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.

Cunego!

Today's stage of la Vuelta was a great one,very exciting and with lots of attacks.

9 men formed a breakaway and built a big advantadge on the leader group.These 9 riders were Cunego,Alan Perez,Fuglsang (yay!),Knees,Palomares,Gonzalo Rabanal,Tankink,Xavier Florencio and De Weert.

With about 30 kms to go the advantadge of the "escapados" was of 8 minutes,but soon it started to decrease because of Euskaltel's and Caisse d'Epargne's efforts at the head of the peloton.

The final climb (divided in 2 Gpm) began with about 20 kms to go.Palomares attacked a lot of time on the first part of the climb (the longest but easiest one),but with 14 kms to go it was Damiano Cunego's time for attacking.The Little Prince soon started to gain time on the other 8 companions,while in the leader group Liquigas started to set the pace.

Zaugg,Kreuziger,Carlstrom and Szmyd did a great work on the climb and Basso attacked with 4 kms to go.Valverde lost some meters from the Italian rider,that was soon joined by Evans, Gesink and Mosquera in his action.Valverde was overpassed also by Samuel Sanchez,but then he managed to get over that bad moment and joined again the 4 riders (the olympic champion Sanchez did the same).Then Basso lost some meters,while Sanchez and Mosquera gained time on the other GC riders.In the meanwhile,Cunego had already crossed the finish-line and won his 2nd stage in this year's Vuelta.Gesink and Valverde then managed to drop Basso and Evans,and then Valverde also managed to gain few seconds on Gesink.

Second came a great Jakob Fuglsang (did he read what I wrote yesterday,perhaps?),while 3rd was Sanchez.4th came Mosquera,while 5th was Valverde.Gesink came in 6th,while Evans was 7th and Basso 9th.Here's the new GC Top 10:
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:31
3 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:10
4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:28
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 0:01:51
6 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:01:54
7 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:05:53
8 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-NGC 0:06:24
9 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 0:08:28
10 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 0:10:45

I must say I'm happy about the stage's final results.Cunego is one of my favourite Italian riders (Pozzatolocks is clearly not included in that list),while Fuglsang is not just a Saxo Bank rider but he's also an ex-mountain biker and seems a very nice boy.Sanchez is a very good rider, while Mosquera is probably my favourite Spanish rider.

Regarding the GC,I'm a bit sorry about Basso.His team worked a lot for him (Zaugg was just great),but unfortunately he couldn't make the difference.

(Photo Afp)

Randomness du comeback:

After 14 days of holiday during which I had a lot of fun,read a lot of books (Bill Bryson rocks!) and had many meetings with jellyfish (they all ended up with someone-me,a member of my family or another unlucky tourist screaming:"F****** animal,you got me!"),here I am again.Lots of things have happened in the last few days: the FA Jens Voigt has returned racing,Italian team for the Worlds is almost ready (and it includes mr.Pozzatolocks,unfortunately for me), Kroon,Burghardt,Hincapie,Ballan and Santambrogio have decided to go to BMC team, Boasson Hagen,Lovkvist,Thomas,Arvesen and lots of other riders have signed a contract with Team Sky,Kirchen has decided to go to Katusha,Bak and Goss have signed with Columbia,Berlusconi has made me feel ashamed of being Italian...And then of course there were the 2 news regarding the Schleck brothers.As you probably already know,Andy left the Vuelta because he was ill (I don't know why,but an Italian journalist wrote:"he's got talent,but he still has a lot to learn".Does it mean that expert cyclists know how to avoid illness?),while Frank had to leave the race because in order to face a surgery operation on his left knee.

Frank was operated yesterday in Gand,Belgium,and won't be racing until 2010."The problem actually began back in the Basque Country Tour in April where I was wondering about how the classics would turn out from my part.I did OK through the spring but I could tell that my knee was not feeling as it should be.After my break from racing everything went really well,although the problem still appeared now and then.After the Tour of Luxembourg and the Tour de Suisse the pain returned and I must admit that I had some really tough days during the Tour where most days darkened because of the knee.Fortunately managed to finish the race and make some results with the team which I am enormously proud of.But now it has come to a point where an operation is the only way out,so I can be ready again for the next season.I am sorry that this season ends like this but after all,I have been in progress continuously since February and it makes it worth while finishing the season now.The most important thing is that after surgery I can compete without pain when the new season starts”, Fränk said.According to the doctors,he will be able to get back on the bike after four weeks and without permanent injury.

