If you're not watching the Giro this year, you have missed out on a great bike race. Lots of breakaways full of big names, some epic climbs, and some great sprint finishes. Lucky for you, there are still 8 stages left (in which 5 are mountain stages)! So jump over to universalsports.com and check it out every morning. Here's a bit of a recap, built around a 5 key points...
1. Lance and Team Astana - this race has seen it's global popularity soar this year with Lance's comeback, and despite Lance not being in peak shape, he has made a ton of headlines. With Levi being the team leader and Chris Horner and Lance as his top helpers on the first week of mountain stages, Levi was able to stay with the top leaders and consistently stay in the Top 5 without too much difficulty. Lance did struggle in the first week, losing almost 3 minutes on one stage to drop quickly out of the Top 10. But Lance appears to be gaining fitness and confidence, and he has often lead the peloton up tough stretches, and pulled away on a daring descent with Danilo Diluca earlier this week. He has that snap back in his legs, and now appears to be rounding into shape for a better attempt at a win in France. He is still talking about the desire for a stage win, so we'll see what happens...
The other Astana news concerns their ongoing sponsorship issues. The team did receive some of their money that is owed to them by some of their sponsors, but is facing a May 31st deadline by the UCI. If not, Lance and the boys could be wearing different jerseys in France. They did break out modified Astana jerseys this week where most of their sponsors names wear faded out, as a kind of protest. Anyhow, nothing will impact the last week of the Giro, but it bears watching...
2. The race for the Maglia Rosa - this year, the pink jersey that signifies the race leader has already been shared by 5 guys, including the sprinters Mark Cavendish and Allessandro Petacchi. Later, team leaders such as Thomas Lovkvist, Danilo Diluca, and Denis Menchov have worn it. And with 5 big mountain stages left, there is still a chance that others in the Top 5 such as Levi Leipheimer, Franco Pellizotti, and Carlos Sastre can change the leader board with a great mountain stage or two...
3. Team Columbia-Highroad - All they do is win. After their win in the Team Time Trial that put Mark Cavendish into pink, they kept the pressure on and got Thomas Lovkvist into pink after Stage 4. Although Lovkvist lost it the next day, he still holds the white jersey as best young rider for the past 10 days (the only other rider who was worn white for more than one day during the Giro is Mark Cavendish). Then they got back to winning, with Kanstantin Siutsou winning Stage 8, Cavendish winning both Stage 9 and 11 and teammate Edvald Boassen Hagen winning Stage 7 and coming in second in both Stage 6 and Stage 8. Keep your eye on Boassen Hagen as he's a star and future grand tour contender. High Road is killing the Giro, and despite their two main overall guys (Lovkvist and Michael Rogers) both struggling in yesterday's time trial, they still have the best overall team in the Giro.
4. Americans Crashing Out- First it was Christian Vande Velde (Team Garmin) who crashed in Stage 3 and fractured vertebrae, ribs, and pelvis. Then it was Chris Horner from Team Astana who tore a calf muscle and hurt a shoulder in a Stage 10 crash. And with Team Garmin's inability to win a stage or generate a Giro contender, this has not been a great visit to Italy for the American team either. Can Tyler Farrar win a stage in the last week to salvage their race?
5. Yesterday's Time Trial. Everyone knew it was going to be tough, being 60 km long and including multiple tough uphills and downhills. So tough, that most riders skipped the TT bikes and aerobars and competed on their normal road bikes. Very few even bothered with aero helmets. Even TT specialists, like US Champion Dave Zabriskie and World Champion, struggled mightily, finishing 118th! Among the top contenders, only Thomas Lovkvist finished outside the Top 25. The surprise winner (and now the race leader) was Rabobank's Denis Menchov, who beat Levi Leipheimer by 20 seconds to win his second stage of this Giro. Leipheimer, who had won his first 3 time trials this year, looked strong but just came up short. Lance finished 13th (2:26 back), just behind Basso and Sastre. The average speed by Menchov was only 38 km/h, and the general classification didn't really expand as expected. Some thought huge time gaps would occur due to the difficulty, but with 22 riders finishing within 4 minutes of Menchov, that didn't occur. Lots more racing to come!
Moving out of Pro Cycling and into the world of Marathoning, there are a couple of updates...Paula Radcliffe still has her eye on returning from her plethora of injuries to compete in Berlin at the Worlds in August. She claims that if she can't get her fitness back by August she will race a fall marathon (maybe another trip to New York). Meanwhile, one of the few women to beat Paula during a road race, Kara Goucher, confirms that she too will toe the start line in Berlin this August, deciding to not miss a chance to compete at a World Championships.
The "other" Berlin Marathon, held annually in September, will be almost as popular since it will include another WR attempt by Haile Gebrselassie. The last 3 men's World Records (and 6 since 1997) have been set on this very fast course. Geb thinks he has one more sub 2:04 marathon in him, and would solidify his legacy as the fastest long distance runner of all-time with another world record.
Other running news...Usain Bolt is still fast. Even after crashing his car in Jamaica earlier this year and being criticized for his constant partying in London, Bolt is still the Man. He set another World Record, this time in the rarely run 150m event last weekend in Manchester. Actually, Donovan Bailey held the WR (14.99s)in this event until Bolt obliterated it (14.35s). The video is below, and shows Bolt absolutely destroying the field, reaching 100m in 9.90 seconds (remember, this is Bolt's first big race of the year).
Up next for Bolt is his trip to Toronto on June 11 for the Festival of Excellence, which is the name for the opening meet at Toronto's new Varsity Centre track stadium. Bolt, who is reportedly getting $250,000 in appearance fees for this event, will be the main attraction of the one day event, along with the two Canadian hurdlers Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien. Yay, Perdita is back! Anyhow, tickets for the event start at $75 (and go to $250!), so dig deep if you want to see Bolt in action. Chances are pretty good he'll run hard for 60m and cruise to a decisive victory.
Lots more that I didn't get to, including the return of Michael Phelps, the latest uproar over swim suits, and lots of triathlon news (including Ironman Lanzarote this weekend). I'll update everything next Friday...
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