Not much to report today. Liberty Seguros’ Angel Vicioso took his third stage of this year’s Euskal Bizikleta, but was narrowly denied his fourth by Euskatel’s David Herrero. The race lead, though, still belongs to Comunidad Valencia’s Eladio Jimenez, who should be able to hold on to his 1’15” advantage through tomorrow’s stage to take the overall.
Stateside, cyclingnews spoke to a bunch of the Euros in town for this weekend’s USPRO Championships. Among them was Lampre’s Dario Pieri, who finished 2nd in Roubaix in 2003 (on a Cannondale!). Pieri, one of the few pro cyclists who I can accurately say is fatter than I am, commented:
“…[in American cycling] there are a lot of small teams, the riders are really good here and so is the race organization. In fact, it’s a lot like Italy.”
No offense, Dario, but the last time I was in Italy, the only thing that was organized wore trenchcoats and carried shotguns. Unless registration in Philly this year consists of passing a few Lira to the offical and ambling over to the start line whenever the urge strikes, it bears no resemblence to anything I saw back on The Boot.