In a show of tactically senseless aggression heretofore shown only by the likes of Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, Ivan Basso cracked the field on a short but vicious (to the tune of 22%) climb in Stage 3 of the Tour of Denmark and cruised in for his third consecutive win. This winning streak bodes well for Basso’s potential appearance at the T-Mobile Grand Prix in San Francisco this fall, and forces pundits everywhere to view the former climbing/TT specialist in a new light.
At Benelux, young eyetai Simoni Cadamuro scored a rare ProTour victory for his Domina-Vacanze squad; up to this point in the season, their biggest win had been signing sprint superstar Alessandro Petacchi. It was all about position today, as Cadamuro held the right wheels until the field was snaring lone breakaway Manuel Quinziato mere meters from the line. An ecstatic Max van H from of the Disco boys held onto the red leader’s jersey thanks to some superior teamwork and a 15th placed finish. It’s been a tough year until now for the formerly flying Dutchman, and the curious can read all about it here.
Transfer news? What transfer news? Only Cofidis making a bid for Paco Mancebo of the Illes Balears squad. Mancebo’s agonized facial expressions alone would double the Cofidis squad’s camera time during Tour de France mountain stages. Oh, and I suppose there’s Dario Pieri, formerly of the Paris-Roubaix podium’s second step. After two years of unbridled mediocrity, the Lampre-Caffita squad has terminated his contract so he can move to non-ProTour setup LPR. LPR team management swears that they will return Pieri to his winning form of years past. My advice for them would be start with the gut, work your way to the attitude, and then, uh, well, you make the call.
