Thor the king:

Eventually, getting up at 6 am on a Sunday morning to watch a cycling race was a good decision. In fact, this year race was very exciting and kept everyone glued to the tv screen until the very last meter of race.
Personally, I spent the whole race asking myself: 'Will the parcours actually suit sprinters? Or will an attacker win?'

I supported the 'attackers' party, especially because Italy's team was mainlyformed by attackers. I usually become very patriotic during the Worlds, so this morning I was hoping for an Italian victory. In fact I didn't believe that my favourites riders (Chris Sorensen and Frank Schleck) had a lot of chances of winning in Geelong, so this morning I was in a very 'Vai Italia!' mood.

When I turned on the tv, the leader of the race was the Ukrainian Kvachuk. He had gone on a breakaway with other 4 heroes earlier in the morning, but unfortunately for him his fate was already decided in the same moment he left the peloton (the other breakawayers du jour were
Diego Alejandro Tamayo Martinez , Jackson Rodriguez, Mohammed Said Elammoury, Oleksandr and Matthew Brammeier). After reaching a maximum advantage of 23 minutes, in fact, the 5 men were caught one after the other.
With 50 kms to go the situation became very interesting, since 2 groups of riders were created. In the first one there were 4 Italians (Pozzato, Nibali, Visconti and Tosatto), some Germans (Greipel included), Gilbert with some teammates, Chris Anker Sorensen (yay!), Serpa Perez, Offredo and other 20 riders. In the second one instead there were big guns like Freire, Kolobnev, Breschel, Cancellara and Thor Hushovd. Farrar, Cavendish and Sagan instead had already got retired.
Tosatto and a Belgian (was it Van Avermaet?) did their best in order to help their teammates, then the fireworks began. Nibali attacked and was followed by Gilbert, Pozzato, Visconti, Evans, Perez and Sorensen. Chris Anker made a great work and showed he's in a very good form. Imo he was simply great today, since he worked a lot for himself and then even had the strength of helping Matti in the very lat meters of the race.
Unfortunately with a few laps to go the breakawayers were caught. In the meanwhile Cancellara had lost contact from Freire's group and the fact that now Freire and Hushovd were in the same group as the Italian leaders frustrated a lot of supporters here in Italy.
In the last kms, Philippe Gilbert showed a lot of courage by launching a solo attack. I think Gilbert was incredible today, he didn't win but he showed to everyone that, if the parcours had been a little harder, he would have been a very hard opponent for everyone. His attack unfortunately didn't have luck and he was caught again with about 3 kms to go.
When Gilbert attacked, Pozzato (the Italian rider who had the task of following Philippe) disappeared. If he had followed him, I'm sure things would have gone differently and we would may have had another World Champion right now.

After Gilbert's attack a group of riders including Frank Schleck, Evans, Kolobnev,Martens and Moerenhout got clear of the peloton. At that point I got a bit angry since I had the impression that everyone was waiting for Evans to close the gap between them and Gilbert. The problem was that Evans had already spent a lot of energy previously, so I thought it was up to the other riders to organise Gilbert's chase. After all, I think that these guys couldn't have a better chance of winning (or, at least, of ending up on the podium) so I think that, if they still had some energy left, they should have used it in that moment. Instead they didn't, and they were caught by the 'sprinters' group', which was pulled by a Slovenian rider, with about 4 kms to go.

A few seconds later also poor Gilbert was caught and Brajkovic and Terpstra attacked. Their action was hopeless, since now everyone who had a fast rider in the main group was trying to make the sprint happen. Chris Sorensen, for example, sacrificed himself for Breschel in spite of his tiredness.

And so, the race eventually ended in a sprint. It wasn't a massive sprint, but still,between the riders who took part in it,there were super fast guys like Freire, Hushovd and Breschel.

Breschel started the sprint first and, for a long moment, I had the feeling he was going to win. Then, Hushovd passed him on the left and won, raising his arms in triumph. Honestly, I have to admit that at that point I let a bad word escape from my mouth.

Matti was 2nd, a surprising Davis was 3rd, while Pozzato was 4th for few centimeters. Without giving supporters the time of realising what had happened, Italian journalists immediately started the dance of the 'Oh, but if they had done so...' 'Oh, but if they hadn't done so...' and so on. Somehow, I have the feeling that this time however they will be softer than they were last year with poor Cunego.

Personally I think that Italy was the strongest team today. They dominated the race and they showed they know how to attack even if they're racing without their radios. Unfortunately for the team, in the decisive moment Pozzato, the team's leader, slept a bit and didn't follow Gilbert. Otherwise, I'm sure things would have gone in a different way.

