Stage 11: Basso Runs Out of Bubble Gum
"I'm hear to chew some bubble gum and kick some ass. And I'm all out of bubble gum." -- They Live
The first 10 stages were cute. Petacchi's inability to win a stage until yesterday, some nice sprint finals, McEwen running away with the points competition, and DiLuca and Bettini's early domination of the race. Well, all of that preliminary stuff is over.
At 4:18 local time, Ivan Basso put his foot down and began his ruthless domination of the Giro. That's when Garzelli and Cunego showed the slightest bit of weakness climbing the Passo Duran, giving Basso the opportunity to attack. And attack again. And for good measure, attack again.
In 10 minutes, the lead group was down to four: Basso, Salvodelli, Simoni, and DiLuca. Less than three minutes later, it was just Basso and Simoni. And just like that, Basso showed himself to be the cutthroat leader we knew he could be. I mean, he ripped the guts out of the lead group, full of all of the top riders, and he did it in a remarkably short time period during the toughest climb of the day.
OK, Salvodelli showed Lance isn't the only stud on the Discovery Channel team, reunited the lead group, while at the same time upping the pace on the descent, absolutely burying Cunego. He can't climb like Basso, but no one can descend like he can, a pretty underrated skill. Going into the final climb, Salvodelli held a slight lead.
Salvodelli actually managed to hold onto the lead, holding off Basso's charge. But it was Basso who blew apart the stage and dictated the pace. Salvodelli gets the stage win, Basso gets the maglio rosa. Seems fair. Simoni and DiLuca at least stayed in the picture, but Cunego finished 6 full minutes back.
And now there are only six riders within five minutes of the lead. Boys and girls, its over. These are the only riders with a snowball's chance:
1. Ivan Basso, CSC, --
2. Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at 0:18
3. Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas-Bianchi, at 1:04
4. Gilberto Simoni, Lampre, at 2:27
5. Serhiy Honchar, Domina Vacanze, at 3:45
6. Marzio Bruseghin, Fassa Bortolo, at 4:34
7. Michele Scarponi, Liberty Seguros, at 4:48
And really, only the top four, yes, the same top four of this stage, have a good shot. But it looks like this is Ivan Basso's coming out party.
The first 10 stages were cute. Petacchi's inability to win a stage until yesterday, some nice sprint finals, McEwen running away with the points competition, and DiLuca and Bettini's early domination of the race. Well, all of that preliminary stuff is over.
At 4:18 local time, Ivan Basso put his foot down and began his ruthless domination of the Giro. That's when Garzelli and Cunego showed the slightest bit of weakness climbing the Passo Duran, giving Basso the opportunity to attack. And attack again. And for good measure, attack again.
In 10 minutes, the lead group was down to four: Basso, Salvodelli, Simoni, and DiLuca. Less than three minutes later, it was just Basso and Simoni. And just like that, Basso showed himself to be the cutthroat leader we knew he could be. I mean, he ripped the guts out of the lead group, full of all of the top riders, and he did it in a remarkably short time period during the toughest climb of the day.
OK, Salvodelli showed Lance isn't the only stud on the Discovery Channel team, reunited the lead group, while at the same time upping the pace on the descent, absolutely burying Cunego. He can't climb like Basso, but no one can descend like he can, a pretty underrated skill. Going into the final climb, Salvodelli held a slight lead.
Salvodelli actually managed to hold onto the lead, holding off Basso's charge. But it was Basso who blew apart the stage and dictated the pace. Salvodelli gets the stage win, Basso gets the maglio rosa. Seems fair. Simoni and DiLuca at least stayed in the picture, but Cunego finished 6 full minutes back.
And now there are only six riders within five minutes of the lead. Boys and girls, its over. These are the only riders with a snowball's chance:
1. Ivan Basso, CSC, --
2. Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at 0:18
3. Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas-Bianchi, at 1:04
4. Gilberto Simoni, Lampre, at 2:27
5. Serhiy Honchar, Domina Vacanze, at 3:45
6. Marzio Bruseghin, Fassa Bortolo, at 4:34
7. Michele Scarponi, Liberty Seguros, at 4:48
And really, only the top four, yes, the same top four of this stage, have a good shot. But it looks like this is Ivan Basso's coming out party.
posted by Poseur at 7:33 PM
1 Comments:
Really a great stage. Cunego is either out of shape, which I don't suspect because he rode at the front in the first week, or maybe he suffered that common "first day in the mountains" shock. Either way, he's toast, and Simoni has to be happy with that. Well, he also put in a nice performance too.
Savoldelli is a nice story too. Former winner; disappeared last year, back in good form.
As for Basso, sacrifice any plans for the 2005 TdF. Put the pedal to the metal and win the Giro.
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