Podium Cafe

Amgen Tour of California Stage 4 LIVE

2012-05-16T19:02:00Z

Sonora - Clovis 209.6 km

Totally un-saganesque territory with hardish climbs all day. Aaah, who am I kidding?

PdC ~~bald~~ bold prediction: Peter Sagan

Official site , Startlist , Stageinfo

Live video: 23:00 CEST (14:00 US PDT, 07:00 AUS EST)

Video: Tourtracker , steephill , cyclingfans , Procyclinglive , Sports Livez.

A Day At the Processo Al Giro di California

2012-05-16T18:59:16Z

Every day of the Giro offers at least an hour of joy, much more if you catch both ends of the RAI broadcast, and that's not counting the race. There is so much to love about the Processo alla Tappa, mostly having to do with the fun, wacky and charming nature of Italian TV. Cycling itself brings out its share of stars and characters, and with a good chunk of time to work with, the result is magic.

Why can't we have our own Processo at the Amgen Tour of California? Yes, American sports TV has its positive attributes, especially if you like the facts, but it's California, forgodsakes! If you can't have fun in the west coast sun, where can you? A real Processo would have so many possibilities. So many possibilities...

Phil Liggett: Good afternoon and welcome to our post-stage coverage of the Amgen Tour of California, where we just witnessed Peter Sagan win his third stage in a row, increasing his overall lead to 21 seconds. I'm here with Paul Sherwen, as always...

Paul Sherwen: ... hello again Phil...

Phil: and our panel of experts to talk through today's events. Let's go first to our mobile reporter Andy Hampsten, who is with runner-up Heinrich Haussler. Andy?

Andy Hampsten: Thanks guys. Heinrich, it looked like you were in good position but you started your sprint early. Do you feel ashamed?

Heinrich Haussler: Yes, I do. I let my teammates down today. I really wanted to do well. I gave it my all, but Sagan was a little stronger.

Hampsten: Your parents were watching today, right?

Haussler: Yes they were. It was a special day for me, because it is the 30th birthday of my cousin Tommy on my mother's side, so I wanted to win it for him, for my aunt, and for my mother. I am happy I came close, but wish I could have done better.

Hampsten: Phil?

Liggett: Anyone else have a question for Heinrich? Heidi?

Heidi Klum: Hi Andy, Hi Heinrich. Heinrich, with Sagan holding the overall lead, you are wearing the sprinters' jersey that doesn't even match itself color-wise, let alone your team Garmin-Barracuda shorts or bike. Are you anxious for Sagan to lose the overall lead so he has to wear this awful jersey, or would you still prefer to win the competition?

Haussler: Well, it is an honor to wear the ugly sprinters' jersey, and I want to win a stage, so I am content to keep it for now.

Liggett: Thanks Heinrich, please say hello to your family from us. Thanks Andy. Joining us in studio now is today's winner, Peter Sagan of Liquigas. Peter, (speaking Slovak) your win today good?

Interpreter (in Slovak): Peter, were you satisfied with your win today, coming from so far back in a tough, disorganized sprint and at the end of a long stage?

Sagan (in English): Yes, it was a hard stage so I didn't have great energy at the end. But I picked my line carefully after Heinrich made his jump, and was fortunate to have enough speed left to get the win.

Liggett: Some people call you the Terminator because of your very convincing victories. Today we have the original Terminator, former governor Arnold Schwartzenegger. Let's bring him in...

Schwartzenegger: Hasta la vista baby!

Liggett: Governor, your character in the Terminator left little doubt in his victims that they would be killed. Do you think Peter has the same effect on his cycling rivals.

Schwartzenegger: Oh for sure ja. If he were Sarah Connor's son, then the machines would not have had a chance in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Liggett: Peter? Do you think you are the new Terminator of cycling?

Sagan: I was not born when this movie was made, I have not seen it yet. But every day I do my best to improve so I can repay the faith my team has shown in me.

Liggett: Governor, do you have any more questions?

Schwartzenegger: Ja, to my friend Heidi Klum, (in German) we are having a party at my mansion in Brentwood later. I have had sausage sent from Vienna in your honor.

