Yesterday's ITT to Saltara was a worrisome blip on the Giro radar for our defending champion. He dropped from third to sixth overall. Today's hilly stage 9 on the final climb up the Fiesole, he looked strained and lost 66 seconds to race leader Vincenzo Nibali. Unfortunately, he plunges to 11th by 3:11.
Hesjedal shared his post-stage thoughts with Neal Rogers of Velonews and attributed his problems to...
"TT butt."
"The day after a TT, your glutes and piriformis are just destroyed. It just kind of shuts down the lower part of your body. It's not the end of the world, I just had a bad moment. If it had happened on a 10km climb to the finish, my Giro would be over."
Jonathan Vaughters on Twitter...
"Well, on to plan B in the Giro, Rest on the rest day, then figure out how to liven up the race for the second half."
Hesjedal said, "I'm still less than two minutes off the podium. This is the Giro. It's been nine brutal days. I'm here to race and give it my best. I hope we're not forgetting who won the race last year. By no means is it an easy feat to pull that off again, but I'm here. I'm trying. I will try to rebound from today, and rely on the fact that I know I have my best performances in the latter part of a three-week race. There are still two weeks to race. There is plenty of opportunity to climb back."
A rest day is welcome to help heal a tired body. Early days still plus the weight of the nation is... behind him!
I discovered this interesting image off Twitter and it pretty much sums up the wintry racing of this Spring.
This is the fantastic image of stage 4, Tour of Romandie. It reminds me of the epic and iconic image of
Andy Hampsten climbing the Gavia in a blizzard. The skiers and the wall of snow put it in context.
As we get ready for the 96th Giro d'ltalia, there will be seven monster mountain top finishes. Here's a few that would scare any rider...
What's French will be Italian (for a day), Stage 15 (149km) will tackle the Col du Télégraphe finishing on top of the Col du Galibier. Is there snow? In the 1996 Tour, the Galibier stage was rerouted due to snow.
Stage 19 (139km): will include the famous Passo Gavia, Passo dello Stelvio (Cima Coppi) and the finish on top of the Val Martello. Is snow in the Spring forecast? You can't bet against it. Have a look at the Stelvio snow cam here and start shivering.
Stage 20 (203km): And if it wasn't hard enough, the riders will see if their legs are still with them on the Queen stage, the tough Passo Giau then the finish on the steep Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
If all can be said about this Paris-Roubaix is that it was a mixture of pain and pleasure. Follow Orica GreenEDGE as Backstage Pass honors plenty of pain with very little pleasure. Sebastian Langeveld finished seventh and best Orica rider, a good day for him but for many a terrible experience. Watching Yoann Offredo's nasty accident with a traffic sign made me shudder.
Enjoy the amazing images and sit back and enjoy an entertaining Backstage Pass!
Orica GreenEDGE Backstage Pass...
Good things will come soon!
Tyler Farrar
Juan Antonio Flecha's new
Bianchi Infinito CV...
Countervail vibration cancelling technology to reduce vibrations
while increasing frame rigidity. 27mm Tubs, FSA crankset 53/45 special for Flecha,
San Marco Regal saddle, 40mm medium profile carbon wheels, Campy SuperRecord mechanical groupset.
Taylor Phinney's new Giro kicks.