"Frank has had big problems with his knee and the decision to abandon the Vuelta to have surgery is the only right thing to do.He has now been riding with pain since April and the following year and in principle the rest of his career in mind we have to take the situation seriously.Fortunately,he will soon be on the operating table and although he stands in front of a long break he can easily make up for the new season.He is obviously not happy to drop out of the Vuelta and miss the World Cup and Lombardy,where he could have done really well.However,he can look back on a great season and look forward to next year's challenges without having to endure the pain”,said Kim Andersen.

Of course I wish Frank a fast recover and hope he'll come back even stronger next year. Unfortunately this news completely destroyed Fangirl's project for the "Perfect Worlds Road Race Podium in Mendrisio".In fact her dream podium for the Worlds would have been the following: 1st Frank,2nd C.A. Sorensen,3rd Andy Schleck.Fangirl would have liked to see C.A. on the podium because Logic has finally convincted her that a Dane rider will end up on the Worlds podium and also because her ideal race-finish would have been very similar to the Grand Bornard one,with Frank winning and Andy 3rd,very happy and with arms raised up to the sky.

But since Frank won't be racing the Worlds,Fangirl's new perfect podium is the following: 1st Andy (who else?),2nd C.A. and 3rd an Italian rider (Cunego or Garzelli).

As you probably know,the Vuelta is still on.Today's stage was won by a great David Moncoutié.Second came Mosquera,while 3rd was the race leader Valverde.Evans punctured with about 15 kms to go and lost over a minute from Valverde,Gesink and Basso.Also Danielson lost a lot of time.

When the Vuelta began,I thought that the final Top 5 could have been formed by Evans, Valverde,Basso,Gesink and Fuglsang.Unfortunately Fuglsang is already out of games, but the other 4 riders are all in the high rankings of the GC.

Tomorrow's stage will be another hard one,and perhaps Jakob could do well there.In this way he would be the 2nd rider of Saxo Bank to win a stage at this year's Vuelta,since Fab Fab has already won 2 TTs.
Regarding other Saxo Bankers,Haedo won a stage at the Tour of Missouri some days ago,while Matthew Goss has won Paris-Brussels this afternoon.

Vuelta: start list

The Vuelta a Espana begins tomorrow and ends on the 20th of September in Madrid.The race begins in Holland and will move to Spain after 4 stages (the last of which ends in Liege).I won't be around for the next 2 weeks,so in my last post for this month I've decided to show you the start list of La Vuelta according to the official website of the race.Here it is:

Euskaltel Euskadi: The Basque team will be formed by the Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez,Igor Anton,Egoi Martinez,Alan Perez,Ruben Perez,Inaki Isasi,Aitor Hernandez,Markel Irizar and Amets Txurruka.Logic thinks that lots of Euskaltel men will take part in breakaways and that Sanchez will show something good.

AG2R La Mondiale: the team leader for the GC will be Tadej Valjavec,who wore the leader jersey for some days during this year TdS.The other riders will be José Luis Arrieta, Riblon,Alexander Efimkin,Hinault,Loubet,Nocentini (vai Rinaldooo!),Turpin and Dessel.Dessel is a strong rider,while Nocentini will surely be very motivated because he wants to be one of the Azzurri in Mendrisio.
Andalucia Cajasur: This team will be formed by Xavier Tondo,Javier Ramirez,Manuel Calvente, Jesus Rosendo,Jose Ruiz,Francisco Jose Martinez,Manuel Ortega,José Antonio Lopez Gil and Antonio Piedra.

