Stage 6: McEwen, Petacchi, and Bettini (again)

Has anyone mentioned that it really sucks to be Alessandro Petacchi right now? What were the odds that he’d be winless after a week of cycling? What were the odds he’d be 7th in points, trailing McEwen by 43. Every single day there has been something to derail him. In stage 6 his whole team crashed 3 km from the finish. One moment he’s being escorted by his team to the stage win, the next moment he’s on the pavement. Instead of finishing 1st, he gets 118th. Doh!

The big winner of the day is McEwen, who collects his second stage win and now has a firm grip on the points competition. Just look at the standings

1 MCEWEN Robbie AUS DVL 77
2 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 71
3 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LIQ 69
4 CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM 42
5 MAZZANTI Luca ITA PAN 40
6 CELESTINO Mirko ITA DOM 34
7 PETACCHI Alessandro ITA FAS 34
8 GALVEZ LOPEZ Isaac ESP IBA 34
9 GARZELLI Stefano ITA LIQ 30

The showdown between Petacchi & McEwen is a joke. And take a look at Bettini. It’s like the whole week has been a Paolo Bettini highlight film. Today he scooped up a 6 second time bonus at the intergiro, and that vaulted him over Danilo DiLuca by 3 seconds. Bettini wears pink again.

Stage 5: DiLuca Takes the Lead

The first day we actually had some climbs, and Bettini was still dictating all of the action. He lead a chase group for most of the day, surrounded by a collection of nobodies. The leader, Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Saunier Duval), is not exactly a star either. Bettini gamely held on until about 15 km from the finish.

How did he get reeled in? Let's give credit to Liquigas, which absolutely dominated the peleton. They dictated the pace, they caught the leaders, and they set up their man for the stage win. In the last 10 km, they ceded control of the peleton to FDJ and T-Mobile, probably because the team was just spent after spending the whole day at the front.

But they surged in the final 2 km, so it was probably just brilliant tactics. Let some other teams do some damn work for awhile while we get re-organized. DiLuca outsprinted Bruseghin (Fassa) while Bettini came in with the pack. Due to the time bonus, DiLuca ends up in pink.

And let's face it, that's notright. Bettini has been all over the palce in the first week. The story of the giro so far is Paolo Bettini and no one else, yet he's somehow losing by two seconds to DiLuca, who hasn't even attacked once. Give credit to his team on this one, and it's not like he's cheated his way to the top of the standings, but Bettini has earned the pink jersey. It feels right to think of him as the race leader right now.

The Giro can be so cruel.

Stage 4: Bettini Gets In Trouble

Well, we have the first real controversy of this race. Bettini had another brilliant final kilometer, setting himself up for a final sprint, minus all of the big sprinters. Jason predicted the first few stages would be a battle between the sprinters, and that wasn't exactly an off-the-wall prediction. But it hasn't played out that way. Every stage has finished on a minor incline, and Bettini has taken that advantage to blow the sprinters off the front of the peleton.

Today was just like every other stage in that respect. A seemingly minor crash split the field, and there was Bettini, driving the lead group. A series of hill solidified that lead group, and there was another sprint finish without the big guns, save Baden Cooke. Cooke had to be a favorite in that sprint, but Bettini drifted a bit and forced Cooke into the wall. Bettini crossed the line first, but the judges penalized him and dropped him to fourth.

Now, the problem for us is that we have to rely on race radio and velonews coverage, as OLN did not broadcast the race today. Which is a gigantic pain in the ass, and neither of us can say conclusively if Bettini's sprinting tactics were illegal. Cooke certainly seemed to think so, refusing even to speak to Bettini at the end of the stage. Bettini thought it was a fair move obviously, even threatening to withdraw from the Giro over this.

Personally, I have to go by track record in the absence of film. Bettini has a well-deserved reputation as a classy rider. Heck, he demonstrated that early in the day when he held up the peleton to reform itself after an early crash with about 120k to go. He's not a gigantic assmunch who tries to take every advantage. so I just don't believe he willingly cheated in the final sprint. Cooke won't want to hear it, but it was an accident.


From VeloNews

The judges were right to err on the side of caution and vacate his stage win. Hey, he keeps the pink jersey, so Bettini should chill out just a bit. Besides, the guy who is truly screwed is Cooke. He's there to win the points title, and he lost a chance to pick up 30 points or so on his main rivals. Instead, he got nothing and he stays 26 points back of McEwen, the top real threat to the sprint title assuming Bettini can't hold his current edge. So Bettini losing a stage win is small potatoes compared to cooke's very real loss. Lighten up, big guy. Everyone knows you actually won this stage.

