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25 May 2006

26 May News ...

Basso and Riis Plan Giro Finale

Bjarne Riis, CSC Team Manager, was fully satisfied with Ivan Basso's performance in stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia. Basso held tight on the snow covered slopes of Passo di Furcia to reinforce his GC lead, while Simoni and Savoldelli slid further away. The stage was without its crown, the Plan de Corones, but still proved a very beautiful stage.

"I am sorry that there was no longer the climb up to Corones, it would have been a better stage, but you must think of the cyclists," said Riis, 1996 Tour de France Champion, from Passo di Furcia.

The CSC boys proved dominating in controlling the race, making many think back to the days of the Lance Armstrong show. The resemblance is there: all the boys lined up, pounding out a fast tempo before the final climb and the team leader, Basso, keeps the rhythm strong until no one is left.

Riis, you have shown to have the best squadra. "This is the concept of our team", explained the Dane. "Ivan has shown his legs are strong. This is Ivan, not Armstrong, and Ivan is Ivan. ..."

The CSC men still face three demanding stage before Basso can be crowned king of Italy. Stage 19 stands out, a 224K romp, which contains two Cat 2 climbs before the finale up the Passo di San Pellegrino. "The race is not over yet. After today we feel a lot more confident, but we still have some hard stages to go. ... We have to watch Gutierrez, he is going strong. We saw that today."

The cold wind of the finish blew in on one hot Spaniard: José Enrique Gutierrez. The Phonak rider is second overall, and could be the man if Basso cracks, which would be the only scenario since the Spaniard does not seem to have the jump to attack the Italian Stallion.

But maybe Basso fears a yellow tidal wave, a two headed beast: Simoni and Piepoli. If Simoni finds his legs, combined with Piepoli, then they could topple the Computer Science Corporation. The street wise know-how of Simoni is exactly what keeps Basso sleeping with one eye open.

"It is an important win," said Basso of Leonardo Piepoli's stage 17 win. "Piepoli is a pure climber. It is clear that Saunier has the strongest team. Look, tomorrow [stage 18] I will continue fighting for the Maglia Rosa and take the days how they come."

After the stage it was suggested that Basso was better off without the steepness (touching 25% gradient) of the Plan de Corones. Il Varesino saw the change of parcours as part of the Giro, one which he wants to win no matter how the stages are delivered. "The days are hard with or without some of these climbs," continued Basso. "Today, they said we would do Corones, but after 40K they told us we would not ride Plan de Corones."

Ivan Basso will not forget Passo dello Stelvio of 2005, when he slipped out of the Maglia Rosa after one climb: "For me last year was truly a bad, very bad time. I will search to keep maximum attention, if you don't have 100 percent then you can lose it all in the mountains. I have to remain concentrated and we will see what happens."

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

Kid Cunego on Rise

Kid Cunego, 2004 Giro d'Italia winner, seems to have been washed out of the picture by Basso's strength, poor time trialing and slow legs in the first few mountains of this year's Giro. Il Veronese faced a lashing in the Pontedera time trial and then was handed another blow with the first two mountain stages, especially stage 16 to Monte Bondone, but after stage 17 he seems to be on the rise.

From the cold of Passo di Furcia Cunego gave his thoughts: "I believe that it was a good decision to cancel the passes," said Cunego of the organizers' decision to nix the Passo delle Erbe and Plan de Corones. "We would have gone in foot. [Small, cold laugh.] It is too bad, but it was better."

You seemed to be doing better in this stage. "I have a strong team," continued Cunego. "I am trying to move up in the GC, and it would be great to have a win here for the team. Yesterday was a bad stage, but the race is getting better for me."

Liberty Revokes Sponsorship

Not surprisingly, Liberty Seguros, the Spanish arm of the American insurance giant, has decided to pull its sponsorship of its cycling team effective immediately following the arrest and interrogation of team manager, Manolo Saiz. It seemed this would be an inevitable course of action, but few probably thought it would happen so fast.

Liberty officials clarified their position saying, "As a sponsor, Liberty Seguros has always wanted a culture of fair play and zero tolerance with respect to doping. In November 2005, and as a consequence of the suspension of a rider for doping (Roberto Heras), we reinforced contract clauses to have one of the most rigorous stances with regard to anti doping."

"The implications as a result of the arrest of Manolo Saiz are highly alarming: they damage our name and the name of cycling," added Liberty officials.

Liberty Seguros-Wurth has some very high profile riders on its roster (Vinokourov, Kashechkin, Contador, Beloki, Davis...). The obvious question is what will happen to these riders with the start of the Tour barely 6 weeks away?
- Paco

24 May News ...