I think Cyclingnews had it right with their photo caption snafu (preserved at left) on today’s Stage 19 write-up. Carlos Sastre once again put time into everyone on a mountaintop finish, but it was essentially a sideshow. The Spaniard needed to plan on being a little less far down for a late-race surge to work, and even then, he might have found himself more closely marked.

Ah, only two weeks and 10 stages behind schedule, we have the exciting second installment of the How the Race Was Won Giro coverage. An exciting sprint, some hill stages, crashes, Lance getting dropped (repeatedly) some nonsense tactics, and a long breakaway. Makes a good rest day retrospective, I suppose.
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Don’t worry, I have not forgotten about the YouTube folks. Podcast will update when it freakin’ feels like it, because getting the video enclosure to appear in the Podcast Feed is some computer JuJu that I simply cannot figure out.

I bet that out there, somewhere, are people who think today’s Giro win by Carlos Sastre somehow justifies the ridiculousness of the Cervelo Test Team’s tactical blunder yesterday. From the moment the team car pulled alongside Serge Pauwels, the squad has been trying to explain away what was nothing but team mismanagement, pure and simple.

Things can get confusing in bike races, yes—but in an era of race radios, helicopter coverage, GPS tracking, and TVs built directly into the consoles of team cars, I find it completely inconceivable that the events of Stage 15 were simply caused by bad timing, as the Cervelo Test Team report describes below:

Tactics take a holiday in tomorrow’s long, hilly time trial, and if the first half of the race has been any indication, a lot of the team cars could use a break. While the riders might focus on the gnarly courses, and other fans on the Stage 9 drama, I think the most glaring problem of this year’s Tour has been the nonsense tactics.

That’s how I’d describe the rider reaction to today’s stage in Milan. Granted, the the 25 corners over 15k weren’t exactly easy, but it’s nothing pro riders can’t handle. I’ll agree the parked cars are a problem, but there are parked cars all over the Spring Classics, too. Would you rather see them on a lap race, or popping up at random between cobbles and bergs?

“Too dangerous” is riding the ECCC Men’s D field on the Beanpot Criterium in the rain. Riders at the pro level come up racing in far crazier courses without the aid of race radios. As the actual racing of the final two laps demonstrated, the Milan course was just fine, even with essentially fresh sprinters shoving, bumping, and taking all the usual risks.

Edvald Boasson Hagen is rapidly turning into one of the best riders of his generation, and I’ve gotta say, I love watching him win. Today’s Giro stage was a quality addition to his palmares, especially given the conditions and the presence of Robbie Hunter, one of the better sprinters in the pro peloton, in the final selection.

EBH played it cool, dropping the tempo to a crawl as he ended up on the front of the paceline, and then letting his breakaway companions chase down the inevitable attack. His jump at 120 meters to go was authoritative, giving him several bike lengths practically before the others could react.

Six stages in, and I think the GC has reached something approaching stable. Yes, there are still hills coming, and yes, disaster could strike any moment CVV-style, but for the most part, I think the party won’t get going again until after Sunday’s SuperCrit in Milan.

Running back through the results, I see ample fodder for fans of CyclingFansAnonymous (who, by the way, blocked me on twitter because I made fun of her). Dennis Menchov (at left), the first rider to win a Grand Tour via a doping disqualification, is also the only rider to win an individual stage in this year’s Giro without previously serving a drug suspension.

Tom Boonen: “Cocaine is everwhere”

BBC News: “World cocaine market in retreat”

(video after the jump)

Today’s mountaintop finish featured 16 riders on the same time as the winner, and 27 within 10 seconds. Either the course wasn’t hard enough—which I doubt, since Lance called it a “big climb”—or people were riding with all the panache of a frightened eight-year-old.

More riders need to be like Cance. Of his failed attack in the final K of Stage 2, he said “The end, it was for nothing, but it’s always good to try something”. And if it doesn’t work out, he says he’s glad to be on the bike, getting stronger. It would be nice to see someone cranking more than 6 watts per kilo take that attitude into a climb someday.

The Giro saw its first major contender—depending on who you ask, I suppose—crash out yesterday: Christian VandeVelde. It’s a bummer to see a a nice guy like that go, but he’s staying upbeat—as Bob Roll says with alarming frequency, that’s bike racing for ya!

Garmin-Slipstream’s day wasn’t a total loss, though. Tyler Farrar managed a second place finish to an on-form and motivated Petacchi, despite a few technical difficulties. Guess he really likes 53/14.