Interview with Frank:"A season similar to this one? Yes,please!":

First of all:if any of you is already in a very "Thanks God,Curaçao is coming soon!I can't wait to see some nice pics of the Schleck brothers!" mood,on Andy's twitter (http://tweetphoto.com/zzyca9iq ) there's a pic you're surely going to love (thanks Andy for sharing it!).

Anyway the main reason for which I'm writing this post is an interview with Frank Schleck that appeared on the website of the newspaper "Luxembourg Wort" and was made by Joe Geimer.At the end of it there is written that the online-interview is just a part of a bigger article about Frank.Said article appeared on the "paper version" of the Luxembourg Wort on the 30-10-09. Now,is there any very kind Luxembourgish person that reads my blog and has this article? If so,would he/she be so kind to send it to me so that I can publish it here? I think that lots of people (me included) would be very happy if they could read the whole article.
Anyway,while waiting for the answer,here's my not-so-great translation of the online article (link to the interview in German: http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/artikel/53627/eine-aehnliche-saison-ja-gerne.php ):

FRANK SCHLECK: "A SEASON SIMILAR TO THIS ONE? YES,I'D LOVE TO!"
Survival camp in Fuerteventura on the 30th November/ First 2010 race will probably be in Mallorca

He had some nice victories during the 2009 season.At the Tour of California in fact he won a stage,then he won the Tour of Luxembourg (first Luxembourgish since 1983) and then he won the Grand Bornard stage at the Tour de France,a moment that will remain unforgettable in the Luxembourgish cycling history.
Frank Schleck can be really satisfied with his last season.At the Tour de France he was one of the main protagonists of the race and he left his sign also on the Ardenne classics.
"It was an amazing year,I could achieve lots of victories during it.The first victory in California gave me a lot of self-confidence and allowed me to look in a calmer mood to the other goals of the year.The Ardenne's classics were the first goal of the season,but unfortunately my crash during the Amstel Gold Race made things change.Andy and I were in a very good condition,we could have won that race",said the Saxo Bank rider on Wednesday morning.The images of him lying motionless on the asphalt are unforgettable.The definition of "worst fear (ndr;of the career?)" seems absolutely correct for defining that day."The first fall was a shock,but the second one...I still can't remember what happened when I fall. Btw,at the end it turned out that I had a lot of luck on that day",said Frank.
"After the crash I had to skip the Fleche Wallonne and during the Liegé I still couldn't use all my strength,so Andy's triumph was something really special.Considering that before of crossing the finish-line I already knew that Andy had won the race,I really regret not having tried everything to get the 2nd placement that day.It would have been possible to get it,but I was overhwelmed by the emotions",he admits openly.Then,with a meaningful smile,he says: "Andy and I have already made an agreement about next year:he'll win the Amstel Gold Race,but I'll win the Liege".
After a break,the two brothers raced the Tour of Luxembourg."The victory of the Tour of Luxembourg was really special because of the many fans that were there.It was an unbelievable emotion.With that victory I could also thank the fans for their very loyal support".The Schleck brothers also made a great impression at the Tour de Suisse."We had Fabian Cancellara in the team and he was one of the favourites for the final victory,so we decided to work for him.The Tour de Suisse wasn't as hard as in the last years and Fabian was perfect in taking the chance of winning.The Tour de Suisse is the best preparation for the Tour de France". And the "Grande Boucle" was raced just few weeks after the Tour de Suisse.At the Tour Frank won a stage and came in 5th in the final GC,with a delay of 6'04" from the winner Alberto Contador.Anyway Frank isn't completely satisfied with that result."I know that I can get even better results.With a bit more of luck,I would have surely been on the final podium in Paris already this year.One of the goals for the future is very clear:to stay with Andy on the Tour de France podium in Paris.It would be a great thing and and it wouldn't be impossible".
After the Tour of France,Frank's season was almost over.He was at the start of the Vuelta a Espana,wanted to race the Mendrisio Worlds,but then the end of the season arrived faster than planned.In fact Frank got retired from the Tour of Spain after just 10 stages.What happened?
"Since the end of March I had been worried about the pain in my left knee.At the Tour de France I had to survive some really hard days.After the Tour,I went to a doctor and asked him for advice.He told me that,if I could stand the pain,I could have kept on riding.But during the Vuelta,I got retired and I decided to have surgery on my left knee in order to remove the excess of tissue that used to hurt me as a consequence of the friction caused by many hours spent riding my bike.Unfortunately I had to skip the Worlds and the last races of the season in Italy as a consequence of this,but I chose the right moment to undergo surgery.Now I can relax,stay calm and try to recuperate my strength.Next year I'll come back as strong as usual and I'd like to have a season similar to this one.It was a great year",concluded Frank Schleck before of saying goodbye to us and go our for a quick training session.

