No Mod Required

In yesterday’s final stage of the Giro d’Italia Franco Pellizotti lost out on a podium position to Lampre’s Marzio Bruseghin by a scant two seconds. I think I know why:

(Detail courtesy flickr user cesareb)

I’m not an expert in aerodynamics, but I can’t imagine the drag created by those frosted locks helped his time. 2 seconds over 28.5 Kilometers is .07 seconds per km- would a shaved head have shaved that time off of his time trial and put him on the podium? I would love to hear from someone who is an expert on the subject if there’s actually any merit to this theory. As soon as I saw him in the start house with his lion’s mane peeking out from his helmet I started to think of it as a possibility.

Two mountain stages and then a time trial into Milano? A perfect ending to this tortuous three weeks through Italy. Today’s stage is likely the lynch pin of the weekend as it’s the last mountaintop finish and Contador looks to be faster than any of his most dangerous rivals (Simoni ad Ricco) in the time trial discipline. If they’re going to do it, they really ought to do it today. Tomorrow’s parkours, while including the monstrous Passo Gavia, finishes after a descent so there should be opportunity for the lead group to come back together a little bit if anyone cracks on the ascent. Today? No such luck as the as the Passo del Vivone will grind up the peloton in advance of the finish on the Monte Pora.

Thankfully all of this stuff happens in the morning, otherwise my days would be shot…

incredible photo of “Il grillo” Paolo Bettini, il campione del mondo, courtesy flickr user rattodisabina

I haven’t commented much on the Giro so far, so this post will serve as a massive brain dump covering the first week plus in Italy- in advance of this weekend’s assault on the mountains.

• Yeah Slipstream! First maglia rosa in twenty years for Christian Vande Velde! I was really happy for the argyles. They rode like veritable hellbats. Watching Millar pop off the back told all the story needed about the effort they put in during the race.
• I wouldn’t be surprised to see two Astana riders on the podium. Which two? Your guess is as good as mine, but all three look like they’re going to be competitive form come this weekend. Contador, obviously, looks like the man to beat. His performance in the time trial was proof enough of that. Kloden also looks solid so he’s obviously in play and Leipheimer proved to be such a great “late” race racer in the Tour last year I can’t count him out of anything. I have to think they’re really going to control the race over the weekend. I’ll actually be stunned if one of them doesn’t win Stage 16
• Dave Z. cracking up the way he did was a real bummer. I hope he’ll be ready for the Tour. He looked like he was in supreme amounts of pain. No fun there.
• Speaking of cracking up, I can’t even begin to count the number of riders who have hit pavement so far. It seems like every day someone is riding into the finish with a ripped kit and some road rash. That’s even if they make it to the finish. Stage 11 was exceptionally painful, with big names crashing out on the narrow, slick and steep roads. Of special note was Visconti, the maglia rosa, crashing, getting attacked and then heading to the hospital for x-rays once he crossed the line.
• Could High Road be having a better year? Cavendish won a stage, the first by a Brit in forever and continued the team’s string of successes so far this season. Now if big George could just sweep up another stage win at the Tour, they could wrap the whole season up in a bow.

That’ll do for now. I’ll crank through some more commentary next Tuesday, after the carnage of this weekend. Should be fun times…

Yeah, I’m posting a commercial for free. I know.

Look, I’m doing it again

And again. this one is a real classic- Cantona’s Au Revoir at the end pleases me to no end.

The news just broke and many questions, of course, follow.

The biggest for me is- who will they bring and what will their intentions be?

Are they going to hedge their bets and hold back the Contadors, Klodens and Leipheimers of the world from a full-on GC push (so as to save them for Le Tour) or are they going there to take home the Maglia Rosa? There are no guarantees that they’re going to get into the Tour, so this might be their biggest stage of the year.

Of course, there’s also the question of fitness and form. One can’t just turn it on for a three week stage race. Is anyone ready for such a thing? Have they been prepping “just in case?” So many questions and so little time to sort it all out in time for the start of the race.

Astana given place in Giro field

Organisers of the Giro d’Italia have invited the Astana team to compete in their tour at just one week’s notice.

Astana, thrown out of last year’s Tour de France for doping violations, were originally excluded from the event.

Astana given place in Giro field

In other Giro news, Petacchi is skipping the race due to bronchitis. Petacchi basically owns the Giro, so that might give some other people a shot at some stage wins. Sad to see him miss out though, as he really is a joy to watch when he’s on form.

Bronchitis will keep Petacchi out of Giro d’Italia

[update]

Here’s Astana’s team for the race:

• Assan Bazayev
• Antonio Colom
• Alberto Contador
• Vladimir Gusev
• Maxim Iglinskiy
• Andreas Klöden
• Levi Leipheimer
• Andrey Mizurov
• Dmitriy Muravyev

Think they’re going there to win? I do. That’s a strong team. Whatever way you slice it, three guys who have finished on the podium of the Tour de France is a pretty solid foundation and Iglinsky and Gusev have shown me a lot over the past couple of years.

I do wonder who will be their main rider. It might be whoever ends up being on best form. Which is tough to judge in advance since “the big three” have all had pretty solid spring campaigns.

Being the cycling nerd that I am I added the Lance Armstrong one, but there are a ton of great new themes.

Here’s the Livestrong one in action:

Some on-topic options:

Os Gemeos:

Shepard Fairey:

Check out the whole list:

iGoogle Artist Themes

First there was the Mitchell Report and now there’s the unquestionably sleazy accusation that he had an affair with country singer Mindy McCready that begain when McCready was 15. FIFTEEN! I don’t have a high opinion of Clemens as a person or a great belief in his intellect, but this surprises me.

Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two, several sources have told the Daily News.

Sources: Roger Clemens had 10-year fling with country star Mindy McCready

Still months away from his return to competitive cycling (October 24th, for those of you keeping track), Ivan Basso today signed with Liquigas. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the deal is for one million Euros over two years. The contract is for 2009-10, but there’s no news on exactly when he’ll make his return to racing.

Photo of Basso, Bettini and Cancellara (c) Ken Conley kwc.org/cycling/photography/

English coverage from VeloNews:

VeloNews | Ivan Basso will return to racing on the Liquigas team | The Journal of Competitive Cycling

Italian coverage from La Gazzetta:

Basso torna con la Liquigas

More coverage from La Gazetta (an exclusive interview):

Basso: “Grazie Liquigas Rinasco e torno a vincere”

“I am reborn and return to win”

Nothing major, he just talks about why he chose Liquigas (they’re an Italian team, they’ve been competitive, they have a grand plan for the next couple of years) and some slightly philosophical stuff- based on the question “Who, today, is the man Basso, rider and father? “

Lance Armstrong

4 time winner Robert K Cheruiyot on Heartbreak Hill

Winner Dire Tune duels Alevtina-Biktimirova on Heartbreak Hill

Khalid El Boumlili

Fun times.

The David Ortiz jersey buried in the new Yankee Stadium is up for auction on eBay. There are 198 bids and the price is at more than $69,000 (as of this writing), with the proceeds going to The Jimmy Fund. I’ll be interested to see where it ends up. It’s a fantastic story and this is a great piece of oddball memorabilia related to one of the great rivalries in sports.

Ortiz “Yankees Curse” Jersey to benefit the Jimmy Fund