Give Up

After Jason gives eveyrone a much needed pep talk in what has been a really exciting Giro, its now time to tell everyone the news:

It's Over.

Salvodelli, barring a crash, is going to win the maglia rosa. He built his lead on the time trial, taking a full minute from Simoni. Of course, he lost 23 seconds to the stage winner, Ivan Basso. Really, how badly is Basso getting robbed? Outside of two days in which he lost 40 minutes because of a stomach flu, he's been absolutely dominant. There's no one on the course who can really hold his jock, and everyone knows it. Thursday and Friday was the Ivan Basso Show, in which he demonstrated why he should have won this thing if not for really bad luck.

Salvodelli has lucked out, as he's been losing time to the superior Basso, not that it matters. While losing time to the best cyclist, who unfortunately is out of contention, he's been building time on Simoni, the closest competitor.

Today was the last chance for anyone to pick up time on Salvodelli, and pick up time they did. Jose Rujano Guillen absolutely dominated the final climb of the race, and came within a breath of coming from nowhere to win the Giro. Really, its the first time I've typed his name in three weeks, and Rujano Guillen's climb picked up nearly two minutes on Salvodelli. DiLuca and Simoni also tried to blow up the race, but they couldn't keep up with Guillen's insane pace. It was a desperate gamble, and one that almost worked.

But let's give Salvodelli credit. He won this Giro by simply not getting blown off the course. And as it looked like he was going to lose the race in the most agonizing fashion, on the second-to-last day, he instead gutted things out and kept just enough time from the superior climbers. In fact, he started the climb down by 2:05. He lost by 1:55, actually gaining 10 seconds on the final climb. That's just amazing, as Salvodelli is not the climber Simoni or Rujano are.

But he won this Giro on guts. Pure guts. What a finish. Un-frickin-believable.

28 seconds on Simoni, 45 on Rujano Guillen. The Discovery channel team's looking to win two Grand Tours in a row, when Lance suits up for the Tour.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Never give up!

The lesson of stage 17 is "never give up!" Last weekend people said Basso should abandon the Giro since he got sick and lost 40 minutes. He didn't give up. He got better and won stage 17.

Never give up!

Since 2003 we've been mocking Gilberto Simoni. First we made fun of him for his pitiful attempt in the Tour after trash-talking Lance Armstrong. In 2004 we made fun of him for whining about Cunego, a teammate 10 years his junior, whipping him in "his" event. We said his career as a Crand Tour Champion might be done. In stage 17 he attacked Savoldelli on the last climb, cutting the lead in half. There are now just 58 seconds between Simoni & Savoldelli's lead.

Never give up!

With a time trial and another mountain stage remaining, Savoldelli's lead is tenuous. He has gotten no help from his team and Simoni is surging. It looks like he's going to get caught. Savoldelli should realize the lesson of stage 17.

Never give up!

The New Generation of Italian Cycling

We've taken our fair share of potshots at Italian cyclists. Fairly or unfairly, the Italians have the reputation as a bunch of coddled, cry-baby prima donnas. My deep loathing of Alessandro Petacchi is due to his well-deserved rap as being a selfish wimp.

The Giro is the one event these guys really care about, and they often put nationalistic pride ahead of their personal hubris. So I don't want to say these guys are all turning over a new leaf. Petacchi is now the guy hanging on by his guts while the other sprinters all dropping out at the first sign of trouble. When did this happen?

However, some of these new Italian cyclists don't fit the stereotype. OK, Petacchi does, but Ivan Basso is just gutting it out. When he took the maglio rosa in convincing fashion, the media almost begged him to gloat at Cunego's troubles, but instead he kept mum and said he doesn't like to see anyone suffer. Disproving karma, he has since been stricken with the flu, and he lost 40 minutes in one day. Most riders would abandon. Hell, almost every team captain would drop out and save themselves for the Tour. But Basso is still lining up with absolutely no hope of finishing within 30 minutes of the winner. That's guts.