Imo, Pozzato's problem has always been the following: in the decisive moments, he often takes little naps. He's a good rider, no doubts about it, but he often has defaillances in the decisive moments of the races. And then, he almost always gives the fault of this to something/someone who isn't him.

'I had the cramps in the last lap of the race', he said after crossing the finish-line. Well, personally I think that also Freire and the other riders had cramps (otherwise I think Oscarito would have got a better result), but they didn't blame their placement on them. Well, however, that's how things went and complaining about them now is simply useless,also because I'm sure Pozzato is very angry at how things went, too. Just put yourself in his shoes: 5 months (or whatever else) of sexual abstinence to get a 4th placement in the Worlds.Poor Pippo.

As far as the other teams are concerned, Spain didn't do nothing (as usual). If their 'we don't do anything!' tactic had paid off today, I think I'd have been very angry right now. Fortunately it didn't and Oscarito just got a 6th placement.

Australia was exceptional, since a surprising Davis got a wonderful bronze medal and Cadel Evans was one of the best riders of the competition. Although the parcours didn't suit him,Cadel gave his best to win anyway. And to think that until last year he was known as the 'wheelsucker man'...Amazing.

Denmark rode in a very aggressive style too, especially thanks to Chris Sorensen. You know I really like this rider, but this time I think I won't exaggerate in saying that he was one of the best riders of the race. Also Breschel was very good, but unfortunately he missed the gold medal once again. Btw I think he'll be able to get a good result also at next year's Worlds in Copenhagen too, so he doesn't have to get desperate about this year at all.

Belgium was wonderful too, since Van Avermaet, Leukemans and Gilbert rode in a perfect way during the whole race. I just loved Gilbert's attack and felt very sorry when he was caught with 3 kms to go.

Holland was very good too. Moerenhout and Terpstra showed their class, while Boom was present in one of the most dangerous breakaways of the day.

Slovenia and Russia were very active, but their efforts didn' bring any good result. Kolobnev had his golden chance when he found himself in a breakaway with Evans and Schleck, but didn't grab it because he didn't help Evans in Gilbert's chase. Slovenia pulled the 'Freire's group all day long, but their best rider was eventually 11th. Btw this was a great result for the Slovenian, who were counting on Sagan but then quickly changed their tactics and started to work for Bole and Brajkovic.

France was good too, especially because Feillu got a very good Top 10 placement.The same worths for the incredible Arashiro, who surprised me a lot today.Also Cardoso and Fofonov (Kazakhstan had to deal with the absence of Vinokourov) got a surprising result, while Wegmann showed he's a very strong and complete rider.

Luxembourg didn't have a lot of victory chances today, but Frank Schleck showed his jersey in the last kms of the race. He probably didn't believe a lot in his breakaway and imo that was a mistake. But still, he got a very good placement anyway.

Switzerland instead totally depended on Fabian Cancellara and,when Fabian got dropped, the Swiss had to say 'Auf Wiedersehen!' to their victory dreams.

USA's Van Garderen was very good in entering an important breakaway at the half of the race, but the Americans didn't seem very active in the race anyway.

As far as Cavendish is concerned, I think he didn't believe in his chances of winning this race and that the parcours was probably too tough for him. And then, he definitely needs more than two teammates to win such a long and a hard race.

Talking about teammates, Hushovd's victory was great also because Thor didn't have a lot of teammates around him. I'm happy for his victory because Thor is a very good rider who deserved such an important triumph to enter the Olympus of the great champions of Cycledom. And now that he's got the ranbow jersey, I think he can find even more motivation in himself and therefore I believe we'd better include him in the 'list of favourites for the 2011 Paris-Roubaix' already now, more than 6 months before of that race.

So, this was the first 'Down Under' worlds. The time zone actually made it hard for me to watch the race, but the riders didn't have a lot of problems because of this. Geelong's worlds are over, see you in Copenhagen next year.

(pictures by Mark Gunter)

Elite Men World Champioship: Start List

Finally, after months and months of await, the moment is approaching. The moment in which we'll finally know the name of the 2010 World champion. The moment in which we'll know whether Melbourne's parcours was more suitable to sprinters or to finisseurs. The moment in which we'll discover whereas Bettini's team choices were right or wrong. The moment in which me, tomorrow morning at 5 am, will somehow find the strength to wake up, draw herself to the kitchen, turn on the tv, prepare a hot coffee, eat a mint sweet (one of those who make you almost cry because of their taste) and enjoy some hours of some good cycling. After what happened in the last days, I really need it.

