten Kroon and they didn't have any luck.

Cavendish won the final sprint of the race and,thanks to his second placement,Petacchi won the green jersey."I'm very happy",the Italian said after the finish-line."My son is surely watching me right now and he will surely say 'Dad all green!"

After the finish-line,the podium celebrations began.

Cavendish went on the podium for receiving the stage victory award and that moment signed the beginning of my usual 'How awful the Tour trophies are' monologue,which takes place every year at the end of Tour de France.

The following rider to receive his award was the green jersey Petacchi.The Italian won the green jersey 42 years after Bitossi and became the second Italian to do so in the whole history of Cycledom.On the podium,he had the little shoes of his little son Alessandro jr. around his neck.

Charteau was the surprise winner of the polka dots jersey (second was 39 year-old Moreau). I've read that some people complained about his victory in that competition but I think that Anthony has no blame at all in that.If the organisers really want a grimpeur to win the polka dots jersey,they should simply give less points to 4 category climbs and more points to those who come first on climbs like Tourmalet,Aubisque and so on.

The 'most attacking rider of the Tour' award was given to Sylvain Chavanel.I think it was a right choice,especially if you consider that Sylvain was at the front of the race very often,won 2 stages, got the yellow jersey twice and showed his teeth at the head of the peloton even during the last stage of Champs Elysées.Chapeau,monsieur Chavanel.

Andy Schleck looked a bit disappointed as he received his white jersey and the thousandth Skoda Yeti of his career.I wonder where he stores all those horrible things,one of which was kindly defined by Andy as 'teddy' on Twitter. Let's just hope Leea and the other children of Saxo Bank's riders have a weakness for white, furry and scaring toys.

Contador really looked relieved when he hopped on the Paris podium for the third time in his life.He got off of it and soon climbed it again,this time with Andy Schleck and Denis Menchov at his side.Contador received the usual blue trophy (he's already got 3 of them at home),Andy received a transparent plate of glass,while Menchov received a golden glass plate as well.

This time the anthem that Contador heard from the podium was the right one,while Menchov and Schleck looked very serious and both took their hats off in front of the Spanish anthem.In that occasion,me had the clear feeling that Andy was spying Menchov's moves on the podium.

Best team was then Radioshack,whose riders went on the podium with jerseys that remind us that,in the World,there are 28 millions of people who suffer from cancer.
After the podium celebrations,the boys were finally ready to have their well deserved beers, pizzas and parties in Paris.

Frank Schleck was in the French city as well,together with Martine and Leea. On http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/fraenk-schleck-vi-havde-vundet you can find an interview with him.This article reminds us that the Schleck brothers are going to leave Riis team (*Fangirl sighs*) at the end of the year and another article on the same website tells us that both Fuglsang and Breschel have already decided what their cycling future will be,although they said they wanted to wait some days before of revealing their decisions to the press.On http://www.sporten.dk/webtv/269/11666 then there's a video interview with Voigt who,so far,is the only non-Danish person that I've ever heard pronouncing the word 'Fuglsang' in a very speedy and determined way.Also Jens tells us that he's already decided what his team for next year will be,but he also belongs to the "Let's make the supporters suffer!" party (I'm joking,since I know that for at least one week now the riders should just think about themselves and forget about bikes).

As far as the riders' celebration is concerned,here are some websites with very good pictures:

http://www.tdwsport.com/ Tim De Waele's pictures from the last Tour de France day are very interesting.For example,in one of them there is Contador with the blue trophy and Schleck with the infamous transparent glass plate.

From the pictures we can also understand that the fashion sense of some teams isn't actually that good.Just take a look at Menchov's orange hat (my eyes were burning!) and to the yellow shorts of the Astana riders (the same ones that Vinokorouv was wearing after Friday's TT and that probably caused the tears of Contador) and you'll understand what I mean.

On this website there are also some impressive shots of the riders with the Arc de Triomphé behind them and there are also lots of pictures of Armstrong,who is now ready for his last retire from the riding peloton.Also for Moerenhout and Moreau this was the last TdF,while it isn't clear yet what Vinokourov will do next year.