Astana: Probably you all know that Vinokourov will be a member of this team.The other 8 riders of the Kazakh team will be Jesus Hernandez,Iglinsky,Bazayev,Navarro,Horner,José Luis Rubiera,Kloden and Zubeldia.Anyway,I can't understand one thing: according to the Vuelta website,Vino will be just a reserve.Anyway,I can't understand why Vino keeps on talking about winning stages if he actually isn' going to run.Mistery.

Bbox Bougues Telecom: Bernaudeau,Bonnaire,Bonnet,Bouyer,Claude,Gaudin, Gene,Lefevre and Fedrigo. I like this team and I like Fedrigo (his nose is one of the symbols of this year Tour for me) and hopefully the Frenchman will manage to win a stage.
Caisse d'Epargne: the team leader for the GC will be Valverde,who has recently said that he already knows how being on the podium feels,so this time he wants to win the race.Considering that he didn't race the Tour,he will probably be even more determined than usual and so I think he's one of the favourites for the final victory.His teammates will be Erviti,José Vicente Garcia Acosta,David Lopez Garcia,Daniel Moreno,Pasamontes,Francisco Perez Sanchez,Xabier Zandio and Joaquim Rodriguez,who is a very strong rider.

Cervélo Test Team: Sastre won't be racing the Vuelta this year,so the team hasn't got his usual GC leader.The Cervélo riders at the Vuelta will be Angel Gomez,Xavier Florencio,Deignan, Hammond,Konovalovas (allez Ignatas!),Gomez Marchante,Rasch,Rollin and the young Swiss rider Marcel Wyss.

Cofidis: The French team will be formed by Demaret,Duque,El Fares,Bingen Fernandez, Moinard,Moncoutie,Monier,Pauriol and Taaramae.Taaramae and El Fares are very promising riders and I think they'll show something good during the Spanish race.
Contentpolis-Ampo: this team will be formed by Javier Benitez,Sergio Dominguez,Oscar Garcia-Casarrubios,Mikel Gaztanaga,Francisco Jose Pacheco,Adrian Palomares,Aitor Perez,Julian Sanchez and Manuel Vazquez.

Française Des Jeux: the team riders for the Vuelta will be Sandy Casar (winner of the Bourg Saint Maurice stage at Le Tour after Astarloza's positivity),Sebastien Chavanel,Cherel,Di Gregorio,Gerard,Ladagnous,Le Mevel,Offredo and Roux.
Fuji-Servetto: De La Fuente,Cobo,Duran,Capecchi,Jesus Del Nero,Kessiakoff,Kiserlovski, Intxausti and Vigano are the riders that are going to race the Vuelta for this team.Also this time,the question remains: where has Ermanno Capelli ended up?
Garmin-Slipstream: Farrar, Tom Danielson, Daniel Martin, Hesjedal, Tuft, Millar,Dean and Vande Velde.Since Cavendish won't race the Vuelta,I predict that Farrar will win at least 1 stage.And I also predict that Vande Velde will race well (even if he's already been at the start line of the Giro and of the Tour this year).
Lampre-N.G.C: some of the Italian riders will be very motivated because the Worlds are rapidly approaching and the Italian coach,Ballerini,still doesn't know which riders to choose for the Azzurri world team;between the Italian riders that are probably going to be very determined there is also Lampre's Damiano Cunego,2nd at last year's Worlds.Ballan is the only Italian rider sure of his convocation for the Mendrisio worlds,but I think he'll show something good as well during the next 3 weeks.Other Lampre riders are Bindi,Tomei,Buts,Mori,Tiralongo,Zagorodny and Gasparotto.
Liquigas: also some Liquigas Italian riders will have a great motivation during the Vuelta.Basso is going to ride for a victory in the GC,Bennati would love to win at least one stage,Quinziato will give everything to convince Ballerini to bring him to the Worlds (last year he ran the TT race). The other Liquigas riders will be Bodnar,Carlström,Kreuziger (will he help Basso,I wonder?), Szmyd,Zaugg and Willems.Of course,after having screamed happily for his victory on the top of Mont Ventoux during the Dauphine Libere,Fangirl would love to see Szmyd winning again,but Logic thinks that this won't be possible because Sylvester will have a lot of work to do for his captain Basso.
Quick Step: Good team.Boonen will try to win the stages for sprinters,while the other riders will try to win other stages.Perhaps Devolder may try to get a good placement in the GC,like he did (not in a very succesful way,I must say) during the Tour 2008.The other riders of the team will be Van Impe,Cornu,De Weert,Tosatto (another one who will try to convince Ballerini) and Velo.
Rabobank: Smiley won't be racing,so Robert Gesink is going to be the team leader.He's a strong rider and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up on the podium.Freire will try to win at least one stage and to do so he will have to beat guys like Farrar,Boonen,Ciolek,Greipel and Davis.The other Rabobank riders will be Garate,Boom,Leezer,Martens,Moerenhout,Tankink and Weening.
Silence-Lotto: after a disappointing Tour of France,No-Snore-Team will try to run a good Tour of Spain.On paper,they have the potential to do very well in the race.The team leader is obbviously going to be Cadel Evans.De Greef is a good young rider and I hope he'll do well. Wegelius has already raced the Giro and the Tour and is now going to race he Vuelta.Reading his Twitter,he sounds a bit worried.Matthew Lloyd is another strong rider,just like Gilbert (who won the Anagni stage at the Giro).The other members of the Team will be Brandt,Kaisen,Roelandts and Delage.