As far as the race is concerned, Gilbert is considered the favourite almost by everyone. Personally, I'd suggest you paying a lot of attention also to don Oscar Freire and to mr. Matti Breschel. As well as that, look out for guys like Sagan, Hushovd, Kolobnev and Cancellara.

The Italian team is going to face this race with a team formed by Bruseghin, Gavazzi, Nibali, Oss, Paolini, Pozzato, Tonti, Tosatto and Visconti. I haven't found an explanation for Pinotti's rapid exclusion yet (and I'm sure that nor Marco has), but that's the team and I can't do anything about it. Paolini is a storic rider for our National, just like Tonti, Tosatto and Bruseghin. Visconti is pretty experienced and he's a Gilbert-style rider who could be very dangerous. Nibali has just won the Vuelta and I'm not sure he'll be in a great form tomorrow. Oss and Gavazzi then are talented riders, but are they ready to face such a tough parcours? Let's hope so. As far as Pozzato is concerned, the idea of him winning the Worlds simply frighten me. But still, I can't admit he's one of the favourites of the race (let's just hope he won't lose the 'magic moment' as he usually does in other races).

Between the main adversaries of la Squadra there will be the team of the Australians. The Aussies who are taking part in the home Worlds are Evans, Cooke, Davis, Gerrans, Goss, Hayman, O'Grady, Sulzberger and Rogers. Cooke, Davis, Goss and Gerrans are all very fast and resistant rider and, if the race ends in a sprint, they could do something very good.Also O'Grady is a fast and resistant rider, so let's expect something goodalso from him.

Also the Spaniards, as usual, will have a very good team, formed by guys like Barredo, Erviti, Garate, Plaza, Samu Sanchez, Ventoso, Zubeldia and, dulcis in fundo, Freire. Personally, I consider Freire the favourite of tomorrow's race (athough I hope an Italian-not Pozzatolocks please!-will win), since he's strong, he's experienced, he's fast and he can stand pressure very well.

Belgium's team will be formed by Aerts, Bakelandts, De Weert, Hoste, Leukemans, Roelandts, Van Avermaet, Willems and Gilbert. Philippe is always in a great form at the end of the year, but I think he needs to drop Freire to win tomorrow's race. One thing is sure: if he flies like he did at la Vuelta, Gilbert will be a tough opponent for everyone. I'm very happy to see that in this team there is also Leukemans and I think that adversaries would better pay some attention also to Van Avermaet, a very fast rider.

United States will have Tyler Farrar as captain and he'll be helped in the race by E. King, Lewis, McCartney, Pate, Peterson. Van Garderen, Vandevelde and Zabriskie. The team is very good and it's interesting to see that in it there are experienced guys like Zabriskie, Vandevelde and McCartney as well as young guys like Lewis and Van Garderen. Tyler Farrar is one of the best sprinters of the world and I think that, if the parcours isn't as hard as they say, he may get a medal.

The Dutch team will be formed by Boom, De Kort, Kroon, Kruijswijk, Langeveld (yay!), Moerenhout, Poels, Terpstra and Van Emden. Boom will probably be the captain, since he's fast and resistant.

The Germans will have a very good team, especially if the race ends up in a massive sprint. Die Deutschen in fact will race with Grabsch, Greipel, Hondo, Klemme, Knees, Martens, Martin, Sieberg and Wegmann. In spite of the absences of Jens Voigt and Linus Gerdemann, I consider this team very good. Greipel is a very strong sprinter (just look at his thighs) and on his side there will be his teammates Martin, Grabsch and Sieberg and a good sprinter like Hondo.

Luxembourg will be present with just 3 riders: Didier, Gastauer and Frank Schleck. Unfortunately the parcours doesn't seem to suit the characteristic of Didier and Frank, since they're very good climbers but they actually aren't sprinters. Gastauer is very young (22) and he'll surely do his best in tomorrow's race.

Russia's riders will be Brutt, Gusev, Karpets, Kolobnev, Ovechkin, Porsev, Silin, Trofimov and Vorganov. Look out for Kolobnev: the Worlds definitely are his race (2 medals over the last 3 years).

Also Edvald Boasson Hagen will race tomorrow, together with his Norwegian fellows Hushovd and Kristoff. Both Edvald and Thor are very fast and resistant riders, but I'm not sure of their form and, moreover, they have just one teammate to rely on.