(pics by Serge Waldbillig and Tim De Waele)

El Paìs interview with Andy + little news about Bellis:

Now that the "Allez Chris Anker!" weekend is officially over,here's a post about Andy Schleck.
You've probably already read that Cyclingnews article in which an interview from El Paìs was mentioned.Well,I've found that interview (the link is http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/gusta/dinero/fama/elpepudep/20091026elpepidep_31/Tes). and I've translated it.In the Cyclingnews article most of the things were mentioned,but some others were lacking.Here's the whole translation of the article,enjoy!

ANDY SCHLECK: I LIKE MONEY,BUT I DON'T LIKE FAME!
Bahamontes once invited his rivals Coppi and Anquetil to go hunting with him in the Toledo mountains.And so it isn't that strange to hear that Alberto Contador,"the Bahamontes of the 21st century",has invited his rival Andy Schleck,the Luxembourgish cyclist with a young,smiling and fresh face,to take his gun and go hunting the partridges with him.
"I'd really love to go hunting with Alberto,even if I don't think we'll be able to find a weekend in which we are both free to meet each other",said the 24 year-old Andy Schleck,who is not just a friend of Contador,but also a big rival of him.
Journalist: During the Tour presentation you were sitted between Contador and Armstrong.How was that?
Andy: It was a strange feeling.You could actually tell that they aren't best friends.
J: Contador said that you'll be his main rival next year...
AS: I've been his main rival this year and we both left Armstrong behind,but I'm sure that the American rider will get stronger next year.But of course I'll get stronger as well.
J: Can you beat Contador and win the Tour?
AS: Yes,of course I can.
J: What do you need to win?
AS: I've arrived 2nd this year,so I think I can win.I'll need a strong team and I'll also need to improve my climbing skills,since it's on the mountains that you can lose 5 minutes and lose a Tour.
J: Without any doubt,your weakest point is the TT...
AS: Yes,next year there will be a TT of 50 kms on the penultimate day of the Tour and so having good TT skills will be very important,but I'm working a lot on them.Mental training...I've worked a lot with Bobby Julich about it.At the beginning,I was terrible in the TTs,I always used to arrive around the 45th place...But I'm improving year after year and now I'm not that bad.I'll never be as strong as Cancellara,but I can still improve a lot.
J: You said you would need a strong team to win the Tour next year,but in the 2009 Tour Contador didn't actually have a great team,while you had your brother always ready to help you.
AS: I don't agree.Alberto had a team and this team worked for him and was the best one of the whole race.When Alberto took the yellow jersey,they controlled the race for him.
J: Do you think that Contador had a misunderstanding on the Grand Bornard day,when he dropped Kloden and Frank won the stage?
AS: The only "mistake" that Alberto made during the Tour was to challenge his team,but he didn't do that during the Grand Bornard stage.If Alberto hadn't attacked on that day,I would have attacked,I was ready to do it.There was just 1 km of the climb left.Contador decided to attack and we followed him.Kloden was a good teammate for Alberto and now he's gone to another team.

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J: How is it to race with your older brother?
AS: It's a luxury.At the beginning of the Tour we had 2 team leaders,then on the Pyranees Frank told me that he would have worked for me and that I would have been the only leader of the team.I have a great relationship with him.Who else could come and tell me "Jerk,where have you put your shoes?" and things like that? We are great friends also outside from the cycling world.
J: Even if you're the youngest person in your family,people say that you're the family leader...
AS: The family leader is my father,Johnny.
J: Aside from your brother,do you have other friends in your team?
AS: Yes,I get on very well with O'Grady,Breschel,Fuglsang...
J: Did you also use to get on with Carlos Sastre when he was in your team?
AS: Not always.I never understood what his problem was.He won the Tour and everyone who saw the race on the television and knows a bit about cycling understood how we sacrificed ourselves for him.Then he went to talk to the press and said things that didn't make sense,for example he said that we weren't working for him...We were working at 100% for him,we were completely there for him! He's got a problem with his head!