Team Columbia-HTC: Without Cavendish,the Columbia's "stage leader" is probably going to be André Greipel,while the GC leader will be KK,aka Kim Kirchen.Grabsch will try to win a TT,but with Cancellara around it won't be easy.The other Columbia riders will be Albasini (winner of a stage at the TdS),Siutsou (winner of the Bergamo's stage of the Giro),Hansen,Rabon,Reynes and Sieberg.
Team Milram: the team sprinter is Ciolek and I hope he can get a good result after all the placements he got this year.Linus Gerdemann is racing and hopefully his Vuelta will go better than his Tour.The other team riders are Knees,Roels,Rohregger,Russ,Martin Velits,Schroeder and Voss.
Team Saxo Bank: ah,Fangirl's favourite team...Andy and Frank will go for stage wins,at least that's what they said,but who knows what will happen? Perhaps their form is already very good and they'll get a good placement also in the GC (*Fangirl speaking,don't mind her).The team leader for the GC is going to be Jakob Fuglsang who,in my opinion,will be able to arrive in the GC Top 5.Cancellara of course will go for the TTs,while Kolobnev,Kroon,Arvesen,Breschel and O'Grady will go for stage wins (and work for the team leader).
Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team:Bozic,Carrara, Hoogerland,Lagutin, Leukemans, Marcato, Mouris, Pronk and Westra will be the Vacansoleil riders.
Xacobeo Galicia: Ezequiel Mosquera will probably be a contender for the podium.The other riders of the team will be David Garcia Da Pena,Gustavo Cesar Veloso, Gustavo Dominguez,Serafin Martinez,Gonzalo Rabunal,David Herrero,Alberto Fernandez and Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Xacobeo Galicia.

So,these are the riders that are going to run the Vuelta according to the race website.Hopefully it will be an exciting race and Fangirl will have the chance to cheer on many Saxo Bank's victories.Allez Saxo Bank!

Frank Schleck:"One day,we will both be on the podium in Paris"

Today I've found an interview with the Schleck brothers made by Le Quotidien's journalist Denis Bastien.It is in French and so I had to translate it.Since my knowledge of the French language is,er,not very good,I suggest you to read the original version on http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/les-sports/5273.html. .Anyway,if you don't understand French, here's my translation of the interview.Hope you enjoy it!

On the 26th of July,a Tour de France edition marked by the Schleck brothers ended. In addition to Frank's stage victory on the Grand Bornard,to Andy's white jersey and to the 2nd place in the GC achieved by the younger of the 2 brothers,there were also all the emotion that the 2 Luxembourgian riders gave to the public.They'll come back on their saddles for the Vuelta a Espana,an ideal preparation for the World road race championship in Mendrisio.And perhaps, also for something more... Yesterday afternoon,the Schleck brothers came back on the road.By car.Their direction was the Netherlands,where the Vuelta begins this Saturday.