The Swiss team will obviously have Cancellara as captain and together with Fabian there will be good workers like Albasini, Elmiger, Kohler, Morabito, D. Wyss and Rast. Probably Fabu will show us some good attack on the main descent of the parcours or in the last uphill meters of race.

Kazakhstan won't have Vinokourov to rpresent the nation, so the hopes of the country are in Bazayev, Dyachenko, Fofonov,Renev and V.Iglinsky's legs.

Slovenia has some good riders like Bole, Bozic, Brajkovic, Koren, Spilak and Stangelj. They're all very young, but I think they can give us a good show. After all, they've got nothing to lose in this race.

France will have the national hero Sylvain Chavanel riding together with Bonnet, R.Feillu, Gauthier, Hinault, Geslin and Offredo ( Chavanel is so going to attack).

Canada will have Meier, Rollin and Tuft, while Great Britain will have Cavendish, Hunt and David Millar. Cav is the best sprinter in the world, but everyone will try to drop him tomorrow and he'll have just two other riders on his side. So, I don't think he's ll win.

Colombia will have Serpa Perez and Tamayo Martinez, while Poland's riders will be Bodnar, Golas, Huzarski, Niemec (yay!!) and the young and fast Jaroslaw Marycz.

Venezuela will have Ochoa and Jackson Rodriguez, Morocco will have 6 (6!!) riders (Chaoufi, Elammoury, Jelloul, Lahsaini, Saadoune,Aarbia), Japan will have the magic couple Arashiro-Beppu plus Doi.

South Africa will have Impey, Lill and Thomson, Portugal will have Broco,Caldeira, Costa, Cardoso n.1 and Cardoso n.2. Ukraine will have Grivko (I'm 99% sure he'll enter a breakaway),Kostyuk, Kvachuk, Metlushenko and Sheydyk.

Denmark will have a very good team formed by Bak, Breschel, Lund, Morkov + Rasmussen and by just one Sorensen, Chris Anker. According to the latter, Matti Breschel is in a great form right now, so I think (hope) he'll manage to get a top 3 placement.

Lithuania will have the good time trialist Konovalovas, while the Czechs will be represented by Konig and Bencick. New Zealand will have 3 sprinters like Dean, Henderson and Roulston, Croatia will have Kvasina, Miholjevic and Rogina, Brasil will have Fisher, Estonia will have Kangert and Kriit (allez Kalle!!!).

Argentina will be formed by los hermano Haedo and by Medici, while the Irish will be Brammeier,McCann and Roche.

To my sister's shock, Sweden will be represented by Larsson and Ljungbald, while Lovkvist has probably remained in Europe to train for the last races of the year.

Austria will have the good Eisel and Wrolich, Serbia Der and Hasanovic, while Slovakia will be represented by los Velits twins and by the wonderkid Peter Sagan (look out for him!!). Chile will be represented by Guinez, while the Belarusians will be Hutarovich and Siutsou.

So, these are 178 riders who are taking part ion the Worlds tonight, ehm, today.My official podium prediction is: Gilbert, Freire and Breschel (not necessarily in this order). Other hot favourites of mine are Cancellara, Hushovd, Kolobnev, Sagan, Bole, Visconti and Pozzato.

That's all for now- have a good evening and, dear European readers, remember you won't be alone when you wake up tomorrow morning at 5 am (or even earlier).

Grande Giorgia!

And for the third time in 4 years, an Italian girl is World Champion (2007 Bastianelli, 2009 Guderzo, 2010 Bronzini) :D :DLast year, after Guderzo's great victory, Michele Scarponi came up with the sentence: 'Altro che Guderzo,dovevano chiamarla Guprimo!!' which, translated in a not very precise way, sounds a bit like : 'she shouldn't have been called Guderzo ('Guthird'), she should have been called Gufirst'.
This year, after Bronzini's equally great victory, I'm sure that someone else tomorrow on the newspaper will come up with the 'Altro che Bronzini, dovevano chiamarla Orini!' sentence(translation: "she shouldn't have been called 'Little bronzes', she should have been called 'little golds!'"). Luckily Giorgia Bronzini is used to this kind of not-so-funny jokes, since in 2009 she won the points race at the World Track Championships. And now, Giorgia has become World Champion on the Road. What a champion!

