Challengers attacked Giro d'Italia leader Alberto Contador through the mountains on Saturday. But at the end of the day the Spanish rider for Astana retained his 4-second lead in the three-week race that ends Sunday.
Italian rival Riccardo Riccò and Contador matched each other over the Passo Gavia, Passo del Mortirolo and the Aprica. Neither one gave up a second to the other, although Ricco sprinted in to finish just ahead of Contador.
The lead group attacked each other on the second climb of the day, the Mortirolo, with its average 7.9% gradient. But amazing climber Emanuele Sella attacked at the beginning of the smaller third climb, the Aprica, no one could match him ... more»
Alberto Contador held onto the slimmest of leads -- by just 4 seconds -- as the Giro d'Italia routed the peloton over three major climbs on Friday, including a mountaintop finish.
The winner of last year's Tour de France faded as challengers attacked on the final climb, and at one point he had lost his overall lead "on the road." But Contador had one last push left for Monte Pora and it gave him the margin he needed to survive.
As the peloton heads over Mortirolo and the legendary Gavia for Saturday's penultimate stage, Ricardo Ricco (Saunier Duval) sits just 4 seconds behind and defending champion Danilo Di Luca sits in third place, 21 seconds behind ... more»
Cycling veteran Jens Voigt, left, beat Paolo Bettini (and the rest of the peloton) at his own game on Thursday at the Giro d'Italia on a course that will be used for the 2009 World Championships.
Current world champion Bettini attacked early in the race and drove about a dozen riders in a breakaway on the 91-mile Stage 18 from Mendrisio to Varese.
But it was Team CSC's Voigt, 36, who made a solo attack from the breakaway with about 24 miles left. His move tore apart the group, as different bunches in 3's and 4's tried to catch up. Among those unsuccessful chasers, Bettini. ... more»
The sudden controversy concerning UK's Mark Cavendish, left, at the Giro d'Italia doesn't involve tainted urine samples or blood doping allegations.
The issue is whether or not Cavendish let High Road teammate and lead-out man Andre Greipel win the Stage 17 sprint to the finish line in Locarno on Wednesday.
Cavendish has two stage wins of his won at the Giro, and observers noted that he sat on Greipel's wheel through the sprint and never accelerated to win the stage. It would have been his third stage win at the Giro; no Briton has ever won three stages of a major cycling race, laments the Guardian newspaper ... more»
Italy's Enrico Pellizotti won the ever-climbing 7.9-mile time trial on Monday, but couldn't dislodge Astana's Alberto Contador from the overall lead.
The Spanish cyclist, who just attained the leader's pink jersey after Sunday's stage, finished Stage 16 in 4th place but widened the margin over his nearest rival -- Riccardo Riccò -- to 41 seconds.
After Tuesday's rest stage, the peloton swings into Switzerland for part of a 90-mile 17th stage from Sondrio to Locarno that has only one climb. Cyclists with a design on a championship will have to look ahead to the mountain stages on Friday or Saturday or Sunday's final stage -- a time trial around Milan... more»
Surpassing Saturday's winning effort, Emanuele Sella drove a breakaway for all of Stage 15 and survived the six major climbs to cross the finish line with a two-minute gap at Passo Fedaia.
Spain's Alberto Contador, left, fought his own battle among the GC contenders, eventually grabbing a half-minute lead over his nearest rivals for the pink jersey. Five riders sit a minute or less behind Contador, however.
Monday's individual time trial may be the stage that solidifies the lead for an overall champion for the Giro d'Italia, which ends next Sunday. The 7.9-mile race against the clock climbs right to the summit of Plan de Corones, at times taking a 16%, 20% and even 24% gradient to the top ... more»
Italy's Emanuele Sella won the mountainous Stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia by more than 4 minutes with a solo breakaway some 30 miles from the mountaintop finish in Alpe di Pampeago.
The high mountain passes on Saturday also served to shake up the overall lead, with Gabriele Bosisio taking the pink jersey, leading Astana's Alberto Contador by just 5 seconds.
On Sunday the real fun begins, though, as Stage 15 features six climbs over 94 miles, including the mountaintop finish at Passo Fedaia. Expect more changes in the overall standings ... more»
Mark Cavendish scored his second win at the 2008 Giro d'Italia of Friday with a commanding two-bike length sprint finish at the walled city of Cittadella.
