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11 May 2006

12 May News ...

Cremona Rest Day Wrap

It was a very nice day in Cremona, where the Giro d'Italia stage 5 team time trial will finish. The BiciRace.com crew previewed the parcours with our colleagues, marking every possible dangerous turn for the teams: there are none! It is a smooth course, which should be short and fats, at 38 kilometers.

After taking a look at the parcours, we spent time around Cremona with our journalist friends. We stopped for pranzo, a photo shoot and other sightseeing. Our 31 year-old Japanese friend, Miyoko, was kind enough to pose for a photo in Bergamo's Città Alta. She is in her second season with the Safi-Pasta Zara-Manhattan squadra. Brava Miyoko!

More Photos

Il Falco Over Po River

Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) on the crono parcours: "It will not cause big time gaps because of the short distance and high speeds will not allow us to gain much time. The key point will be the finale, over the Po River. There could be wind gusts from the front or side. But I am optimistic, my team has a long experience with winning these types of races."

Armstrong Joins Giro

Lance Armstrong has finally decided to come to the Giro d'Italia. The retired 7X Tour de France winner is joining his Discovery Channel team to support Savoldelli in his quest for the third Maglia Rosa. "I am sorry I was never able to come and do this race," said Armstrong.

"I will stay with the race through the team time trial. Then I am going to ride the Alpe d'Huez with a friend who will be celebrating his 50th birthday. I will also be back in Europe for the Cannes Film Festival and to be able to return to follow some of the Giro mountain stages."

It is exciting to hear that Armstrong's opinion on Ivan Basso, and his coworker, Savoldelli, for the final Giro overall honors. "Savoldelli has impressed me a lot. He is always strong," continued il Texano. "I am convinced that he can take the Maglia Rosa in Milano. Basso remains a favorite, but has a lot of pressure on him, and I don't know if he can carry that weight. We will see how it goes in the mountains. But for the Tour... Basso."

"Ullrich for the Tour... In France he will go strong, you can't really judge him from here in Italy. But Johan Bruyneel [Disco Team DS] told me that he has seen Ullrich already going well."

Van Petegem Staying Put with Davitamo Lotto

It is all but assured that Belgian Classics star, Peter Van Petegem, will stay with his home squad, Davitamon Lotto. In spite of his 36 years, Davitamon Lotto still shows a lot of interest in the Belgian, and for good reason. He knows the gritty Belgian races that dot the early season calendar like the back of his hand having won Het Volk and the Tour of Flanders a handful of times each.

Hoste a Hot Commodity

After Belgian hard man Leif Hoste’s stellar 2006 Classics campaign, in which he placed 2nd in the Tour of Flanders and won the 3 Days of De Panne, he is being courted by quite a few teams.

Discovery Channel will have to sweeten the pot to keep the 28 year old on the Discovery books. The word on the street is that Davitamon Lotto is very interested in Hoste, as well as Unibet.com. Having a rider with the clout of Hoste on Unibet.com’s roster could be just the boost it needs to move from Continental team to Pro Tour status.

89th Giro d'Italia, 6 - 28 May
Main, Startlist, Classifications, Giro Favorites
Stages and Maps, Key Stages, Overall Map
Photos, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Aaron Olson and Saunier Duval-Prodir Updates
2005 Giro d'Italia

10 May News ...