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89th Giro d'Italia - presented by

Stage 1, Seraing TT, 6.2K

6 May

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Il Falco Flies

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap, Stage List, Stage Profile, Photos

Wow! Il Falco is flying high again just like he ended the Giro last year. The DD has to admit that he did not expect Savoldelli to win this opening TT. The Giro d'Italia kinda has a habit of giving the initial Maglia Rosa to somebody who has come out of nowhere (Jan Hruska-2000, Brett Lancaster-2005) and I was expecting this edition to be no different.

Discovery Channel (henceforth to be known as "DC") has brought quite a line-up to this race, too. A lot like their tour team from last year minus Armstrong and Hincapie. Lots of super-strong and experienced mountain domestique help for the Falcon. And they ain't lookin' too shabby for the TTT either. DC does know how to shine in that discipline, y'know.

The one thing I'm kinda scratchin' my bald head about though, is CSC's tactics. They are bringing a lot of the big hitters I would've expected them to be saving for July. But they have Voigt, Sastre and of course, Basso himself. Basso has said he wants to do the double. I guess I'm finding it hard to believe that that is really possible.

I mean, when Pantani did it, it was an accident, really. He just happened to find himself in the right place at the right time to drop the axe on Ullrich. But he only went to get stage wins. And before that it was Indurain. And that was, well... Indurain. He is an extinct breed (in my opinion).

I guess I'm not fully convinced that Basso (although strong as he is-there's no disputing that) can really pull off a grand scale victory like the Tour or the Giro, let alone both in the same year. That's a mighty ambition.

I would love to see it, though. Bjarne Riis is the kinda guy who could mastermind a feat like that. - The Dust Devil