The 23-year-old passed 3-stage winner Daniele Bennati in the sprint. Teammates on High Road, which is now a US-based team, led out the peloton in the final kilometers.
Although the overall leaders remained unchanged, with Italy's Giovanni Visconti in No. 1, Saturday's stage from Verona to a mountaintop finish at Alpe di Pampeago might shake things up ... more»
Italy's Daniele Bennati scored a Giro d'Italia hat trick on Thursday with this third win in 12 stages, with 9 stages remaining in the three-week tour.
The 27-year-old sprinter for Liquigas beat Team High Road's Mark Cavendish in a photo finish, both slightly ahead of Australia's Robbie McEwen of Silence-Lotto.
Bennati's dominance this year is amazing, considering that he's in his 7th year as a pro and he had never before won at the Giro... more»
With a little help from his QuickStep team, Giovanni Visconti, left, held onto the pink leader's jersey for another day at the 2008 Giro d'Italia on Wednesday in spite of being dropped twice and crashing once.
But it was Alessandro Bertolini who stole the show, winning the 123-mile mountainous Stage 11 from Urbania to Cesena in a sprint he won after a one of his breakaway companions crashed in the final kilometer.
It marked the first Giro d'Italia win ever for the 36-year-old on the team Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni. Bertolini and another rider attaked earlier in the race and were caught by three other cyclists who all battled for a stage win... more»
Although Giovanni Visconti held onto the overall lead of the Giro d'Italia after Tuesday's individual time trial, you could see the favorites climbing in the standings.
Despite a fractured elbow suffered on Saturday, Alberto Contador finished 2nd overall for the day, climbing from 8th into 4th place, 6:59 behind the leader. Astana's Andreas Kloden and Levi Leipheimer also made big gains, as the German rose from 15th to 6th overall and the US's Leipheimer rose from 22nd to 14th.
More changes are expected in the leader board on Wednesday, after a 123-mile mountainous stage between Urbania and Cesena. There are four mountain passes, including Monte Carpegna which features a 14% section and the short, but not so sweet Sorrivoli... more»
As the Giro d'Italia begins its second week, the Italians remain very much in control of the race in spite of its international cast.
On Saturday's Stage 8, Riccardo Riccò of Saunier Duval won again (also Stage 2) in a bunch sprint in Tivoli, and Quick Step's Giovanni Visconti, left, held on for another day as winner of the overall leader's pink jersey.
Except for Slipstream-Chipotle's initial team time trial win on Stage 1 that put Christian Vande Velde in the lead, Italians Visconti and Franco Pellizoti have held the maglia rosa for 7 of 8 stages ... more»
For the second day in a row on Thursday, the breakaway arrived first at the finish line at the Giro d'Italia and seriously shook up the overall lead.
The 11-man bunch shattered the standings after this 143-mile stage, dropping the previous leaders by 9 minutes or more down the general classification.
Italy's Matteo Priamo of CSF Group Navigare won the stage in Peschici. Another member of the breakaway, Italian cyclist Giovanni Visconti of Quick Step took the overall lead. ... more»
A perfectly executed breakaway with four other cyclists put Slipstream's David Millar, left, in the perfect position for a Stage 5 win on Wednesday at the Giro d'Italia.
But with about a kilometer to go on a 9% climb to the finish at Contursi Terme, the Scotsman's chain broke as he strained to keep up with eventual winner Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff). Millar threw his bike over the barrier in disgust and waited for a replacement to finish the race.
The rest of the peloton finished about 30 seconds later, leaving Italian Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas in the overall lead, with Slipstream's Christian Vande Velde 1 second behind. ... more»
Team High Road's Mark Cavendish missed a final kilometer crash to win Stage 4 at the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday.
The UK sprinter passed Monday's winner, Daniele Bennati (Liquigas), in the sprint to the finish. Milram tried to deliver Erik Zabel, but the German sprinter couldn't accelerate to win.
Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) remains in first place overall, with a one-second lead over American cyclist Christian Vande Velde of Slipstream Chipotle... more»
So I mentioned to my teen-age son this weekend that the Giro d'Italia was underway and an American was in the pink jersey for the first time in 20 years.
We agreed that was cool, but then I predicted than an Italian would probably win the race, because the Italians are crazy about the Giro and their cyclists put out their best efforts for the race..
Always searching for logic, he asked that if the Italians always win the Giro, then "Why don't the French ever win the Tour de France?" (Bernard Hinault was the last Frenchman to win the Tour -- in 1985.)
