I had initially planned to write this earlier, since yesterday’s group sprint outcome was almost a sure thing, but I take nothing for granted with this Giro.

It’s a strange situation the race finds itself in now. Arroyo’s defense of the maglia rosa has been both spirited and intelligent, and the Spaniard, if he does manage to hold on through the two hellacious remaining mountain stages, plus a final “eff-you” time trial, will have proven himself a worthy winner.

Sure, every national tour wants to see home-grown talent on the top of the podium. But I don’t think any other country tries as Italy to make that desire a reality.

An example: the chairs provided to Cadel Evans and Ivan Basso at the post-race show after today’s stage. Basso is clearly sitting on a gilded throne, while Evan’s “chair” could more aptly be described as “a stool with a back”—and this is minutes after the Aussie beat the Italian by 30 seconds!

(via @BMCProTeam, h/t to @mmmaiko)

No public figure in recent memory has been more well-managed under scrutiny than Lance Armstrong. Sure, hero status gives him a leg up, but there’s real brilliance in how his inner circle handles accusations; on every battlefield he’s fought, Armstrong has always made the issue his accusers, and not their accusations. I’ve compiled a fun little chart to illustrate the point:

(click image for larger sizes, buy a wall poster, full list of sources)

So before the chaos in Stage 11 of this year’s Giro (here are some new rider interviews on it), I posited that time gaps in the General Classification have a direct, predictable impact on the racing action.

Specifically, I claimed that there was a “sweet spot” where 1-2 minute GC gaps would reduce nervousness while prompting riders to attack, leading to what, in my biased vision, is great racing. And the Stage 11 reshuffle, while it had the unusual effect of burying a few GC favorites, still established the sort of gaps I think lead to good, aggressive racing—with the added effect of giving some of the strongest men in the race constant incentives to pull back time.

Lest I fall short of my own impeccable standards, I must discuss the Giro at least once today. And there is, frankly, still a lot to talk about. Specifically, yesterday’s GC reshuffling.

The finger-pointing began as soon as the riders crossed the line. This is the juncture where I’d normally poke fun at Cadel Evans for whining, but after seeing the man’s face when he staggered across the line, that’s just not going to happen. Anytime you see riders rocking the baggy coats, it’s not for style—it’s for not freezing to death.

You’ve probably heard by now that Floyd Landis has confessed.

Sadly, There isn’t a whole lot of data in the Landis emails. Floyd doesn’t really say anything that people haven’t been saying for years in late-night IM conversations and court depositions. I was hoping at least to get a photo of the vaunted refrigerated motorcycle panniers, but no such luck.

I think it’s great that Floyd has cleared his conscience, but the time for that was four years ago. Before the trial, the fund raising, the poorly-received book. Floyd spent over two million dollars unsuccessfully trying to undermine the scientific basis of the testing he now derides as a “charade”. Anyone else see a problem with that?

Five years ago today I wrote my first real post on this blog during my lunch break, at Dos Gringos Burritos in scenic Carbondale, CO, in the shadow of Mount Sopris (at left). I believe Ute City Cycles, the shop I worked for at the time, has since moved to Aspen.


Quite an anniversary gift from the Giro this year, eh? And I thought it was a good race back in 2005.

We’re all familiar with Chris Anker Sorenson’s fantastic pain management skills. But when you’re 1.5km from the top of a mountain-top finish in a Grand Tour, and Xabier Tondo has just been let off the leash to run you down, even he needs a little extra help. That’s when SaxoBank calls in Pascal:

“On the last three kilometres I am in the car with goosebumps all over my body and inches away from being a nervous wreck screaming out the window, then screaming into the steering wheel while Pascal is hanging out the sunroof rooting for Chris.” [source]

Pippo Pozzato gets a new nickname after today’s stage: Cassandra. He predicted the action pretty much to the letter (Evans winning, Sastre, Basso losing time) but was unable to do anything about it himself—possibly, some have suggested, because the weather was too grim. At any rate, the nickname is certainly inline with scope of the stage, which drew Gavia comparisons pretty much from the word go.

So for those of you scoring at home, that’s two consecutive Grand Tour starts in the Netherlands, and two consecutive Grand Tours marked by huge crowds, active racing, and scenes of epic carnage in the early going.

If the pattern continues, this year’s TdF depart in Rotterdam might just be that rapturous moment in which casual cycling fans finally dissociate “flat” from “boring” in their appreciation of the sport—unless, of course, Lance Armstrong crashes or misses a split. Then they’ll howl about how it’s not fair.