J: On the Alpe d'Huez Frank had the yellow jersey and Sastre attacked.
AS: Frank and I felt very good on that day.We could have won the Tour,but then Carlos attacked,won and that was it.Everyone was happy with his victory,the problem was what he said to the press afterwards.
J: You had your first big result at the Giro 2007,when you arrived 2nd at 22 year-old.Will you come back to Italy in 2010?
AS: No,I'll race the Classics and the Tour.Liegé,Amstel and,for the first time,the Tour of Flanders to get ready for the cobblestones which we'll have to face during the 3rd stage of the Tour.You can't win the Tour in a stage like that one,but you can lose it.That stage doesn't make sense,it seems ridiculous to me.
J: On Wednesday you went to see Madrid-Milan in the Bernabeu.Do you follow football a lot?
AS: To say the truth,I'd never been to a football stadium before of Wednesday.You know,I'm Luxembourgish...Where can I go to see football matches?
J: Did you envy the footballers when you saw the stadium?
AS: In a stadium there are just 70.000 people...On the Tour roads there many more .
J: If you could choose,what would you like the most? Being one of the best footballers of the world,or being one of the best cyclists?
AS: It's a hard question.Football brings you fame and money...I don't like fame,but I do like money!

LITTLE NEWS ABOUT JONATHAN BELLIS:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bellis-to-return-to-britain-following-crash: Jonathan Bellis will shortly go back to Britain and leave the Italian hospital where he's been for more than a month.John is still recovering from head injuries,but I think that it's a good news to hear that,at least,he's now ready to fly back home.

(Andy's pic by Bart Hazen)

Chris Anker Sorensen won the Japan Cup-part 2

This is my last post for today,I swear it.

The reason for which I'm writing is to allow people who don't know Danish to understand what Chris Anker Sorensen wrote on his blog."Do you know Danish?" you may ask me.The answer is:no.I actually tried to learn Danish some time ago,but then I found out that I had to pay to go on with the course and so I decided to give up.

Anyway,thanks to my skills in controlling Google Online Translater (and also thanks to Fangirl's superpowers),I've managed to write a translation of Chris' last entry of the blog.So,here it is:

(Link to the blog in Danish: http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/ ).

NB: if someone has a translation that is better than mine or notices some big mistakes,please let me know.

Chris Ankers Blog: Final victory:

I finally succeeded and got my first victory of the year today.It was high time,since I had my last victory more than 1 year ago.Today we've ridden the Japan Cup,a competition that takes place on a circular route of 15 km,which we had to face 11 times.During every lap we had to face a very tough climb and a series of smaller hills that were really hard as well.Fairly quickly a five-man group consisting of five Japanese riders from local teams took the lead of the race.I must admit I was actually surprised by the level of the riders over here,they were running pretty strong today.Rather quickly we put Michael Mørkov at the head of the peloton together with other riders from Caisse d'Epagne,Liquigas and ISD.They pulled a lot and with 2 ½ laps to go the gap from the breakaway riders was almost closed.Therefore Jens Voigt attacked.After his attack,Jens was joined by other 10 riders.Shortly after,other 8 riders joined him.Five kms later, while we were riding on the hard hill,I ran away with Cobo and Joaquin Rodiguez.We didn't actually ride in a complete agreement and so during the descent Moreno,Lastras (Caisse),Agnoli, Santaromita (Liquigas) and Visconti (ISD) joined us.With 13 kms to go Lastras and I ran away again. 3 kms later I attacked again while we were riding on the tough climb and I managed to remain alone at the head of the race.Although I managed to win,riding on a flat road for some kms with only 15 seconds of advantadge on other 5 riders was really hard.

Since I finished the race (and also know that I'm writing) I've been truly happy.I think that this year I've improved a lot under the tactical and technical point of view.If I look at my results during this year,I think that some of them are really good.For example,between my good results of 2009 there are my silver medal at the Danish RR championship,my 13th place at the Worlds, the Tour de France,the 15.th placement in Flèche Wallonne and other top ten rankings in other big races.But a victory was missing.It finally came today,so now I can go on holiday with peace of mind.Hopefully next year I'll manage to make another step in the right direction and to bring home even greater results.This victory has obviously made my journey over here become extra good.But I've lived also many other exciting experiences here in Japan.I must say that Japanese people are incredibly friendly and forthcoming in meeting people.However,they have a weakness for vending machines,which are everywhere in the streets.There are many different kinds of vending machines,from the ones who sell candy to the ones that wash your glasses.We've also managed to try the Japanese food.Eating with chopsticks is actually a little challenging,but Mørkov and I have made a rule that says that we have to eat with chopsticks as long as we are over here.Since things are going very well,we are considering to apply this rule to the rest of the year as well. Anyway,I believe that it may be too difficult to face a Danish Christmas table with just chopsticks in your hand.I actually can't even imagine how to cope with things like meatballs, roast pork and potatoes with brown gravy and eat them with the chopsticks.