For those of you who, like me, couldn't see the race live, here's a Youtube video about the last km (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-s8G-SMi64 ).
Cooke and Arndt attacked during the last lap and they managed to stay clear of the peloton until they reached the 200 meters to go. At that point Vos started her sprint and rode past the two tired riders. Behind the Dutch rider there were the Swedish Emma Johansson and the Italian Giorgia Bronzini,who eventually managed to raise her arms in triumph and cross the finish-line first. Poor Marianne Vos got her 4th silver medal in a row, while Emma Johansson was third although she hit the arm of a supporter during the very last meters of race.

The Italian team was as good as usual, with all the girls giving it all not just for themselves but also for their teammates. In particular, Guderzo and Cantele were very good in understanding that the other girls wouldn't have let them free of escaping from the peloton and so they put themselves to Giorgia's service. The other exceptional riders on La Squadra were Elena Berlato, Elena Berlato, Giorgia Bronzini, Rossella Callovi, Noemi Cantele, Valentina Carretta, Eleonora Patuzzo e Luisa Tamanini (Baccaille was the reserve). Congratulations to all of them-and to Giorgia in particular :)

Here's the top 10 of the race:
1 Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) 3:32:01
2 Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
3 Emma Johansson (Sweden)
4 Nicole Cooke (Great Britain)
5 Judith Arndt (Germany) 0:00:01
6 Grace Verbeke (Belgium) 0:00:03
7 Trixi Worrack (Germany)
8 Rasa Leleivyte (Lithuania)
9 Elizabeth Armitstead (Great Britain)
10 Carla Swart (South Africa) “It was the most beautiful sprint of my life. The girls believed in me right to the end even though I suffered a lot on the climb, and I repaid them. We’re great group. We are the best", Bronzini told the journalists after her victory, which she dedicated to Franco Ballerini and to Marina Romoli. Well done girl!!

(Pictures by Riccardo Scanferla)

Mosquera and Contador apparently resulted positive to doping controls:

Apparently, both Contador and Mosquera (to the joy of some Italian cycling supporters) failed a doping test each over the last 2 months.

As you can imagine, this news was right what I needed to find in myself enough motivation to wake up at 4.30 am on a Sunday morning just in order to watch a cycling race.

CONTADOR'S POSITIVITY (AKA 'THE STEAK-GATE' ):

According to http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/alberto-contador-suspended-over-traces-of-clenbuterol-from-tour-de-france-test , Contador failed a doping test on July 21, during the Tour de France. He resulted positive to a substance known as clenbuterol which, according to Cyclingnews, 'is an organic compound that mimics the effects of the sympathetic nervous system' and is often used to 'treat breathing disorders like asthma; the drug (...) has short term effects similar to stimulant ephedrine, as it increases heart rate, temperature, perspiration and blood pressure'.
Contador has said that the positivity was due to a Spanish steak which he ate on the evening of the 20th of July and that was contaminated by that substance. Still according to Cyclingnews,
'Clenbuterol food contamination is rare however not without precedent, with Radioshack’s Li Fuyu claiming his positive test for the substance earlier in the season was due to contamination; there have been cases reported in both China and the United States of America where clenbuterol has passed into human’s bodies after eating meat from animals that have consumed the drug in order to produce a lean cut'.

A very small amount of the substance was found in Contador's urine,so me doesn't feel like expressing any judgement about this case yet.

I remember that there were some rumours about Contador's possible connection to Operacion Puerto some years ago but, honestly, I've never considered Contador a cheater. I mean, just listen to him talking in English. Can you imagine a person with such a lovely accent cheating on me, you, them, everybody, just to win a cycling race? Sorry but I can't. Sweet accents never lie!

More seriously, I've always thought of Contador as a great phenomenon and one of the greatest riders of the last years. He's not someone who has suddenly appeared on the cycling scene and he hasn't started to win hard races all of a sudden. The boy's got a story and he's had gradual improvements in his career. That's why I don't feel like saying he's a doper. Hopefully facts will prove me right.

THE REACTIONS TO STEAK-GATE:

Obviously Contador's positivity is causing reactions all over the world. Good old German television, for example, is considering the chance of dropping next year's live coverage of Tour de France (thanks God I don't live in Germany).

Probably, btw, the most shocked reaction to the news was Bjarne Riis' one. Just put yourself in his shoes (gosh, how many times have I written this sentence over the last 3 months?!?): you've just employed a rider- the strongest GT rider of the world, to be more precise-, and that rider is immediately found positive. How dreadful.

Bjarne has obviously said he believes in Contador's innocence but, after all, he couldn't have said anything else, right?

