Il Grillo gives it some stick in 06. Photo: actionplus sports images[/caption]
Lombardia is a beautiful race. Taking in the majestic shoreline of Lake Como and climbing past the shrine to the Madonna del Ghisallo, its stunning Italian-ness bookends the Monuments along with Milan-San Remo which started them way back in March. And it’s a coming out party, a debutantes ball for the newly crowned World Champion.
Not since Paolo Bettini in 2006 has the rainbow jersey won here, but even if the bands don’t always take the win they are usually well represented at the business end of the race. Cuddles tried out his new found attacking style in 2009 by setting up Gilbert for the first of his two wins, and now the Belgian has the perfect opportunity to show off his new kit and add a third. The betting might not be on if Gilbert wins, but how, and whether he chooses to don black shorts or goes for the full Cipo-style whiteout. Let’s hope common sense and good taste prevail, especially after Cav did such a stellar job of Looking Fantastic over the last twelve months.
The VSP overall race is also at a critical point, and could be decided this weekend. San Tonio has a nice little 13 point buffer and probably only needs to pick up minimum points, while the chasing pack may need to think outside the square and hope a roughie can deliver a la Zaugg last year. You could throw a blanket over 2nd, 3rd and 4th, so close are they to each other, with Gianni not far back tasked with upholding the Keepers’ honor and hoping for a late surge into the top 5 or even the podium.
Check out the start list, take some chances or play it safe, keep an eye on the timer and get your picks in for a chance to wear the Lombardia badge for the next year. Good Luck!
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View Comments
Gilbert has crashed out....
@Deakus
dang, I knew he wasn't in the lead chase group, hoping that he had just been dropped and would latch back on. Bummer!
@Buck Rogers A race motorbike has also crashed out on the descent. I am not watching it but getting live updates here if you are interested..http://live.cyclingnews.com/
@Deakus
Ha! That's where I am following it as well!
@Deakus
Actually pretty crappy coverge if you ask me. As much as I am not a huge velonews.com fan, their tdf live ticker was really great. Wish that they were running coverage today.
@Buck Rogers Seems to be updating very rarely...I get the feeling Daniel Benson is spending more time watching it than letting us know what is going on!
Oh man, sooooooo hoping Di Luca doesn't win it! Shades of Veino.
@Deakus
Exactly! Cannot wait until I have home computer access again. I have been running off limited 3G ipad access since the end of May. Soon, soon.
Damn! Looks like Nibbles might be left behind. Two of my five VSPers gone on crashes!
Sounds like they are all falling off on greasy roads...Nibbles fell so did Tiralong0, de Weert and Mollema