Klum (in German): No thanks. I know what steroids can do to men. (Switching to English) Peter, people said you are a sprinter when you first arrived. How do you feel about your climbing?

Sagan: I try to improve my climbing every day because I know it can lead to many more wins. My coaches have a very careful program for me and I must watch what I eat to keep my weight down.

Klum: Yes, as a model I know all about that! (winks).

Sagan (looking nervous): Yes ma'am.

Liggett: Excellent advice. Let's turn to another special guest calling in by phone. It's seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong! Lance?

Lance Armstrong: Hi Phil.

Liggett: Lance, you said at the 2010 Tour Down Under to watch out for this Slovenian kid, referring to Sagan. He's actually Slovakian. Did you mean to insult him?

Armstrong: No, I did not. I was playing a joke on Janez Brajkovic.

Liggett: Peter, were you hurt by that remark?

Sagan: My teammates have stood by me in this race and I am just happy to win so I can pay them back for their efforts.

Liggett: Well said. Lance, as a special thanks for your joining us today, the people at NBC Universal Sports have put together this tribute video to your career. Californiabecco, if you could please start the video machine.

[five minutes later...]

Liggett: That was truly special, for a special rider. What do you think Governor?

Schwartzenegger: Ja, I think Lance was the real Terminator. Heh heh.

Liggett: True enough, right Lance? Lance?

[no answer]

Liggett: OK, let's turn to tomorrow's stage. With his chalkboard our guest analyst Justin Timberlake will give us his predictions for Stage 4...

Thank you to the good people of Italy for making me wonder how much fun I'd be having if my great grandparents had stayed put. [Picturing a Vito Taccone poster in my room next to the DiLuca one...] Maybe some things are best left in their original form.

Replay: Giro d'Italia Stage 11 Sprint and Final Corner Crash

2012-05-16T16:28:45Z

Who didn't think there would be a crash in that final corner? Nobody, right? That thing was crazy tight. And the Giro d'Italia sprint field seems not to be especially adept with tight corners at 500 meters to go.

Thomas Vaitkus of Orica-GreenEdge, who does not usually show up in the sprints, was the first rider through that final corner, and he nailed that thing perfectly. He took a fast, smooth line and came out well ahead. Beautiful line, right there. Maybe he was hoping Matt Goss was on his wheel. Instead, Roberto Ferrari of Androni, the eventual winner and a faster sprinter than Vaitkus, goes through right behind the Orica-GreenEdge rider.

The Sky train, meanwwhile, gets tangled. It's unusual to see Sky blow a sprint lead-out, but this one goes awry for them. It looks like the first Sky rider goes wide, as if maybe he wants to try to pull off and give Geraint Thomas a straight shot for the lead-out. But Thomas follows and pulls Cavendish wide along with him. You can see Thomas realize that he is blowing the corner, and he actually pulls his inside foot out of the pedal. As a result of these hijinx, Cavendish gets delayed and starts his sprint late.

Up ahead, Ferrari is charging it. Once he gets untangled from his train, Cavendish unleashes a pretty massive turn of speed, but it isn't enough to get back to Ferrari. It's an amusing irony that Ferrari was called out for dangerous sprinting during the first week - and rightly so in that case - but this time, he hits the corner perfectly and runs arrow-straight for the line. Cavendish can only manage fourth after Ferrari, Francesco Cicchi of Omega Pharma-Quick-Step, and Vaitkus.

The actual crash happens well behind Cavendish and Team Sky, and does not really influence the stage outcome. Sascha Modolo of Colnago loses his front wheel with predictable results. People, don't brake and turn! It never works out.

Here are today's stage results.

Giro d'Italia Stage 11: Ferrari!

2012-05-16T15:55:04Z

Roberto Ferrari won the sprint in today's Giro, nailing the final corner with 500m to go and leaving Mark Cavendish in his wake on the rise 300m from the line. A crash in the final corner 500m from the line took out some sprinters, but in reality they were all too far back to win anyway.

At 255km, today was the longest stage of the Giro. The day's obligatory break was never given much leash to play with. At 95km to go, the gap was just over a minute. 20 kilometers later, it was 2:30, and then with 40km to go it was back down to a minute. The peleton - definitely playing with the break today. So eeeeevil.