The website also features some nice pictures of the riders' train travel towards Paris (apropos: Chris Sorensen was next to Voigt on the train; does this mean that he has definitely abandoned Nicki for Jens? ;)

http://www.corvospro.com/arimages.aspx Also Corvos pictures are very good and they feature lots of different teams.There are the usual pictures of Saxo Bank Danish riders with Viking helmets on (read what I've written above about the fashion sense of some riders...),Cavendish with Renshaw,Andy Schleck looking enviously at Contador's blue trophy and,obviously,there are lots of pictures of Rabobank Dutch riders.

http://www.bettiniphoto.net/ :there are some very good pictures also on Roberto Bettini's website.The Italian photographer (who took the first two pictures of this post) this year took part in his 20th Tour as a photographer.Congratulations!<>

http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/fotogalerien/104301/index.php?pg=0 Wort.Lu dedicates a little photo gallery to the Schleck brothers and to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

So,that was the last stage of the Tour.Congratulations (and thank you!) to all the riders who took part in the race and also to everyone who worked for the Tour (journalists,chronists,drivers,etc). Sometimes they say/write some stupid things but hey,who doesn't (read my "those 42 seconds won't be important at the end of the Tour" statement in the post about Rotterdam's prologue...)? They're human beings as well and,although sometimes I joke about them,I know that without them the Tour would be very different.

To next year-and remember,Alberto,that Andy will be even stronger next July!

(Pictures by Bettini;last picture by Reuters)

Der Jens ist immer der Best Teil 2:

Ja,der Jens ist immer der Best.Das ist sicher.Just take a look at the pic below: although he is almost 39 year-old,Jens still manages to rock races and get victories by riding past riders (like Rein Taramaae,for example) who are much younger than him.

Imo,this man should seriously be included in the list of "7 cyclistic wonders" because he's been one of the best riders out there for about 14 years now-and he still is.And as well as being a great rider,Jens is also a great person.I just tell you that,after a stressing stage like the Milano one at Giro 2009,he was the first one to arrive near to SB team bus and the last one to get on it.In fact,fans stopped him for autographs and pictures as soon as they say him arriving, and he kindly stopped to talk to everyone.Unfortunately,since I was in that state of mind known as "Fangirlistic trance",the only thing I could say to him in that moment was: "Jens,bitte...Ein Bild zusammen!",while showing him my little camera in order to give more power to my words.And although said words were pronounced with the worst German accent ever and with a terrible squeeky voice,Voigt didn't hesitate at all in front of my request and therefore I could have my pic with him taken.If I were him,I would have probaby ignored that fan who looked like a mole and got on the team bus without giving any signature-after all,I could have given the fans autographs and pictures after a good shower. And instead no,Jens made sure that everyone had his autograph aand/or picture before of getting on the bus and having a shower,because he's simply a great great great man.

DWARS DOOR VLAANDEREN:

Of course Jens' first place in today's stage is a nice sequel to Matti Breschel's victory in Dwars door Vlaanderen (Vlanderen or Vlaanderen? that is the question).

"To me,this victory is very important and for the team also",Matti said after the stage."We only have a few wins this season and the Classics have started.For me and for the team,we needed this for the morale.We knew that we had to stay in front there and we knew that it was me and Fabian-and then Fabian came to me and said he'd do this for me,just sit on my wheel.I didn't really attack,just went easy away,and I got the gap.I was dying at the end, had a little cramping, but I had Torsten [Schmidt, sports director] on the radio and he gave me the confidence to believe I could go all the way.I tried as hard as possible, and yeah - I won!"

As Breschel said,this victory was a nice morale boost to the team-especially if you consider that Danish ex rider Rolf Sorensen recently complained about the lack of SB victories so far in the year.Now,with 2 victories in 2 days,I think that even Rolf can be satisfied with the team's results.

