Giro and ProTour

As the final week of the Giro begins it shows an advantage as well as a disadvantage of the ProTour. It is also not what most people expected in the race as well. For months the main topic was the showdown between Basso and Cunego who are two of the riders that are supposed to be top stars for the next few years. The day that this months CycleSport arrived with Cunego on the cover he faltered in the mountains. Then this weekend Basso got sick and dropped out of any hope of a top 10. So instead of two future stars battling it out we have 2 experienced veterans with Simoni and Savoldelli that have each won the Giro before. Also both coming off a disappointing 2003, and for Savoldelli a poor 2002 as well.

One of the other major figures in this years Giro is Di Luca and shows a big advantage to the ProTour by wearing the leader jersey of the ProTour while being a major factor in the Giro giving the new competition a little legitimacy. Di Luca one thought to be a future contender in the Grand Tours, but the past few years looked more suited to the one-day races and shorter stage races. This year is clearly the big break through for him with wins in major classics and now looking to be on the podium in a Grand Tour.

On the other hand this weekend showed one of the big faults of the ProTour. It is often the smaller teams that really animate any stage race with lots of attacks to make something happen and give attention to their team. The ProTour severely limits the number of smaller teams any ProTour race can invite. This weekend the best team was the Selle Italia-Columbia team with 2 wins for Ivan Parra and Rujano all but clinching the King of the Mountain prize. Sella Italia is one of the two non-ProTour teams in the Giro this year. The Selle Italia team animated these two exciting stages, and showed the importance of the “lesser” teams.

Comments

[VinoVelo]

Great analysis and although I wholeheartedly agree that DiLuca is the saving grace for the new blood, it's hard to deny that the standard of teams competing and the standard of racing overall has far surpassed any Giro of recent times.

Considering the winner of each Giro since 2000 is (or was) taking part in this year's race, this year's winner, in my opinion, will be a far more deserving winner given the competition that he will have overcome.

[sean]

I think the pro tour is great because in the future we wont have sh#$bags like Zabriskie who steal stage wins from their teammates(leaders).. Ivan Basso (in the first ITT). He didnt even wear the Stars/Stripes for being the national TT champion. The bottom line is that he shouldnt finish in 150th for the first week and then wait for the right time to win a stage. Thats just plain wrong. Nobody else takes that approach. He needs to learn how to be a professional instead of being an embarrasment to US Cycling as an outsider in the European Culture (Peleton). Maybe He should learn how to climb so he can do his job as a domestique for Basso. Basso should have won 3 stages in this tour if it wasnt for his traitor teammate.

[Sean]

For everyone wondering why US Postal Service (Discovery Channel) let him go without a counter contract offer is because he has a shitty attitude. That kind of stuff doesnt bother Bjarn Riis though because he wants Anglo riders on his team. I wouldnt ride for CSC. Plus Zabriskie was rude when Ligget interviewed him, thats just an extra slap in the face. He is an embarrasment. Ligget might not be the best person but he is still a professional and Zabriskie should be also.