With 30km to go and the catch imminent, Manuele Boaro - oft hailed as an up-and-coming Fabian Cancellara - decided to ditch his breakaway companions and fly solo. Adrian Saez tried to follow but could not match the Italian's burst of speed. Within a short period of time, Boaro had a minute again on the chasing peleton and 36 seconds on Saez. This escapade, however, was to be brief.

As the race hit the final climb - a category 4 lump summiting with 12 kilometers to go - Liquigas upped the pace. In predictable fashion, Giovanni Visconti attacked, bringing three riders with him. The chase behind was spirited, though, led first by Liquigas and then by a number of riders trying to jump across the gap. Off the descent and with 8km to go, it was gruppo compatto and Sky had six riders lined up on the front, Cavendish sitting pretty at the back of the line of black and white jerseys. From then on, the outcome seemed certain.

But the Sky leadout, it failed to nail the final turn. But a few people did, notably Thomas Vaitkus, who was second wheel going into the turn and first coming out with a healthy gap. Nice riding by Vaitkus, who is most certainly not a sprinter but apparently studied the road book closely. Unfortunately, Ferrari went through the turn almost equally well and was able to jump by the Lithuanian and win the long long loooong sprint easily. Cavendish, who was gapped in the corner, seemed to struggle with the uphill drag to the line and finished fourth. Francesco Chicci of Omega Pharma - Quickstep was the fastest in the final 150m, but coming from a long way back he had no hope of challenging Ferrari.

Top Five:

Roberto Ferrari (AND)
Francesco Chicchi (OPQ)
Thomas Vaitkus (OGE)
Mark Cavendish (SKY)
Manuel Belletti (ALM)

Overall standings remain the same with Joaquim Rodriguez in the maglia rosa.

Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirrotti

Giro d'Italia Stage 11 LIVE

2012-05-16T08:55:02Z

Assisi - Montecatini Terme 255 km

Long, long stage stage with an opportunity for sprinters.

Podicci's Pazzo Pick: Arnaud Demare

Official site , Startlist , GC , Stageinfo

Live video: 14:30 CEST (08:30 US EDT, 22:30 AUS EST)

Video: RAI , GazzettaTV , RAI World , steephill , cyclingfans , Procyclinglive , Sports Livez.

Amgen Tour of California Sagan 3 LIVE

2012-05-15T20:54:00Z

Sagan Jose - Livermore 185.5 km

More saganesque territory with hardish climb near the finish.

PdC ~~bald~~ bold prediction: Peter Sagan

Official Sagan site , Sagan-Startlist , Sagan-Stageinfo , Saganinfo

Live Sagan video: 23:00 CEST (14:00 US PDT, 07:00 AUS EST)

Sagan Video: Tourtracker , steephill , cyclingfans , Procyclinglive , Sports Livez.

Results:

Peter Sagan, Sagangas
Heinrich Haussler, Garmin-Sagancuda
Tom Boonen, OPQS (the S stands for Sagan)

Overall sagandings:

Sagan
Sagan Sagan, at Sagan
Sagan Sagan Sagan, Sagan Time

Olympic Dreams, Italian style!

2012-05-15T19:38:54Z

I've been looking at some of the difficult decisions countries will have to make when they pick their women's teams for the Olympic road race, and it most cases there will be polemica ahoy! But then we come to Italy, where it's going to be easy - the four-woman team writes itself. The selectors must be rubbing their hands with glee, because not only does this have to be the easiest decision out there, it's also one of the teams that will start as a joint favourite, along with Germany and the Netherlands.

The Italian national teams are something very special. Although their riders are spread around the peloton, when they come together, they can work together like no one else. A win for any of them is seen as a win for all, and they use the most perfect opportunistic tactics, combining solo attacks with beautiful team-work, all of which is why they have won the Road World Championships for the last three years. And it's the current and 2010 World Champion we'll start with. As always, if you have ideas for how else the team can look, let me know in the comments!