SETTIMANA COPPI & BARTALI (PLUS MY OPINION ABOUT THE RICCO' SAGA):

In the last days Italian journalists are spending a lot of time reminding everyone that Riccò has come back in Cycledom.An interview with him yesterday,a page about him today...And the guy is still as arrogant as ever.Gosh. Considering all the interest that is given to the Cobra lately (and that I find completely undeserved),I had thought of avoiding watching Settimana Coppi & Bartali because I'm not able to read articles about Riccò and watch him racing on tv in just 3 hours after reading the newspaper.However,since I need to watch at least one cycling road race pro week to keep me going,today I gave up and therefore I was able to watch the race and to cheer for Przemyslaw Niemiec's victory.This Polish boy of 29 in fact is a really good cyclist and,although he's not very famous,he has already achieved many good results in his career.Second in the stage,and new leader of the GC,is Ivan Santaromita (whose surname was mispelled as "Santaromina" by the chronist).3rd was Riccò,who in the latest day is being seen like an hero by many Italian people."Go Riccò,you are the best,it's unfair that you can't race the Giro,Zomegnan is stupid,you're far better than everyone else,tifosi have to leave the past behind,we know you're clean,we trust you,we missed you,cycling missed you,etc.etc".Anyway,I'd like to give my little opinion about all this Italian euphoria:

1:ok,Zomegnan immediately welcomed Basso after his 2 yers ban,but Basso's case and Riccò's one imo were very different.In fact,Basso was never found positive at the anti-doping and was banned for more than 2 years.Riccò was caught positive at the Tour,denied having used doping,then changed his mind and apologised,then split up with his girlfriend because she resulted positive at the anti-doping as well,and he was banned from Cycledom for just 1 year and a half. Therefore,dear Cobra,don't go 'round the peloton crying "Zomegnan likes Basso and Sella more than me,booooh",because Zomegnan has a lot of reasons to like Basso more than you.And as far as Sella is concerned,his team hasn't been invited to the Giro yet.Therefore,shut up.

2: dear Riccò,please,don't pretend to be sad for your teammate's destiny by saying stupid things like "We should be invited at the Giro because we have guys like Noé who'd really deserve that". In fact,I believe that when you signed a contract with Flaminia you probably knew that you wouldn't have been invited to the Giro,so it's mainly your fault if Noé and the others won't be able to take part in the Corsa Rosa.Therefore,once again,I suggest you closing your mouth.

3: saying that a guy who was doped from his toes to his hair is the best rider ever is a bit an exaggeration imo,especially if you consider that in he peloton there are young guys who everyone ignores but that are much cleaner than Riccò. Unfortunately,some Italian tifosi think of Riccò as a hero (did they get brainwahsed,I wonder?).After reading this,I probably think you've understood why Italy has such a bad First Minister : as long as there are people who think that a doper is the best rider ever,no one should feel surprised about reading that a man with lots of problems with justice represents Italy in the World (oops,did I really type those things about our premier? If I did,ignore them...).

4: As a supporter,I don't leave the past behind.This worths for Riccò,for Sella,for Vinokourov,for Rasmussen and also for Basso.Everyone can get a second chance,but they have to deserve it.And if at the end it ends up with Riccò resulting positive again at the anti-doping,I'll be laughing as much as never before (you know how hysterical laughs sound,don't you?).

New Saxo Bank "profile pics" plus few random links:

That time of the year has come,when the new "profile pics" of the Saxo Bank riders finally appear on the team website.I don't know what the riders think of this thing,but in her twisted little mind Fangirl imagines them hearing the news of the pics publication,checking the team website in a very nervous way and having 2 different kind of reactions:
1."This is my photo!?! What? Are you kidding me? I don't look this bad live!! And since when are my ears so big?"
2."Man,it could have gone much worse! Just look at the photo of the rider next to me...He looks like a monster!"