One evening we went to a traditional Japanese restaurant.There we sat on the floor and ate.In 2 hours time they brought us lots of small dishes:sushi,rice with chicken,various soups and lots of other things.This was a super exciting experience that you absolutely have to live if you ever visit Japan.

Now I have to close this post,since we are 8 hours ahead and I'll soon be off to bed because tomorrow we will be up at 6 am local time.We'll go to Tokyo to make various commemorative events and then I'll go back to Luxembourg on Tuesday morning.

Chris Anker Sørensen

So,that's what Chris said about his victory and his trip in Japan.The chopsticks rule is a great one,I also had the idea of using them all the year the first time I went to a Thailandese restaurant.I guess it's useless to say that I finally gave up when I realised that everyone who was eating with forks and knives had already finished their dishes while me was still trying to understand how the chopsticks worked.

Btw,now I have to close this post as well,since it's getting late (22.30 pm) and tomorrow I have to get up at 6.15 am (just like every other days).

Anyway,before of closing I'd like to know whether some blogmates are interested in reading other entries from Chris' blog.If so,I can translate some of them and publish them here.Otherwise...I guess I'll publish them anyway ;)

That's all for now,good night and sleep well.

(Pics by Getty Images).

CHRIS ANKER SORENSEN WON JAPAN CUP!!!!

Yes,Fangirl is happy.Very happy.She knew that Chris-Anker could have won the Japan Cup,but she also knew that she'd been saying "Chris-Anker will win the next race" for the last 10 months,so she was careful with her predictions.And now that Chris-Anker has really won the Japan Cup,Fangirl is enthusiastic.
Japan Cup means also the end of the 2009 cycling season.Chris' victory luckily made it become less sad.It was Sorensen's first victory in 2009 (better late than never,as we say in Italy...) and his 4th one as a professional rider.His other victories are a TTT in the Tour of Germany 2007,the Toussuire stage at the Dauphine Libére 2008 and the Kitzbuhel stage at the Tour of Austria 2008 (he also wore the leader jersey of the race in that occasion).

I've tried to look for some info on the Japan cup website,but unfortunately I can't understand anything from that website (I knew I had to study Japanese instead of Spanish!!).Actually,the only info I could find about Chris' victory was a little article that appeared on Saxo Bank website.

Here it is:

Last night, European time, Team Saxo Bank participated in their very last cycling event this season which was held in Utsunomiya,Japan on a undulating circuit of 14 kilometersThe Danish Team was represented by Jens Voigt, Nicki Sørensen, Gustav Larsson, Michael Mørkøv and Chris Anker Sørensen.The latter launched an epic series of attacks on his opponents within the last 40 kilometers of the course along with a strong riding Jens Voigt and the young Danish climber finally succeeded in leaving the field behind. Chris Anker Sørensen crossed the finish line alone and put an astonishing end to the season where he was often seen helping his teammates in their mission to succeed. Today, he took the initiative and brought home the victory in the empire of the sun.«Chris and Jens opened the race with 40 kilometers to go which course suited Chris like a glove with a short circular route with a large climb to pass ten times. It is a great way to finish the season and it is rewarding to be the sports director for energetic and enthusiastic riders like these who are still motivated in the very last part of the season», said sports director Torsten Schmidt after the race Sunday morning.More later... (later when?!?)

On another website I managed the top 10 of the race.Here it is:

1. Chris Sorensen (Saxo Bank) 4.06.19

2. Dani Moreno (Caisse d'Epargne) 0.24

3. Ivan Santaromita (Liquigas) s.t.

4. Juanjo Cobo (FUJI-SERVETTO) s.t.

5. Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne) 0.40

6. Joaquim Rodríguez (Caisse d'Epargne) s.t.

7. Valerio Agnoli (Liquigas) 1.25

8. Giovanni Visconti (ISD) s.t.9. Shinri Suzuki (Shimano) 2.08

10. Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) s.t.

