Two Wheel Blogs

Boys it's Basso all the way. Think there is any possible way CSC will let *and* odd food or drink come near their boy this week? Shake hands? No I don't think so. Our boy's in a coccoon. He's untouchable. Sing it, MC.

He's also untouchable on the bike right now. Everyone else along for this little ride in Italy is another minute and a half back tonight courtesy of Mr. Basso and the CSC boys and their uphill tempo tactics.

Watch out France, Basso's gonna put you in a world of hurt if he can possibly retain this level of conditioning.

Bets on that? Tough call. Jan's the one to watch. Or maybe Vino. Vino's taking a page out of Lance's book, training exclusively for Le Tour and not giving the world much to see of him before the July coming out party. Jan's obviously on a tear. Ivan's going to have a tough time of it keeping the edge he obviously has now through the end of July.

Let's hope it doesn't all get spoilt by something lame like a freak accident that takes one of them out.

Check it out. The Italians have been hard at work laying down fresh asphalt for the pros. They'll ride this freshly strip the day after tomorrow. How sweet can it get?

I wanna ride it! Maybe they'll open it up to cyclists to have a go at those rip your legs right off 24% grades.

Road Work: An update on the road to the Plan de Corones

Phonak puts two riders in a break of eleven and they come in 9th and 10th. Yo, way to gut it out for your team sponsor there guys.

Laverde snags cagey win
Winning out of large breaks always require canny tactics and a little bit of luck.

Schumacher was the best sprinter in the group, but Phonak had two riders and everyone started nervously watching each other as the bunch hit the 10km to go sign.

from Velonews

Maybe all the press about how silly you look finishing so poorly will be your saving grace. After all, who's even going to remember Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, or even the guy wearing their name (Luis Felipe Laverde, for the record) when the really interesting dish is how two guys from the Phonak squad totally screwed the pooch?

is a good offense. Ivan's getting on the offense to get ahead of the bad press he's sure to get when he wins the Giro. Well he's won it already but let's wait until it official ok? So anyway just like with that other guy who won Le Tour so many times it got boring Basso's going to get hammered by the press. They're going to weave every little story into a web of deceipt. They just can't let a guy be a clean winner.

Don't believe me? Just wait and see. Anyway here's the little story from Cycling News where Basso's going on the offense. He just knows they're going to use this to call him guilty by association.

Jan, buddy! You rock dude!

Jan Ulrich averaged an amazing 51kph yesterday in the TT at the Giro d'Italia. That's friggin' fast. He blew away the field by almost 30 seconds. That includes Basso. The big man is back. Watch out for Jan in the TdF. Der Kaiser hasn't satisfied his appetite for the podium yet. The Tour's only about 6 weeks away and Jan's just about ready.