Riis may not be the funniest person in Cycledom, but in spite of this I don't think he deserved to go through all the things that have happened to him over the last 12 months or so. If I were him, after this latest news I'd probably stop my cycling team, let the Sorensens free of creating their own squad and buy a house in the Caribbeans.And I'm not kidding.

MOSQUERA'S POSITIVITY:

As far as the other breakout news of the day is concerned, Ezequiel Mosquera and David Garcia de la Pena were both found positive during la Vuelta. Sorry to say it, but this news doesn't surprise me at all.

Last year, after the end of the Tour, me was extremely disappointed by Frank Schleck's 5th placement in the GC, 40" behind Lance Armstrong. You could see a big disappointment on my face after the Mont Ventoux stage and a familiar of mine, realising that, told me: 'Don't worry. Just wait for the anti-doping: I'm sure they'll find someone positive'. That familiar of mine has never liked Armstrong and so these words were a clear reference to the Texan rider. But those words, said from a person who is always very calm and has always followed cycling in spite of all the doping cases of the last years, surprised me a lot and in a very negative way. I had never heard such a cynical comment coming from that person, so I was still a bit shocked when I replied them: 'Well, let's hope there won't be any surprise at all then! I don't think I could be able to stand it!'.

A year and a month later, after la Bola del Mundo stage at la Vuelta, my disappointment at Frank's missed podium was pretty much the same as that of the previous year. This familiar of mine had just seen the stage with me and they were very happy for Nibali's victory. '

Mosquera raced very well,too!',they told me at a certain point. This time, it was my turn to be the cynical one in the family. 'Yeah, Mosquera raced well. But just wait for the anti-doping test. I'm sure they'll find someone positive'.

In that moment, to say the truth,the evilness of comment even surprised myself. Mosquera had been one of my favourite riders, but that day on la Bola del Mundo and, especially, the day of the ITT, I had started to smell a rat about his performance. They were just too good to be true. You don't suddenly start fly that way in ITTs at the tender age of 35, do you?

Btw don't misunderstand me:I'm very sorry to hear this news and, in spite of what I've just written, I would like to find out that there was a mistake in the doping analysis or something similar and that what I've just written about Mosquera is an amount of stupid things. But still, that's how things went some Saturdays ago, after a Vuelta stage watched from the couch of my living room together with my familiars.

Talking about that episode, however, I forgot to mention that my cynical comment that day made a little family battle explode, especially because my sister is very sensitive when you talk about doping. In fact, the poor little girl over the last years has been a supporter of Riccò and Di Luca, so she knows how it feels when your favourite rider has problems of a certain kind. And the funny thing is that, guess what, during this year Tour little girl supported Contador.So, just imagine how she feels right now.

PS: Oh and, btw, the result of the TTs at the World Championships were:

Under 23: 1. Taylor Phinney.

Women: 1. Emma Pooley 2. Judith Arndt 3. Linda Villumsen

Men: 1. Fabian Cancellara 2. David Millar 3. Toni Martin

The Worlds are coming: little random post

In less than one week time each of us will know the names of the 2010 World Champions of Cycledom.

Tomorrow there's the Under 23 and the women TTs (go go Cantele!!!) which I'm afraid I won't be able to watch because I'm supposed to be at school (or in bed) between 5.30 and 8.30 of every Thursday mornings from here to July.

Actually, I'm afraid I may not be able to watch the Men RR either because of the time zone. In fact there is a difference of 10 hours between Italy and Australia and this means that in Australia it is 5 pm when here in Italy it is 7 am. So, if I want to enjoy all the excitement of the Worlds I'll have to get up at least at 4.30/5 am, which I consider a very difficult thing for me to do because it's just Tuesday and I already have a deficit of 4 hours of sleep this week. And then on Saturday's evening a friend of mine could finally decide to have her birthday party, and that would mean me coming home at 1 am (if I behave well) and getting up again at 4.30...Oh, how dreadful.
Anyway, let's leave time zones apart (I'm sure I'm not the only who has this problem with this year Worlds) and let's focus on some random news.

TEAM LUXEMBOURG:
First of all, here's a list that a dear Anonimo dropped in at the comment box under my previous post. Said list comes from wielerland.nl and refers to the riders who,apparently, may be riding for Team Luxembourg next year.

The team seems very good, although so far it seems like a cobblestone specialist is still missing...Therefore hurry up Fabian! Los Schlecks need you!!!