Kurt Arvesen congratulated Chris for his victory on Twitter ("Bravo Anker! ChrisAS won Japan Cup!") and these were the only things I could find (at this hour of the day) about the race.

Last year La Gazzetta gave a lot of space to this race since it was the one in which Ivan Basso made his comeback,but I don't think that the same will happen also this year.

If you want to look at some pics from yesterday's race,here's the link:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/photo?slug=392ac5488da301f4d731e8f87f6c4a83-getty-cycling-jpn&prov=getty#photoViewer=urn%3Anewsml%3Asports.yahoo%2Cgetty%3A20050301%3Asc%2Cphoto%2Cca9190a070606a042f2579e9ffd87a6d-getty-cycling-jpn%3A1

On the same link you can also find other pics from cycling events,which are all very nice.

That's all for the moment,if I have some other news I'll publish them later.Last thing to say? Allez Chris-Anker Sorensen!

(Pics from Getty Images).

Giro d'Italia 2010: the parcours and my opinion

The parcours of the 2010 Giro d'Italia became known to everyone yesterday afternoon.The presentation of the race was held in Milan,in the "X Factor" (an Italian talent show programme) tv studios.The idea of doing the presentation there seemed a bit odd to me at first,but then it turned out that the choice wasn't actually that bad.

Lots of riders were in the studio:Cunego, Bennati, Nocentini, Petacchi, Pinotti, Garzelli, Ballan, Pozzato (why the tv kept on showing him,why?), Rujano (he travelled 20 hours to be in Milan this afternoon!),Tatiana Guderzo (poor girl,she had to sit near to HGS!), Denis Menchov and other great Italian riders of the past,like Gimondi, Cipollini, Moser, Magni,etc.

Me was a bit disappointed while listening to the stages of the first 2 weeks,but then I went crazy when I saw what kind of mountains the riders will have to face during the last week of the Giro.Anyway,let's go in order:

As you know,the Giro next year starts in Holland.The first stage,Amstedam-Amsterdam,is a TT of 8.4 km.

The second (Amsterdam-Utrecht) and the third stages (Amsterdam-Middleburg) will both be suitable to sprinters.The main problem in the 3rd stage will probably be the wind that usually blows in that part of Holland.Anyway,I must say that I pretty envy Fangirls from Amsterdam, since they're gonna have the chance of watching 3 stages live!!!

After just 4 days there will be the first rest day.After it,the riders will ride the 4th stage (Savigliano-Cuneo),a Team Time Trial of 32.5 kms (and Saxo Bank may get a good result there).

After the TTT there will be the Novara-Novi Ligure stage.This stage will remind everyone that in 2010 there will be the 50th anniversary of Fausto Coppi's death and it will probably suit sprinters.

The following stage is the Montalcino one,during which the riders will have to ride on some gravel roads during the last 10 kms of the stage.
After the Montalcino stage,the first uphill arrive,with the Chianciano Terme-Terminillo stage.The Terminillo is a 16 kms long climb and will probably show which riders won't be able to win the Giro.
After the Terminillo stage there is the Avellino-Bitonto stage,that is suitable to sprinters.
The following day there is the Lucera-L'Aquila stage,suitable to breakaways.This stage will probably be very emotional,since the riders will arrive in the city that suffered lots of damages after the earthquake that happened in Abruzzo during the April month.The stage will also be very long (256 km).
After L'Aquila stage there will be the Città S.Angelo-Recanati stage,which will be suitable to sprinters.I already know that someone will recitate Leopardi's poetry "L'Infinito" on that day,so I have about 7 months to get ready to that moment of intense poetry (I actually know that poetry by heart,just like every other Italian person who's gone to school).
After the Recanati's stage the riders will arrive in Cesenatico.This stage will end in the area where Pantani was born,so he will be remembered by everyone on that day.The stage will be suitable to sprinters.
The following day there will be the Ferrara-Asolo,during which the riders will have to face the Monte Grappa (19 kms,8% of average) with about 50 kms to go.
And until now,you may be disappointed.And I was disappointed as well,until that point of the presentation.Lots of sprinters stages,2 TT (1 of which is a TTT) and just one uphill finish in 2 weeks seems a bit poor to me.But fortunately things get very exciting during the last week of race.
After the Asolo stage in fact there will be the Mestre-Zoncolan stage.During that stage the riders won't face just the Zoncolan,but also the Sella Chianzutan,the Passo Duron and the Sella Valcalda.Of course Fangirl is looking forward to this stage.
After the second and last rest day,there is another TT,the San Virgilio di Marebbe-Plan de Corones.12.9 km uphill,with some parts of the climb at 24%.2 years ago,the winner of this stage was Pellizotti.
After the Plan de Corones stage there will be the Brunico-Pejo Terme,with the last 5 kms slightly uphill.
The following stage is the Cevico Terme-Brescia,for the sprinters who haven't abandoned the race yet.
The 3rd to last stage is the Brescia-Aprica,which features the Aprica climb,the Trivigno and the Mortirolo.During the last 100 kms of this stage,the riders will have to ride uphill for 52 kms.Obviously,I don't envy them at all.
The last mountain stage is the Bormio-Passo del Tonale,with an uphill finish.During this stage the riders will get over the Forcola di Livigno,the Passo di Eira,the Passo di Foscagno,the Passo di Gavia (2618 m-Cima Coppi) and the Passo del Tonale.Hard,hard,hard stage.