Luckily for everyone,Logic is always ready to interrupt Fangirl's crazy thoughts by remembering her that there is just one rider who could react to such a unimportant news in this way,and that one rider is Pozzatolocks who,luckily,isn't a Saxo Bank rider.In fact,Logic deeply believes that Saxo Bank guys don't care at all about their "profile pics on the team website",because they have other bigger worries.
Anyway,although Logic doesn't want me to write these useless things on my blog,here's my opinion about this year's pics.First of all,I must say that some guys' pics have got better (just think at Klostergaard and Klemme's ones),few ones have got worse (Chris Anker and Breschel's ones) and some others haven't changed at all (Nicki Sorensen,for example,had that very same haircut also in last year's pic).Then of course there are the pictures of the new riders,who have got over the "profile pic" proof pretty well.And then,last but not least,there are the pictures of the Schleck brothers which,IMO,are better than last year's one (after all,it's hard to take horrible pics of handsome guys...) :P. RANDOM LINKS:
After talking about "useless things" (Logic,who doesn't understand Fangirl's feelings,defines everything that has to do with riders' pictures in this way),here are (few) more serious things.
First of all,"the case du week-end": http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riccos-partner-positive-for-cera .Yesterday evening this news left me completely astonished and made me think some evil things about Riccò and his girlfriend.Anyway,now miss Rossi says that there must have been something wrong in the doping test,because she would be a criminal if she doped and fed her baby at the same time (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riccos-partner-denies-taking-epo-cera ).Call me naiv but,since I can't believe that someone can be sooo stupid to use doping and be caught positive after their husband,for the moment I prefer to wait until the B-sample tests before of writing my opinions about this doping case.
http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/ :yes,Chris Anker Sorensen has updated his blog with a post in which he talks about hummingbirds (I am not joking),jet-lag and training.He also says that this year his preparation was as good as never before,and that therefore he believes he'll get some good results earlier than usual in the season.Logic was very happy to hear about this,since last year she had to bear Fangirl's complaints about the lack of Chris' victories for 10 months, and she's not going to to put up with something similar also this year.
Randomness du jour: Happy birthday Richie Porte!

PS: Post's pics by Tim De Waele. If you want to see more photos of the Saxo Bank riders,I suggest you going on http://www.tdwsport.com/ .Some pics are really nice!

Saxo Bank vid + Random News:

In those days the effects of nearly 3 months spent without watching any cycling road race on tv have begun to show.And since I can't avoid to talk about cycling at least on this blog,here's another usual random post about many different things.

First of all,on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rAXH9uUuhQ there's a vid about the usual bike fitting that the Saxo Bank riders have to face every year.The vid features Frank Schleck, Jens Voigt,Frank Hoj and JJ Haedo,and for some Fangirls it may be a very nice thing to see.The vid has also allowed myself to notice the gap between Frank Hoj's front teeth,which is a wonderful thing that makes him enter my special list dedicated to people with this characteristic. In fact my dentist once told me that I absolutely had to do something about the gap between my own front teeth,because it was an horrible thing to see.Since that day (and after changing dentist) I started to keep a mental list about people who have this facial feature as well,because I deeply believe that it is a very classy particularity (feel free to disagree ;).

Btw,let's go back to cycling.Jakob Fuglsang's knee is really giving him problems (check his Twitter for more info) and so I can officially state that my dear online translater isn't a liar.

An interesting cycling link that I've found today is the one to Chris Anker Sorensen's blog (http://%20blog.tv2.dk/%20chris.anker.ol/entry356119.html ).He updated it yesterday and wrote that he's happy to be Jonas Aaen's roommate,"because he's a good boy and also because he's brought lots of films to watch.This is a very good thing because I watch the Spanish tv just when they show the Real Madrid-Barcelona football match",Chris writes.

Here instead there's a pic of SB new jersey.Its back is white and black,a design choice that I absolutely approve because it reminds me of the good old days back in 2007.RANDOM NEWS NOT ABOUT SAXO BANK:

Giro jerseys: also the Giro now has its own maglia roja,which has replaced the old "ciclamino" jersey for unknown reasons.

The Cobra's Comeback:: today edition of the Gazzetta has 2 pages dedicated to cycling.Good thing,you may think.And instead no,this isn't a good thing.At least,it isn't a good thing when one of the pages is dedicated to Armstrong and the other one is dedicated to Riccò. Yes,Riccò. The dude has answered Cavendish and Pinotti's comments about his comeback.About Cavendish,he pretended not to remember his name.About Pinotti (who,on his Twitter,once wrote "Read on magazines that cobra and salbaneo "have learnt the lesson" and dream about coming back in the Giro;it make me puke") ,Riccò said that he's hoping that Pinotti will get over his health problems soon and stop puking.What a classy man,what a champion! (now I stop talking about him because otherwise I'll end up with Pinotti's same stomach problems).