Riders who are probably joining los Schlecks at their new team:
BENNATI Daniele: he's surely joining the brothers. Daniele hasn't won a lot this year, but he's surely got a lot of talent.Let's just hope that illnesses will give him a break next year.
DIDIER Laurent : could the third Luxembourgian of Team SB not be linked to Team Luxembourg? Of course not! Frank has always had great words for Laurent, who is a very strong climber who did very well at this year Giro.
FEILLU Brice : he's surely joining los Schlecks too. He won a stage at le Tour last year and he's the classic skinny rider who rides well in the mountains.
FUGLSANG Jakob : he's leaving Riis, but hasn't said yet what his new team will be. A great rider, no doubts about it.
GERDEMANN Linus : Linus,who has the fame of being one of the least pleasant guys in the professional Cycledom, has to leave Milram at the end of the season and so it seems that he's joining los Schlecks. No doubt, the boy's got talent and can be dangerous also in the Classics
KLEMME Dominic : a hard-working guy, just like LUND Anders. Will they both betray Bjarne and go to Team Luxembourg? That is the question.
MONFORT Maxime : another hard working guy who can be very precious in flat races. Don't know if he's really joining the brothers.
MORTENSEN Martin : I have no news about Martin's chances of joining los Schlecks. Btw, look out for him: he comes from Designa Kokka!
O'GRADY Stuart : will one of the two main riding characters of Beergate join his fellow Andy at his new team?
POSTHUMA Joost: nice rider who got a Top 20 placement at this year Giro. Voices have linked him to Team Luxembourg.
SCHLECK Andy, SCHLECK Fränk : yes, they're surely riding for Team Luxembourg next year.
STAMSNIJDER Tom : apparently, in this team there could be a trio of riders whose surnames are 'Schleck',' Fuglsang' and 'Stamsnijder'. Add 'Weylandt' and this will become the scariest team of the world for poor Rai's chronist Gigi Sgarbozza.
VIGANÒ Davide : I had never heard of Team Luxembourg's interest for this Sky's rider. Btw, having 2 Italians riding for Team Luxembourg wouldn't be bad.
VOIGT Jens : will Jensie join los Schlecks at their new team?
WAGNER Robert : according to De Telegraaf, this rider is the latest one who has signed for the Schleck's brother team.
WEGMANN Fabian : if Fabian W. is really going to join this team, me will be a very happy Fangirl.
WEYLANDT Wouter: after seeing him winning a stage at 2010 Giro, and after hearing him say 'Fuck!' on Italian tv, I've started to appreciate this guy. So, let's hope he'll really join Team Luxembourg too.

I know that the list above will surely be changed in the next days (some riders are surely going to be added to this team), but wasting my time on this kind of things is something I really enjoy.

WORLDS NEWS:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5749/No-world-championships-for-Vinokourov.aspx : Vinokourov is not taking part in the Worlds race. Pity, because the parcours would have suited him.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/leukemans-injures-elbow-and-hip-in-training-crash-in-melbourne : I really do hope Leukemans will recover from this crash soon.

SAXO BANK'S EXODUS CONTINUES.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hoj-announces-retirement : He of the big gap between his front teeth, 37 year-old Frank Hoj, is retiring from Cycledom at the end of the year. How sad.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/julich-leaves-saxo-bank-management : Bobby Julich is leaving Saxo Bank too. Now I'm just waiting for los Sorensens to announce the creation of their new team (read previous post to understand what I'm talking about).

GO GO MARINA!!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/romolis-rehabilitation-continues : Marina Romoli's rehabilitation continues, although her legs haven't gained sensibility yet. Don't give in girl (you can find her story here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/romoli-seriously-injured-in-training-accident )!!!

Bennati to Team Luxembourg, Porte wants freedom and random marketing reflections of mine:

To everyone's joy, miss Fede is pretending she doesn't have any history homework for tomorrow and is here to delight you with a new great post of hers. In fact,it seems that the riders' exodus from the former glorious Team Saxo Bank may continue with Richie Porte's exit from the team and so me feels in need of commenting on this news. If things continue this way, in fact, I'm afraid that the only guys who'll take part in Saxo Bank's first training camp next year will be Chris Anker Sorensen and Alberto Contador. Or, perhaps, Chris will get fed up by Riis before of the end of this season too, will decide to create his own personal team with the help of Nicki Sorensen (the events of the last months show that you need to be in two and have the same surname to create a new successful team) and his new team will steal some other riders from Bjarne Riis as well. Obviously, the name of the team will be the Danish translation of the sentence 'We Sorensens aren't brothers, keep it in mind!'
I'm obviously trying to joke, but the latest news about Richie Porte (who may leave Saxo Bank too,although his contract expires at the end of next year) really leaves me speechless. If I were Bjarne, I would probably be very angry right now and my favourite dream would probably be Alberto Contador's 4th Tour de France triumph.
Actually, what's happening to Saxo Bank reminds me a lot of the Murphy Law. I don't have a big knowledge of it but, after all, who has never heard famous sentences like 'Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong' and so on? Actually, there is one application of the Murphy law which says that 'Everything goes wrong at the same time'. Well, imo these words seem born to describe what's been going on at Saxo Bank over the last months.
Talking about Porte, btw, the young Tasmanian has told Cyclingnews that, although he's got another year of contract with Riis, he hasn't decided yet whether he'll ride for SB or not next year (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/porte-considering-his-options-for-2011 ).