The last stage is a TT of 15 kms in Verona,that in my opinion is one of the nicest city in Italy.It's gonna be a difficult TT,since there are a 5 kms climb (4% of average) and some cobblestones sections in it (Menchov please be careful!!!).Since last year the Giro organizers have fallen in love with old Roman constructions,so this year the riders will conclude their 3 weeks of pain and fatigue inside the Arena of Verona,a very nice place.A thing that I liked a lot during the presentation was that the final stage was presented by Guderzo and Cantele:IMO,they fully deserve some attention after what they did in Mendrisio.

So,that's the 2010 Giro.And me likes it.Ok,the first 2 weeks will probably be very boring (and perhaps we'll have to put up with Cavendish winning lots of stages),but during the last weeks things are surely gonna be exciting.

Of course my evil mind has thought that this Giro is much harder than 2009 one because mr.Lance Armstrong is not going to take part in it,but that's just an evil thought of mine (and perhaps also of someone else,I don't know).

Logic thinks that the parcours is gonna be too hard for lots of riders and she doesn't think that this is a good thing.In fact,riders may feel like asking help to some doctors to get over the last week of the race,and we all know what this means.

Fangirl instead is happy,but she would be even happier if 2 riders that she really likes (the Schleck brothers) decided to take part in the race as well.I think the parcours would be very good for them:not a lot of kms against the clock,a TTT (and Saxo Bank may turn out to be the strongest team in that stage),lots and lots of climbs.Of course I know that the Tour is much more important than the Giro (or at least,that's what sponsors think),but I'd love to see the Schleck brothers in Italy during the month of May.

And talking about Fangirl: the Giro won't arrive nor in Bergamo nor in Milan,but she's already made her dream-plan that would consist in watching the last 3 stages of the Giro.Of course said dream-plan may not come to reality because of a series of stupid factors like school, tests,disagreement with the family car driver and so on,but I'm not doing anything wrong with making dream-plans,am I?

LINKS:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/a-repeat-giro-victory-for-menchov :interview with Smiley. http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/gallery-giro-ditalia-stars-gather-at-the-2010-race-presentation :pics from the presentation.Perhaps I missed someone,but I think that no one made "clothes disasters" yesterday afternoon (some ties didn't actually match the suit that the riders were wearing,but it's always so hard to find someone with a good "tie-taste",so I'm not going to complain about it).
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cunegos-2010-giro-ditalia-stage-wins :article about mr. Cunego,who says he'll go for stage wins in 2010 because going for the overall classification victory is too stressful (and causes too many arguments with journalists,I add).
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/saxo-bank-confirms-uci-license-approved :I know,this hasn't got anything to do with the Giro,but it's a good news,right? I must say I'm not blogging as I used to do before because school is keeping me busy.Sorry for that,but I've got a real life outside blogging (it may sound unbelievable,but it's true).

Random Post:

Yes,here's my usual random post with random news about random things.
JAPAN CUP RACE: Fangirl doesn't believe (or,better,she doesn't want to believe) that the 2009 season is "already" over,not just because this means she won't be able to watch any cycling road race on tv for the next 3/4 months,but especially because she's waiting for the Japan Cup Race on Sunday before of starting getting depressed.Said race is important for Fangirl because it's Chris-Anker Sorensen's last chance to win a race this year.According to the team website, Saxo Bank team for the race will be formed by both los Sorensens,Jens Voigt,Michael Morkov and Gustav Larsson.