Velonews is cool

Whoever posts the live commentary for velonews.com is doing a great job. Here is what they had to say about the drunken fools who crashed stage 3.


"By the way, today's edition of Gazzetta Dello Sport notes that the two wankers who ran through the peloton in the final hour were arrested and charged with assault. While the 41-year-old and 50-year-old men apologized for the disruption, they were nontheless charged. They looked wasted, folks."

Wankers. That seems about right. OLN probably wouldn't let Phil Liggett say wanker on air.

Stage 3

If you have Schadenfreude for Petacchi, you're enjoying the Giro. First, he has failed to win a stage so far. Then he accused Jaan Kirsipuu of making a corrupt bargain with Robbie McEwen so that McEwen could win stage 2. Ah, it's so amusing to watch a brat make an ass of himself. Stage 3 was no relief, as a climb a few km from the finish separated Petacchi (and the other big sprinters) from the lead. Oh, phooey!

OK, I admire a gutsy move like going on a solo breakaway, but what was Russel Van Hout thinking? He attacked after just 8 km. He managed to build a 17 minute lead, and he held the lead for 166 km. The only problem was that the stage was 200 km. Doh!

And drunken sots running into the road to attack the peloton...that ain't cool.

As for the race, Paolo Bettini proves how good he is again, as he stayed close enough to take the pink jersey again. Danilo Di Luca gets the stage win. When you are an Olympic champ and a World champ, you manage to do these sorts of things. Bettini isn't a Grand Tour rider. He's never going to be on the podium, but he's good enough to put himself in the right situation and smart enough to take advantage. And that's why he's the race leader. Again.

Cunego looked great in the sprint finish. He took a time bonus to pass Paolo Savoldelli and is now the leader of the main contenders. The few seconds here & there may help morale now, but it will not mean much once we hit mountains.

Stage Two: McEwen 2, Petacchi 0

Nothing makes me happier than Petacchi losing a sprint. But let's get to that in a second.

Flat stages are kind of a drag, and they usually follow a traditional a time-honored formula: early breakaway, followed by a chase group. At most, there's one rider you've heard of in those front groups. Then, the peleton slowly catches the breakaway as the riders at the front turn on one another. End with a sprint finish. Oh yeah, sprinkle in a crash or two.

Stage One matched this profile and Stage Two was no different. Here was the breakway group:
Moreno Di Biase (Selle Italia), Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner), Phillippe Schnyder (Selle Italia), Freddy Bichot (Francaise des Jeux), Roy Sentjens (Rabobank), and Bram Schmitz (T-Mobile). A real collection of stars, I know. I can't imagine how the peleton managed to reel them back in.

There was a particularly nasty crash. Alberto Lopez de Munain (Euskatel) clipped tires with a rider and went headfirst into the guardrail on the side of the road. Had he not been wearing a helmet, its quite likely he'd be dead right now, so it's actually good news he broke his collarbone and a few ribs. Much better than cracking open your skull.

So, the peleton caught the breakaway and we had our sprint finish. And this time, Paolo Bettini didn't ruin it for everybody, we got a legit sprint. Once again, Fassa did all of the work and made the lead out, and McEwen took advantage. Zabel also punctured, so he was a total non-factor in the final sprint. McEwen won the sprint over Isaac Galvez Lopez and Robert Forster, not exactly powerhouse sprinters. Petacchi finished fourth, just ahead of Cooke. So, not only is McEwen in pink, he has the sprint lead by 15 full points, which is huge this early.

Petacchi better find his form soon, or he'll have to drop out earlier than usual.

Stage One

Well, a fairly typical first stage. There was a breakaway early of some fairly anonymous riders. they held the lead most fo the day, only to have the peleton reel them back in and set up a final mad dash for the line for the sprinters.

Except that a sprinter didn't win. Fassa worked hard all day to get Petacchi a shot at the stage, and there wasn't a person watching who didn't think he would win the stage. Hell, the OLN crew pretty much conceded the stage to Petacchi from the outset. However, the final 100 meters weren't exactly flat. So Paolo Bettini attacked in the final km and nipped that whole sprinting thing in the bud. Thanks for the help Fassa.

Even better, McEwen won the sprint in much the same way he always has. Since his team sucks out loud, McEwen is free to simply stalk the biggest rival (Petacchi until he decides to drop out). Fassa does all of the work for its man, but McEwen reaps just as much benefit by sitting on Petacchi's wheel. In a straight sprint with no help, Petacchi is probably the best in the world, but McEwenhas the advantage of just sitting and reacting to all of his rival's moves.

Bettini's in pink right now, but that doesn't matter in the early stages. Though he is good enough to hold the lead for a long time. The real competition is for the sprints, and McEwen holds the early edge.