The Tour de France ended a month ago.How did you feel during those days of break?
AS: It was a good break.It's true,at the end of a Tour there are fatigue and pain.I was really happy to be home again,but it didn't last long.Immediately after the Tour,we raced some Criteriums in Holland.4 days after the end of the French race,there was the Gala of Tour de France.Personally,I was slightly more stressed than Frank.I went from a criterium to another by car.Anyway I've managed to rest a while as well.Don't worry,I've relaxed.
FS: Like Andy,I was really happy to come back home again.It's true that,with all the Criteriums, it's not easy to rest.But yes,I have recovered well.We started to train again 2 weeks ago,in order to be able to pedall well again.Of course right now our form is not great,but we're racing the Vuelta to build it day after day.During the last week of race,we may be able to show something good.
Today,what do you remember from your Tour de France?
FS: I remember what the public said about our performances.They said that,at the end,just Contador and the Schleck brothers tried to make the race exciting.Contador was the strongest, but we tried to create him some problems and we don't have any regret.
AS: I think we gave a good show.We did what we could.It's always easy to say you could have done that,you could have done this,but we're proud of what we did in the Tour.
Have you got any regret?
AS: No.Of course,we lost 40 seconds during the Grande Motte stage.At the end those 40 seconds weren't a big problem for me,but without losing them Frank would have arrived 3rd in the GC.That's our only regret.
FS: With the legs I had in that period,I could have made it to the podium,that's for sure.From my point of view,the 2 strongest riders were Andy and Contador.I thought I could eventually have come in 3rd.Of course,those 40 seconds lost during the Grande Motte stage have been important.But I have another regret.With the time bonus,I could have gained some precious seconds during the Grand Bornard stage.But anyway,let's forget about these regrets,we did a great Tour.One day,we will both be on the podium in Paris
Are you surprised by the way your popularity has increased during the month of July?
AS: Yes,a little.But this was also caused by the way the race went.Evans went out of games after few days.Sastre didn't go very well.We were better.In fact,as Frank said,we were the only rivals for Contador.The public appreciated this fact.The spectators and the viewers love exciting stages and during the last week we made the race more exciting.
FS: Under this point of view,we did everything we could and it's true that the viewers have loved to see us racing that way.
How are things going in Luxembourg?
AS: They're going very well.When we don't have to take part in parties,festivals and so on,we stay calm,we love tranquility.But it's true that now when you stop in a bar to drink a coffee during a training,people ask you to take a photo with them and to give them an autograph.It's nice to be in Luxembourg.It's a pleasure for us.
FS: If we can give happiness to people,we don't hesitate.But after the Tour euphoria,we've stayed calm between one criterium and the other.
Looking at the 2010 edition of the Tour de France,what has this year experience given to you?
AS: The Tour is over and I don't like talking about things that already belong to the past,but of course I gained a lot of confidence after this year's race.It confirmed what I already thought.In 2007,I came 2nd in the Giro.In 2008,I was the best young rider at the Tour but I made some "youth mistakes".That year,I came in 10th.Now I have the idea that I can win.One day I'll win that race,yes,that's for sure.I feel it.This gives me confidence.I can win a Grand Tour and I can win the Tour de France,I think.
FS: To me,this year experience has given me new hopes for the future.Next year,Contador will be at the start of the Tour with a new team.Armstrong will have his own team as well.Our team,without any doubt,we'll be at least as strong as theirs.Things will be different.It won't be easier.But now we know what we can make.It's realistic to think that we both can be on the final podium in Paris.
Andy,what do you think of the rumours about your possible transfer to Armstrong's new team,RadioShack?