Giorgia Bronzini is such an interesting rider. You can guarantee she'll be on the podium in races all year in second and third spots, but at first glance, it can seem like wins don't come easily to her - until you realise that with Bronzini, it's all about reserving her top form for the races that matter, which is why at 28, she has four rainbow jerseys to her name, having won the points race in both the junior and elite Track World Championships and well as the last two Road Worlds.

I have to admit, even though I'm a massive Bronzini fangirl, I hadn't expected her to win in 2010 before the race. She's always been a sprinter who can make it over the short, sharp hills, but while her team-mates Tatiana Guderzo and Noemi Cantele were attacking like crazy in Geelong, I didn't even notice Bronzini in the race.... until suddenly there she was on the final lap, tucked in behind Emma Johansson, invisible until she made the perfect sideways move to overtake Johansson and an exhausted Marianne Vos - just watch the video! It's that skill Óscar Freire was known for - suddenly shrugging off the invisibility cloak to steal the win - and like Freire, you'll also see Bronzini popping up in places where sprinters are not expected, like a breakaway in the hilly & cobbley Ronde van Drenthe, and attacking at odd times.

Her 2010 win was an emotional one for her and the team - dedicated to the memory of Franco Ballerini, and to Marina Romoli, who's still in a wheelchair after she was hit by a car in training earlier in 2010. I love the photos of the team with "Marina go" on their gloves - and Bronzini's heart-shaped salute as she won. Bronzini's 2011 win in Copenhagen just cemented the Italian team's reputation as the ones to beat, and the Olympic course should be another good one for her. Her only problem is how badly she was hurt in her crash in the last stage of the Festival Luxembourgeois Elsy Jacobs - a dislocated shoulder can be nasty - but assuming everything is fine, watch out for her! Will we see her in her lucky yellow undershirt, sprinting to add an Olympic gold to her rainbow collection?

So who do I think will be joining her? Well, let's cast our minds back to the 2009 Worlds

This was such a beautiful example of one of the hardest things there is to do in pro cycling - how to beat Marianne Vos. By the time the race hit the final lap, there were four riders out ahead: Vos, the USA's Kristin Armstrong, Noemi Cantele and Tatiana Guderzo. The two Italians had the advantage of numbers, but the fact they didn't seem to care which one of them won, as long as she was in blue, gave them something special. They took it in turns to attack, grinding Vos down, until Guderzo was finally able to get away, with Cantele behind her continuing the Vos-harassment and frustrating her chase attempts. Guderzo won by 19 seconds, and Cantele added a bronze medal to the silver she'd already won in the ITT, making it an amazingly successful week. Relive the race by watching the video, in part 1, part 2, & part 3.

That selfless work and continual attacking is typical of Cantele, who has said in interviews that her biggest achievements last year were winning the Raod & ITT National Championships, and Bronzini winning the Worlds. Her attacking in the final stages, disrupting the formation of the sprint trains and making the Dutch and Germans scramble to chase her down was perfect Cantele riding! I did enjoy watching her race for the big teams like HTC-Highroad and Garmin-Cervélo, but I can't wait to see what she does this year, when she's the sole captain of BePink and riding just for herself.... and at the Olympics, she could use those attack skills to get away alone and steal the win from the sprinters!

The final riders for the team really should be Monia Baccaille. Baccaille is a sprinter in her own right, but was instrumental in Bronzini's 2011 Worlds win, taking on the role of lead-out woman while Cantele was frustrating the others. Baccaille had an excellent week in China, winning Stage 2 of the ChongMing Island stage race and coming third in the World Cup. She can win and ride for others too - what more could you want?

I've said this before, but it's a real sign of how competitive Italian women's cycling is that Baccaille was the first rider to win the national road race title 2 years in a row since Maria Canins ("the flying Mother") won it 1987, '88 and '89. It's also interesting to see how many of the women are supported through national bodies - Baccaille and Guderzo are part of Fiamme Azzurre, the Italian police and prison service, and Bronzini is funded through Gruppo Sportivo Forestale, a part of the Army. These don't just support their sporting lives, they also give them a stable career, so even though the women don't get the same pay as the men (by a long way) they don't need to worry about how they'll survive after the sport. I like that a lot - and I wonder if that's something that contributes to the national team spirit they have.