WAITING FOR THE GIRO: the awaiting for the Giro parcours already started last month here in Italy,but in the last days I've began to feel it as well,especially after reading the news that Milano won't be included in the 2010 race parcours(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/%20giro%20-ditalia-to-skip-milan-in-2010 ).Considering that the Corsa Rosa probably won't arrive in my city either,Fangirl's already asking:Where the hell will I go to see the Giro live? Btw,Logic has suggested her waiting until Saturday before of getting depressed about this as well.
CIAO CIAO BULBARELLI: Yes,Italian chronist Auro Bulbarelli is leaving his job.This news is oh so heartbreaking,especially because we Italian tifosi won't have any chronist left to talk about food during the Tour de France stages.Btw,I'm sure that the famous "Sorensen sentence" that every Italian cycling fan has heard at least once (and that says:"There are 2 Sorensens in the Saxo Bank Team,one is Nicki and the other one is Chris-Anker.Nicki is the one who won a stage during 2009 Tour de France,while Chris-Anker is the one who didn't win anything.Oh,and remember:the 2 Sorensens aren't relative") will survive even after the departure of his creator.
PINOTTI WINNING A TT (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pinotti-ends-season-on-high-with-time-trial-win): The funny thing about this TT was that the rider who came in 2nd is Ivan Basso's cousin.And guess who came in 3rd? Yes,Ivan Basso.
GALA DI CONEGLIANO: Tatiana Guderzo has been the first woman to receive the Atena d'Argento (an Italian prize that is given to the best cyclist of the year) and I'm very happy for her. Together with her at the Conegliano Gala there were also Cavendish and Menchov,and you can see Cav talking Italian and Menchov understanding Italian and speaking Spanish on this link: http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/20-10-2009/russo-annata-d-oro-501682599139.shtml

BYE BYE MARCUS AND KURT: Yes,Marcus Ljungqvist and Kurt-Asle Arvesen have decided to leave the Saxo Bank team because they are both going to Team Sky (Marcus will be Sky ds,while Arvesen of course will continue his career as a rider).Some articles about them can be found on http://www.riis-cycling.com/
LAMPRE AND ASTANA CHANGINGS: According to La Gazzetta dello Sport,after the Lombardy Tour Cunego got angry at Santambrogio and Tiralongo got angry at Cunego.Solution: Santambrogio is riding for BMC in 2010 and Tiralongo is riding for Astana.Gasparotto hasn't argued with nobody,but he's going to Astana anyway.
CHRIS ANKERS BLOG (http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/): 2 posts in 4 days,one of which has an Italian title ("Ci dispiace ma hai dimenticato la tua mortadella",aka "We're sorry but you've forgotten your mortadella") and is very hilarious one (if I have time,will and enough linguistic skills I may translate something from Sorensen's blog during the winter months).
VID WITH ANDY (http://www.youtube.com/teamsaxobank): Yes,I know,you've already seen it for about 5 times,but Andy looks sooo nice in this vid! Anyway,a question about Andy and Frank:is it true that they're going to Curaçao? Please answer "yes" or "no" if you have some sure info about this.

Fangirl@Giro di Lombardia:

Yes,I'm surprising myself as well in publishing this post just one day after the Lombardy Tour.It normally takes me ages to write a Fangirl post,but this time I don't have much to tell (and I don't have lots of pics to post),so it has taken me less time than usual.
So,what happened to me yesterday? After school (and after that bloody maths test during which Logic had an unbelievable "mental bonk"),I got into my parents' car and we drove towards Lecco.There we found a bar,ate something and understood why some people say that the Lago di Como is very nice.The team cars started to arrive at 14.30 and I laughed a bit when the 2 Cofidis cars both took the wrong road.You may think I'm evil,but I assure you that it was a very comic scene:all the team cars one behind the other,the Cofidis cars behind the Rabobank's ones,the Rabobank's ones that take the right road and the Cofidis ones that,riding very fast,take the wrong direction. Funny.
Anyway.According to the info I got on a website,the riders should have ridden through Lecco between 14.55 and 15.20.Little problem,at 15.30 the riders weren't in Lecco yet.Then,after a few minutes of waiting during which Fangirl started to fear that the riders had imitated Cofidis team cars and taken the wrong road towards the Ghisallo,the cyclists finally appeared.Or at least,4 of them appeared.They were Klimov,Roche,Velo and Honig.Roche's appearance was nice because it made me found out that,although my eyes can't read what the teachers write on the blackboard at school,they can recognise the Irish cycling champion from more than 300 meters of distance.After about 4 minutes,also the rest of the peloton appeared.There was a Silence-Lotto rider pulling together with a Lampre and an Euskadi's one but unfortunately,I couldn't recognise any of them.Fortunately for Fangirl,I managed to recognise Chris-Anker Sorensen,Jens Voigt and also Sylvester Szmyd while they were riding in front of me.
Chris-Anker was looking at a rider behind him,while Jens was looking as good as usual.Fangirl didn't scream anything at them because she was disturbed by that Lovkvist supporter beside her.Said supporter in fact was in a great Fangirl mood and kept on screaming things about how good-looking Lovkvist was.
Btw it was great to see Jens riding in front of me again,since it was the first time since the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard stage of the Tour that I saw him live.Of course you all know what happened after Voigt rode in front of me that day and so you'll probably understand what it meant to me to see him again.
When all the riders had ridden in front of us,my family and I ran to the family car,got inside it and started to drive towards Albavilla.Our plan in fact was to see the riders in 2 different places since,acording to the plan-creator,going to Como or to the Ghisallo would have been impossible because of a series of reasons involving police,car-parking and other things.Btw,according to the plan-creator,in Albavilla we would have managed to see the riders riding slowly and already divided in little groups.Unfortunately things didn't go as easy as planned.
First of all,Italian drivers and Italian roads are simply terrifible and we had a direct experience of that yesterday,while driving to Albavilla.We had an hour time to get there,but a fucking traffic light and some stupid Italian drivers (why the hell do you have to drive around on your tractor on a Saturday afternoon? Why? And you,why do you have to phone your boyfriend when you're driving? Why?) made us arrive in Albavilla just 5 minutes before of the riders.And even if the riders were supposed to arrive in 5 minutes time,the policemen still let the cars drive on the road as if it was a normal moment of a normal day.Between the vehicles we saw driving on the road in those 5 minutes there was also that bus that the riders nearly hit during the last part of the race.Luckily no one got injured.

Anyway,the first riders to arrive in Albavilla were the breakaway ones:Santambrogio,Martin, Devenyns,Carrara,Hoogerland and Larsson.A nice breakaway,I must say:Santambrogio is my favourite Italian rider at the moment,while Carrara comes from my same city and Devenyns, Martin and Hoogerland are riders that I pretty like.And then of course there was Gustav Larsson.Fangirl found herself in a state of confusion and couldn't scream anything also this time.Of course Logic was very shocked by this fact.
After a few seconds,the rest of the peloton arrived.Unfortunately there were still lots of riders all together and me could see just Evans.Then,between the team cars,I could see Lars Boom.The Dutch rider was looking tired and had probably just ended his portion of work.
After the peloton,some other riders arrived (I could recognise Bertagnolli,Velo,Klimov and Brandt).Then the cars began to ride again on the road and we got inside our car as well."Are we sure that all the riders have ridden in front of us? I haven't seen the car with the 'finish of the race' cartel on yet" Fangirl said to Logic."I haven't seen it either,but there must be a reason if the police has opened again the road",Logic answered to Fangirl.Unfortunately,there wasn't a reason.In fact after few seconds a group of riders arrived and the policeman had to stop every car that was on the road in a very dangerous way.Logic got soooo angry at the policeman!!!! She wanted to get off the car and tell something to that man,but Fangirl managed to stop her.And so,we started to drive home while listening to the race-transmission on the radio.Of course people in that transmission didn't talk just about cycling,but also about football.After finding out that in a Serie B team there are 2 guys called Troianiello and Caianiello (I'm not joking!) and that there is also someone else called Troiano,I finally heard about Gilbert's victory.I must say I'm happy for him:he was the strongest rider in the last days and he showed it also yesterday. Sanchez came in 2nd and Kolobnev came in 3rd,while Fangirl's favourite Chris-Anker Sorensen came in 23rd.

And so this was the last "Fangirl@race" post of the year.It's been a great year for me (it's the first time I see so many races live in all my life) and hopefully you had fun reading these posts.

NB: The pics I've published in this post are less (and worse) than usual since the family photographer yesterday was on a photography strike against me for unknown reasons.
(All pics by myself except the last one,who was taken by AP/La Presse).