AS: I turned pro 5 years ago and so now I know how these things work.I know that,when I talk with Armstrong,then there will be rumours about that,and that the same happens every time I speak to Contador.When I talked to them,it was for fun,not for going to their new teams! (ndr;I don't know whether the last sentence I've translated is correct,really hope so!)
Is this one of the bad consequences of your reputation growing worldwide?
AS: Yes,it is...Let's talk about the Vuelta a Espana,that begins on Saturday...
FS: It's clear that we're not going to the start line thinking about winning this race.It's the first time we take part in it,so we're going to see how it is.We're racing the Vuelta because we want to find a good form and try to win a stage.The rider of our team that will try to get a good result in the GC is Jakob Fuglsang.I think he can arrive in the Top 5 in this race.As far as we're concerned,we'll see what we'll be able to do in this race.If we can do well in one or 2 stages,we'll do it.
AS: Just like I did in the criteriums,I think I'll ride with my pace.For me,it is easier to run a Grand Tour.I think that I won't be super in the first stages,but that I will get better after some days.Between all the races,the Vuelta is the best one you can choose if you want to get ready for the Worlds.
Are you going to finish the Vuelta or are you going to retire before o the last stage?
AS: It's the road that will help us with deciding this.If I'm well placedin the GC,I won't get retired.There is a week between the end of the Vuelta and the beginning of the Worlds.If I'm strong at the Vuelta,I'll be strong also during the Worlds.That's my point of view.
FS: That's also my point of view.But I'll be prudent during the Vuelta.We'll try to run a good Tour of Spain.But if one day I end up in the gruppetto,I won't make a tragedy out of it.That evening,I will drink a good beer and the following day I'll be back again on my saddle.I don't know if I'll retire.If I'm well placed in the final days of the race,I think I will continue racing.
AS: I see the Tour of Spain as a new adventure.After all,I'm happy to be on the road again.So far,we had 2 peaks of form.One during the Classics,in April,and we raced well there.The other peak was during the Tour.We ran well there too.I'd like to think that my good form could last for the whole season.This is the first time I run 2 Grand Tours in one year.That's a new challenge for me,so I'm excited.For me,it's better to race 1 big race than 2-3 small races.I'm not going to race the Vuelta to get a good result in the GC,but who knows what may happen? I'm going to race without any pressure.I'll decide whether to finish or not the race,listening to my feelings.I won't listen to the advice of the people who have ran the Vuelta before.
What does this mean?
AS: Everybody tell me that these 3 weeks are going to be very important for my beginning of the 2010 season. At this time of the season,I think they can just do good to me.After the Vuelta there are the Worlds,and after the Worlds,in October,there is the Tour of Lombardy.And there are also all the other pre-Lombardy races,like the Tour of Emilia that Frank has already won.All these races give me inspiration.I'm a runner that has troubles at the beginning of the season.So,if I can get some advantadge from the Vuelta,it will just do me good.This will make my experience-luggage even bigger.
Next Monday,a stage of the Vuelta will finish in Liege.Have you already thought about this?
AS: Yes I have,but I don't think that my form will allow me to shine during the first days of the Vuelta.I don't know how my body will react,but I believe I'll get better day after day.Actually,I don't know much about the stage ending in Liege.
The parcours looks a bit like the Amstel Gold Race's one,there is the Cauberg,and then the final kms are the ones of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
AS: Oh,then it's going to be too hard for me...
Wat do you think of the Mendrisio worlds?
FS: It is going to be as a very hard classic.And of course,we're alway good on that kind of terrain.With Kim Kirchen,Luxembourg has got 3 riders that have a chance of victory.In the next years the race will suit the sprinters rather than the climbers,so we have to take this chance. Anyway,we'll see how we'll feel at the end of the Vuelta.