Without taking a pot shot at the French natural culture, I didn't have any good answers for him. Does anyone? Please leave a comment ... more»
Just when things were beginning to look really good for Slipstream-Chipotle at the Giro d'Italia, David Zabriskie crashed on Sunday when his bicycle tangled with Alberto Contador's and he was rushed away by ambulance.
An update by Slipstream's directeur sportif Jonathan Vaughters reported that the cyclist from Salt Lake City injured his back in the crash but was able to move his legs. They'll know more when the X-rays come back.
The accident happened along some railroad tracks about 40 miles from the finish, according to CyclingNews. Slipstream, who was defending the pink leader's jersey worn by Christian Vande Velde, and Contador's Astana team were at the head of the peloton chasing down an early breakaway. Contador was able to stay in the race. ... more»
The US-based Slipstream-Chipotle put Christian Vande Velde in the lead of the 2008 Giro d'Italia on Saturday by winning the opening team time trial.
It marks the first time in 20 years that an American has worn the leader's pink jersey at the Giro.
The Slipstream squad gained the lead after finishing the 14.6-mile course around Palermo on the island of Sicily in 26:32. Of the teams that followed, High Road and Team CSC each finished 6 seconds off the pace.
Slipstream members David Zabriskie (US) and David Millar (UK) set a torrid pace for the team ... more»
Once again, you'll be able to bring live action from the 2008 Giro d'Italia right to your home or office computer with video streaming or text updates.
The Versus cable network is offering a live video feed from the bike race across Italy via Cycling.tv. The $29.99 offer includes the live feed and daily highlights, as well as this year's Milan-San Remo and Tirreno Adriatico. Sign up at the Versus-Cycling.tv Giro package site.
The one catch is that the offer doesn't include any Sunday stages, as they will be televised by Versus on cable during Cyclysm Sundays. Dates and times for Giro coverage on Cyclysm Sundays: 4 p.m. May 11, May 18 and May 25 and 3 p.m. on June 1 (all times are ET.... more»
In spite of an early prohibition, Giro d'Italia organizers are allowing the Astana pro cycling team into the three-week race that begins Saturday in Palermo.
That means US cyclist Levi Leipheimer will race in the Italian classic, along with teammate Alberto Contador, who won the Tour de France last year. (No word on whether the Tour de France chiefs may change their position on Astana.)
Only three of the 22 teams are sending US cyclists to the Giro this year; most of the US riders are members of the Slipstream team. In addition to Leipheimer, other US competitors are Jason McCartney of Team CSC and Jonathan Patrick McCarty, Danny Pate, Christian VandeVelde and David Zabriskie, all of Slipstream... more»
Challengers attacked Giro d'Italia leader Alberto Contador through the mountains on Saturday. But at the end of the day the Spanish rider for Astana retained his 4-second lead in the three-week race that ends Sunday.
Alberto Contador held onto the slimmest of leads -- by just 4 seconds -- as the Giro d'Italia routed the peloton over three major climbs on Friday, including a mountaintop finish.
Cycling veteran Jens Voigt, left, beat Paolo Bettini (and the rest of the peloton) at his own game on Thursday at the Giro d'Italia on a course that will be used for the 2009 World Championships.
The sudden controversy concerning UK's Mark Cavendish, left, at the Giro d'Italia doesn't involve tainted urine samples or blood doping allegations.
Italy's Emanuele Sella won the mountainous Stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia by more than 4 minutes with a solo breakaway some 30 miles from the mountaintop finish in Alpe di Pampeago.
Italy's Daniele Bennati scored a Giro d'Italia hat trick on Thursday with this third win in 12 stages, with 9 stages remaining in the three-week tour.
With a little help from his QuickStep team, Giovanni Visconti, left, held onto the pink leader's jersey for another day at the 2008 Giro d'Italia on Wednesday in spite of being dropped twice and crashing once.
Although Giovanni Visconti held onto the overall lead of the Giro d'Italia after Tuesday's individual time trial, you could see the favorites climbing in the standings.
For the second day in a row on Thursday, the breakaway arrived first at the finish line at the Giro d'Italia and seriously shook up the overall lead.
A perfectly executed breakaway with four other cyclists put Slipstream's David Millar, left, in the perfect position for a Stage 5 win on Wednesday at the Giro d'Italia.