Obviously Riis exploded with anger at the news and complained about the behaviour of Richie's agents and managers. 'The problem is that managers and agents are pushing the riders to their limits and advise their riders wrong. Contracts must be respected', Bjarne said. 'Richie's manager continues to provoke and try to push us. We have told them that it cannot happen. He cannot be bought off. Yet they continue.It's fair enough for a manager to ask,but when he is told no, he must stop. He pushes lawyers and everything at us,but according to the rules you don't come out of a contract unless both parties agree” (full article on http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/porte-must-stay-with-saxo-bank-riis-declares ).

Poor uncle Bjarne. Two days ago I thought nothing else could go wrong for Saxo Bank and instead, here comes this new problem. And the trouble is that, even if Richie eventually stays with Bjarne, I don't think his manager will have a good relationship with Riis in the future...

Anyway, although this is a very bad period for Saxo Bank (luckily for Riis the end of the marketing season is getting closer everyday!), we can't say the same about Team Luxembourg (or how the hell it is called) and its riders. The team in fact is always very active on the market and the other day Bennati said he's going to ride for it next season. Also Jens Voigt has been linked to this team very often, although he said he can't confirm any rumour yet.

Apropos, I don't know what your opinion is, but all this secrecy about this nre team is really annoying me. I mean, we're talking about a cycling team, not about a new top secret way of avoiding terroristic attacks to important places in the World! Supporters want to know which athletes are going to ride for their new favourite team next year, they want to know what the name of said team will be, they want to know which the colours of the new team kit will be (well, at least some do)!! I understand that guys at Team Luxembourg want to create suspense, but aren't they exaggerating a bit? I mean, Leif Hoste signed for Katusha the other day and everyone already knows about it.They didn't create any mistery or so and nobody complained about it, right?
Also Taylor Phinney, after some very long reflections, decided to join BMC, but didn't behave in a mysterious way as almost everyone who's leaving Saxo Bank is doing. After he had taken his decision, Phinney simply told the press and the supporters about it. And no one complained for the lack of suspense, right?
Luckily for Fangirls, however, there are also guys (a few ones, to say the truth) who have already admitted they're joining Team Luxembourg next season. One of them is the lanky Brice Feillu, the other one is Daniele Bennati (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bennati-to-luxembourg-team-for-two-years ). Logic doesn't like Bennati very much, especially because she had great hopes for him in the past but, unfortunately, those hopes have been disappointed over the last years. 3 years ago in fact it seemed that Daniele was going to become the new Petacchi, but nowadays instead he's a decent sprinter and nothing more. Hopefully he'll find new motivation at Team Luxembourg and will offer us good sprints like those he used to show us in the good old days.
On the other hand, however, Fangirl is completely happy to read that Bennati's joining SB. 'With him, the Schlecks and Brice Feillu, the team is already very good-looking! And the level of handsomeness of the team will become even higher when Fuglsang and Cancellara join it!!! Oh, I can't wait to see the new picture of the team's riders all together!!!', she's been screaming for the last twenty-four hours. 'Hopefully, this new team won't be just hot- it will also be strong. Because remember darling, that to win races you need fast legs and a clever head, not a good-looking face and a pair of blue eyes!', Logic replied her. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Fangirl has received the message yet...

Random Schleckly picture du midweek:

Frank, everything's ok?
(the picture above comes from the photographic album of a very amusing Facebook group called 'Spingere il 53x11'; unfortunately the name of the photographer who took it wasn't indicated anywhere so,if one you readers knows it, I'd be really thankful to you if you could write it in the comment area, so that I can indicate it in this post =).

RANDOM FANGIRLISTIC NEWS DU MIDWEEK:
http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/entry383516.html : According to Chris Anker Sorensen's latest blog entry, Jens Voigt is becoming father for the 6th time. Wow.