SAXO BANK LINKS...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/voigt-to-return-at-tour-of-missouri :His Amazingness is coming back at the Tour of Missouri."It was hard to see the races go on without me, I tried to enjoy the time off the bike with my kids and with my parents,"said Voigt."I went to see the team in Hamburg to show them I am still here and my face is no longer swollen."Of oourse I'm very happy to read this news.

http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/entry332279.html :the younger of the Sorensen has updated his blog.He'll be in Missouri as well next month and he's writing his own book.Of course me hopes it won't be published just in Dane,because otherwise me couldn't understand anything of it.

http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=1487 :that's an "interview gone wrong" with Lars Bak.It's funny,believe me.

(first pic by Daylife)

News news news...Links links links

So,here I am again after having spent some days in the only city where your pics can be spoiled by double red buses driving on the street.Of couse I had a lot of fun,saw lots of nice places, sometimes thought about le Tour 2007 and become addicted to Starbucks (why doesn't it exist in Italy,why?).
Anyway.
Lots of things have happened in the last 5 days,here's a small resume.
VINO'S RIDING THE VUELTA: This news has totally shocked me,myself and I,aka me,Logic and Fangirl.Logic was speechless after having read this news,while Fangirl started blattering something about the Tour 2007,Astana,Davide Cassani,the Chickenman,the Tour 2008,Blood and Bleah.

Rasmussen won't be racing because of a rule that says that a rider must sign a contract with a team 20 days before of the beginning of a race.Perhaps,rather than Vino,I would have preferred to see the Emaciated Chickenman riding on the Spanish roads.

NIBALI BROKE HIS COLLARBONE: I don't know what the Italian newspapers wrote about this news,but I can imagine it.Nibali was one of the riders who could have raced the Worlds for the Italian team,but now his season is over because he broke his collarbone at the Eneco Tour.

Of course Italian ct Ballerini is having big problems with choosing the riders for the Worlds.The only rider that will surely be on the team is Ballan.Then,between the riders who are "under observation",there are Cunego,Basso,Visconti,Bertagnolli,Bertolini,Nocentini,Paolini,Bosisio, Bruseghin,Tosatto,Garzelli,Pozzato (aargh!),Santambrogio and probably other guys I can't remember right now.

NO POSITIVE RIDERS AT THE TOUR 2009: Or not yet,at least...Of course newspapers gave little space to this news,while instead they wrote a big article when,some time ago,someone said that there would have been at least 20 positive riders after this year's Tour.

ENECO TOUR: The GC of the Eneco Tour was won by Edvald Boasson-Hagen.Sylvain Chavanel came in 2nd,while 3rd was Sebastian Langeveld.Best Saxo Bank racer was Lars Bak, who came in 7th in the final GC and also managed to win a stage.
TOUR OF IRELAND: The GC of the Tour of Ireland was won by Russell Downing,who also won the first stage and came 2nd in the last one.Lars Nordhaug (winner of the last stage) came in 2nd in the final GC while Matti Breschel came in 3rd.4th in the GC was Kolobnev,while 5th was Professor Pinotti.The 2nd stage of the race was won by Cavendish.

LINKS LINKS LINKS:
Here are some Saxo Bank links and news.
JENS VOIGT RENEWS CONTRACT WITH SAXO BANK TEAM: http://www.riis-cycling.com/ny_news.asp?n_id=2488 .His Amazingness will be racing for Saxo Bank team at least until the end of 2010,and me's very happy to hear this news.Allez Jens!
CANCELLARA LINK: http://bazonline.ch/sport/weitere/Es-ist-meine-letzte-Chance-im-eigenen-Land-Weltmeister-zu-werden/story/11128933 (German).Answering to one question about the Worlds Championships,Cancellara said: "It's hard to decide which race is the most important for me,the TT or the road one.I've already been World TT Championship twice,but I haven't won any title on the road yet.So the idea of winning the road race appeals more to me.But on the other hand,it's also true that this one is my last chance to become World Champon in my own country and I've got more chances of victory in the TT race than in the road race one.In Mendrisio there will be lots of fans on the road and this means a lot to me".

ANDY SCHLECK TRIBUTE VIDEO: http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=1390 .

I found this video on Saxo Bank website and I think it's a pretty one.I especially like the parts regarding the Liege,because they remember me of all the fears that I had during the last 10 kms of that race.In fact you must know that every time one of my favourite riders is alone on a breakaway,even when victory seems very close,I keep on having fears like: "Now he blows up.Now he falls.Now he runs over a dog.Now a fan makes him fall.Now his bike breaks."I know it's foolish,but that's it.

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.