So that's my ideal Italian team - but maybe the Italian selectors will disagree? They could, for example, decide that Guderzo's climbing skills won't be needed, as Box Hill can't compare to the mountains she shines in. Yeah, yeah, I know, that's highly unlikely, but the Italians have some good stand-by riders.

When you look at Alessandra d'Ettorre's palmares, you might wonder why I'm including her, but that's cycling for you, and d'Ettorre is best known as a lead-out rider rather than a sprinter in her own right. Bronzini was so happy with her lead-out that she brought her from Colavita to Diadora-Pasta Zara at the end of 2011. And if they don't go for a lead-out rider? Well I think they could do a lot worse than up-and-coming star Elisa Longo Borghini

Longo Borghini, nicknamed "Lambo" (Lamborghini) for her speed, comes from a family of sports stars. Her mother, Guidina Dal Sasso, was a cross-country skier who competed in the Winter Olympics three times, her father Ferdinando was a cyclist, and her older brother Paolo has been riding at Liquigas for Ivan Basso. She combines cycling with studying for a degree in Communication Sciences at l'Università dell'Insubria in Varese, where Cantele studied as well, and says that if she hadn't become a cyclist, she would have studied Linguistics and Asian Languages.

Longo Borghini is just one of a generation of young Italian riders who are looking very promising - and by the time we get to the Rio Olympics in 2016, the should be just as strong. Their under 23s have 2 Junior World Champions in Elenora Patuzzo and Rossella Callovi, and with Valentina Scandolara, Susanna Zorzi and Rossella Ratto, it's feels like we'll be talking them up even more in four years time!

To find out more about the Olympic races see my article on the rules - and my pieces on the potential riders in the Australian, USA and British teams. For more information on the riders featured here:

Giorgia Bronzini's biography on her website and her profile on Diadora-Pasta Zara's site
Noemi Cantele's biography and A-Z on her website and her profile on BePink - and interviews by Jen See with her for the Café from April and October 2010
Tatiana Guderzo and Monia Baccaille's profiles on the MCipollini-Giambenini site
Alessandra d'Ettorre on Diadora-Pasta Zara
Elisa Longo-Borghini on Hitec Products-Mistral Homes

Next up - the hardest task in women's cycling - deciding the Dutch team!

Giro d'Italia Stage 11 Preview: Flat with a surprise ending

2012-05-15T16:13:31Z

Che bello, this Giro! I'm still feeling swoony after today's finish in Assisi. Oh Italia, I die for your walled cities! The bike race wasn't especially suspenseful, though that was a nice piece of riding from Slagter. Too bad he only succeeded in leading out Joaquín Rodríguez, right? Oopsy. Rodríguez now leads the overall followed by Hesjedal and Tiralongo.

Tomorrow, the Giro continues its northward journey. We all know what happens in the north. Mountains! Yes, the Giro is racing inexorably toward the mountains, where the real Giro begins. Those stages will decide the race. But first, we must allow the sprinters more time to play.

Wednesday's stage 11 runs from Assisi to Montecatini Terme. At first glance it looks flat, as inevitably a day for Cavendish as Tuesday's stage was for Rodríguez. Not so fast. The stage includes two categorized climbs. The first, the Poggio alla Croce, summits after 154 kilometers of racing. I hear you muttering over there. But Gaaavvvv, why should we care about a category 3 climb midway through the stage? Well, maybe you shouldn't.

But you should care about the launchpad of a climb that comes inside the final 15 kilometers of racing. This is a classic Giro pattern: the stage that looks flat, but includes a nasty suprise close to the finish. The climb in Vico runs 3 kilometers and summits with 12 kilometers left to race.

Will it ruin the chances of the sprinters? Really, it's hard to say. Certainly, it adds an element of uncertainty to the proceedings. A feisty rider from the early breakaway could use this climb to escape for a stage victory. A team riding hard could dislodge a sprinter like Mark Cavendish. This kind of stage is what the Giro does best. Unpredictable, just the way I like it.

Here is your current general classification.