Savoldelli makes Miguel Indurain look animated. Hell, you'd hardly know he was Italian given his absence of emotion out there. Armstrong gives off the air of dominance, Savoldelli, his potential heir on the team, gives off nothing.

DiLuca's currently leading the UCI ProTour standings, and he's in second place in the Giro. He's proving himself to be a dynamic rider, who can hang with both the sprinters and the climbers. You don't stand second at this point without the ability to ride like hell.

OK, Simoni and Bettini fit the image, but Bettini is downright humble compared to Petacchi, so I'm gonna let it slide. It's like we're entering a new era of Italian cycling, one in which actually winning means more than running your mouth. I really am looking forward to watching Basso become the dominant world force.

Just another weekend at the Giro

To say the Giro had an interesting weekend would be a terrible understatement.

Stage 12: Petacchi wins another stage. At this point he can't trade stage wins with McEwen, but what's not to like about another stage win. By the end of the weekend, he'll have another reason to celebrate. And no change in the GC.

Stage 13: Doing his Alessandro Petacchi impersonation, McEwen doesn't start the stage, leaving the points jersey to Paolo Bettini. Petacchi, who couldn't expect to make up 22 points on McEwen, is suddenly back in this thing because he may be able to overcome the 15 points between himself & Bettini.

Ivan Basso wears down because of stomach flu and drops a minute to Savoldelli, who takes over the race lead by 50 seconds. But a 50 gap to Basso won't last all the way to Milan, right? Di Luca and Simoni not far behind on the stage or the GC.

Stage 14: Doing his Lucho Herrera impersonation, Ivan Parra wins his second consecutive mountain stage. This is Columbia's contribution to cycling--the occasional mountain climber who can outlast the breakaway and hold off the GC studs. Nice job.

Basso's stomach flu is worse. How bad? 88th place, almost 40 minutes behind Savoldelli. OK, this is what illness does to a cyclist. One day he's on course to win, two days later he's vomiting on the road. Basso is a tough guy for even starting the stage, even tougher for finishing. And if he finishes the Giro, I'll be really impressed. Lots of cyclists are primadonnas, and we pick on the Italians most of all. Most team leaders would pack it in at this point. Heck, most team leaders would have packed it in after stage 13 (Garzelli?). Basso is one tough dude, and he's got a lot of heart to suffer through illness in a losing cause. He is well on his way to being my favorite non-American cyclist. Man, I'd really like to see him win one of the Grand Tours.

No easy day for Savoldelli either. He's still in pink, but Simoni and Di Luca attacked him on the final climb. They exploited his fatigue to take 27 seconds off his lead. After 14 stages, Savoldelli leads, Di Luca trails by 25 seconds, and Simoni is lurking at 1:48. Tight!

While Savoldelli and Simoni are experiencing a renaissance, Di Luca is just having an out-of-body experience. Even his mom doesn't think he's this good a rider, but he's right there in the thick of things. I don't just mean the GC, either. He now wears the ciclomena jersey of points leader (123 to Bettini's 120 and Petacchi's 104). The gap Petacchi needs to make up is managable because he should be able to beat both of these guys in every bunch sprint, which is something we could not say about Petacchi in regard to McEwen. But he's got to be concerned with the way Bettini & Di Luca pick up points. Di Luca has been picking them up on mountain stages, and Bettini has been picking up points in the intergiro. Don't expect either to beat Petacchi in a bunch sprint, but expect both to get some points out of a bunch sprint. So, really, Petacchi is going to have a rough time chasing them down.

In the next 3 days we have two flat stages and a rest day. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we get two mountain stages plus a time trial with a small climb. And that's when the race will be won.

Wow! This is shaping up to be the best Giro in years. It might be better than watching Francisco Casagrande crack on the last climb to lose the race.

One more note. Joseba Beloki abandoned after stage 12. He was having a really miserable time. Remember after his crash in the 2003 Tour I said his career might be in jeopardy. Well, sadly, I may have been right. That crash was so bad, he'll probably never regain the same form.