French revelation:
Damien Gaudin (5th place)
via Colnago official page
Paris-Roubaix 2013 Results
SUI 1 CANCELLARA, Fabian (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) 5:45:33
BEL 2 VANMARCKE, Sep (BLANCO PRO CYCLING)
NED 3 TERPSTRA, Niki (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 31
BEL 4 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING)
FRA 5 GAUDIN, Damien (EUROPCAR)
CZE 6 STYBAR, Zdenek (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 39
NED 7 LANGEVELD, Sebastian (ORICA GREENEDGE)
ESP 8 FLECHA GIANNONI, Juan Antonio (VACANSOLEIL-DCM)
NOR 9 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) + 50
FRA 10 TURGOT, Sébastien (EUROPCAR)
AUS 11 HAUSSLER, Heinrich (IAM CYCLING)
AUT 12 EISEL, Bernhard (SKY PROCYCLING)
BEL 13 WYNANTS, Maarten (BLANCO PRO CYCLING)
NED 14 BOOM, Lars (BLANCO PRO CYCLING)
DEN 15 BRESCHEL, Matti (SAXO-TINKOFF)
BEL 16 LEUKEMANS, Björn (VACANSOLEIL-DCM)
FRA 17 CHAINEL, Steve (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
NED 18 TJALLINGII, Maarten (BLANCO PRO CYCLING)
FRA 19 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP)
BEL 20 VANDENBERGH, Stijn (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP)
ITA 21 PAOLINI, Luca (KATUSHA) + 1:00
ITA 22 POZZATO, Filippo (LAMPRE-MERIDA) + 2:52
USA 23 PHINNEY, Taylor (BMC RACING) + 3:13
GER 24 SIEBERG, Marcel (LOTTO BELISOL)
NED 25 SINKELDAM, Ramon (ARGOS-SHIMANO)
FRA 26 LE BON, Johan (FDJ) + 3:17
FRA 27 MONDORY, Lloyd (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
GER 28 DEGENKOLB, John (ARGOS-SHIMANO) + 3:29
FRA 29 PETIT, Adrien (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS)
GER 30 WAGNER, Robert (BLANCO PRO CYCLING)
ITA 31 GUARNIERI, Jacopo (ASTANA PRO TEAM)
ITA 32 SABATINI, Fabio (CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING)
GER 33 KLUGE, Roger (NETAPP - ENDURA)
SUI 34 SCHÄR, Michael (BMC RACING)
NOR 35 HUSHOVD, Thor (BMC RACING)
NED 36 VEELERS, Tom (ARGOS-SHIMANO)
ESP 37 VENTOSO ALBERDI, Francisco José (MOVISTAR TEAM)
BEL 38 KEISSE, Iljo (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP)
ITA 39 BANDIERA, Marco (IAM CYCLING)
FRA 40 MALACARNE, Gael (BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT)
SUI 41 ELMIGER, Martin (IAM CYCLING)
FRA 42 HINAULT, Sébastien (IAM CYCLING)
BEL 43 ROELANDTS, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL)
BEL 44 DE BACKER, Bert (ARGOS-SHIMANO)
FRA 45 MINARD, Sébastien (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
BEL 46 KEUKELEIRE, Jens (ORICA GREENEDGE)
NOR 47 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY PROCYCLING)
GER 48 THURAU, Bjorn (EUROPCAR)
RUS 49 GUSEV, Vladimir (KATUSHA) + 3:32
BEL 50 VAN SUMMEREN, Johan (GARMIN SHARP)
GBR 51 STANNARD, Ian (SKY PROCYCLING)
AUS 52 HAYMAN, Mathew (SKY PROCYCLING)
NZL 53 ROULSTON, Hayden (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) + 6:07
BEL 54 DEVOLDER, Stijn (RADIOSHACK LEOPARD) + 6:11
BEL 55 STEEGMANS, Gert (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP)
POL 56 BODNAR, Maciej (CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING)
BEL 57 BOECKMANS, Kris (VACANSOLEIL-DCM)
USA 58 FARRAR, Tyler (GARMIN SHARP) + 8:37
ESP 59 ROJAS GIL, Jose Joaquin (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 10:27
GRE 60 TAMOURIDIS, Ioannis (EUSKALTEL EUSKADI)
This past Saturday evening our Frfuggitivi squad officially launched the start of the 2013 season; enjoying Belgian Beer Day, talking Paris-Roubaix, meeting new riders and having a good time at Spud Shack in New Westminster.
The discussion was mainly about our upcoming season, new routes and Sunday's Classic. In my opinion, one Belgian beer stood out... Tripel Karmeliet. A yeasty fruity Belgian that smacked with 8.4% goodness. The lovely hostess behind the bar mentioned with every purchase of this tasty malty beer a special glass is included. What an incentive!
Prost!
John asked me a Paris-Roubaix question that I had difficulty answering. No, I had not started to drink the Belgian bombshell beer, so I was clear of mind when he asked me, he goes...
'Peter Van Petegem and Johan Museeuw both wore the Domo jerseys to victory, who was the third rider, of the same team, to win Roubaix?'
I didn't know, even Guy couldn't answer the question. I'll let you our faithful reader ponder this, I won't reveal the answer yet... I'll give you a chance. Now, no looking it up online!
The Spudshack crew deserves our Thanks for their hospitality, great beers and tasty Kroketten/croquettes. I looked it up online afterwards and it's Belgian filled with shrimp - garnaalkroketten/croquettes aux crevettes. Our Frfuggitivi squad are planning a summit ride in the Northshore mountains and that means I better get in shape.
Before this happens, it's time for another beer... Prost!
