HTFU Edition.

It was a rough day here at the Gossip World Headquarters. All we wanted was a cup of coffee and an internet connection and THEY WOULDN'T GIVE IT TO US!

Ahem.

This Gossip business, not for the faint of heart. But we have persevered and scoured the interwebs to bring you all the Gossip that really matters, and probably a whole bunch that doesn't. It's not like we're solving world hunger or anything.

En avant, mes amis. That's French. It means, move along now, nothing to see here. (Roughly.)

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Off-Season Slack Edition.

Here at the Gossip World Headquarters, we've been enjoying the off-season. We've been tidying up the joint. We even found the purple marker that we thought was lost forever. We've been sleeping in, ignoring the siren call of the European time zone where all the good Gossip goes down.

But we have not forgotten our responsibilities entirely. Though the news oozes slowly through the wires, we have collected a selection for your enlightenment. We would not want our dear readers to go unenlightened.

Read on, for all the news you didn't know you needed.

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Election Edition.

One state, two state, red state, blue state.

Here at the Gossip World Headquarters we have our eyes glued to the election returns. We especially like the maps, being of the graphically inclined. History Is Being Made! Or, so they tell us.

Despite all the drama, we have not lost sight of our responsibilities. No sirree. We are staying true to our vital mission as purveyors of Gossip, both fine and otherwise.

Read on, my friends, for your (kinda sorta) weekly fix.

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UnZipped Edition.

Here at the Gossip World Headquarters, we have two unbending rules. Always wear black bibs. Always keep the jersey zipped. The billowing unzipped jersey, so untidy, so uncouth. What a strange article of clothing bib shorts are. Much better to keep them covered.

But all rules are meant to be broken, aren't they? No, we have not taken to wearing white bibs. The horror! But the jersey zipper, it has crept all the way down, down to the bottom, the ends set loose to flap along in the breeze.

California in the Fall is a strange planet. A visitor might be excused for failing to notice any season at all. For a few days, the onshores blow, the fog rolls in. We reach for our flannels, brew up a pot of coffee, dig out our base layers and full-fingered gloves. But always the desert has her say. And before too long, the fog melts away, the sea breeze evaporates, the sun beats down on the blanched and browning hills. There's fire in the air, and the desert reaches out, greedy and grasping, all the way to the sea. To ride up into the hills is to descend deep into the belly of a hair dryer. Unzip! Yield to temptation, and feel the desert's hot breath caress your skin.

Forgive us, for we have sinned.

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For the Giro watchers...

The Italian newspaper La Stampa published today a graphic and stage list for the possible course for next year's Giro d'Italia. The stage list remains unconfirmed, and the official presentation for the Giro is still to come.

Here is the stage list compiled by La Stampa:
1° TAPPA LIDO DI VENEZIA (cronosquadre)
2° TAPPA JESOLO - TRIESTE
3° TAPPA GRADO - CONEGLIANO
4° TAPPA PADOVA - SAN MARTINO DI CASTROZZA
5° TAPPA SAN MARTINO DI CASTROZZA - ALPE DI SIUSI
6° TAPPA CASTELROTTO - MAYRHOFEN (Austria)
7° TAPPA INNBRUCK (Austria) - CHIAVENNA
8° TAPPA MORBEGNO - COMO
9° TAPPA MILANO - TORINO
10° TAPPA CUNEO - SESTRIERE
11° TAPPA PINEROLO - GENOVA
12° TAPPA SESTRI LEVANTE - LERICI (crono)
13° TAPPA LIDO DI CAMAIORE - FIRENZE
14° TAPPA CAMPI BISENZIO - BOLOGNA/SAN LUCA
15° TAPPA BOLOGNA - RIMINI
16° TAPPA PERGOLA - MONTE PETRANO
17° TAPPA CHIETI - BLOCK HAUS
18° TAPPA SULMONA - BENEVENTO
19° TAPPA AVELLINO - NAPOLI/VESUVIO
20° TAPPA NAPOLI - ANAGNI
21° TAPPA ROMA (cronometro)

Note the inclusion of the Block Haus. And six uphill finishes.

More details about the possible course and in particular, the climbs, can be found here in Giro Rumors, Part 1.

What... ?

What are you looking at?

There's really nothing to see here. You do need to move along, now. Hup, hup, move along.

What are you staring at? It's a blank screen. Look. All blank. Nothing going on.

Oh... you say you're looking for Gossip? Really? Surely, you know how to find that by now. Do we have to explain everything to you?

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Because more is better!

Here at the Gossip World Headquarter, we love rumors. And we love the Giro d'Italia. Rumors and the Giro d'Italia? Well, really, nothing could be better than that. Except for world peace and Pinarellos and Cervélos falling from the sky. But we are digressing. Below is a collection of unconfirmed, overlapping, and at times completely contradictory rumors about next year's Giro d'Italia. Proceed at your own risk.

If your Italian geography is as poor as mine, you will want to have a Map of Italy handy. More detailed maps are included with the rumorage below the fold, natch.

First, a quick overview. According to available rumorage, the Giro begins in Venezia and ends in Roma. The likely path, again based on rumor, is counter-clockwise. In this case, the race moves from Venezia to Friuli, includes a short jaunt into Austria, celebrates its first mountain-top finish in Alto Aldige, visits Sondrio near the Swiss border, then proceeds to Piedmont.

After the Piedmont stages, the Corsa Rosa turns south, and things become considerably more confused. A crono is likely in Liguria. Toscana almost certainly will receive a stage, which will again be the "tappa Bartali." The race includes the eastern coast with a stage in Pesaro. It dips down south for three stages in Campania and Napoli. A climbing stage in Abruzzo is rumored. There is extensive debate about the final stage in Roma. Will it be a road stage or a crono? No one seems to know for sure.

Want to play along? More details below the fold.

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Catching up with the Dopers
A Special Report from the Gossip World Headquarters

Right on schedule, the French and UCI anti-doping authorities delivered the first three CERA positives from this year's Tour de France. Double-triple special tested with all the latest and greatest sciencey bits. Leonardo Piepoli (expected), Stefan Schumacher (mostly expected), and Riccardo Riccò (redundant) are the leading trio in the latest doping scandal to hit cycling. Predictions call for seven more by the end of this week. At this point, we have little reason to doubt the accuracy of these predictions. Watch out for that tsunami. Objects in this mirror may be closer than they appear.

Wednesday Update. There are a few updates in today's press worth noting. Rather than starting a whole 'nother thready on this topic, I'll drop an update here.

• Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the authorities will announce one more positive today or tomorrow. The positive rider is of the top level, but not a major star. Whatever that means. Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France director, says today that he expects one to two more positives, not more, and together with the UCI he criticizes the press for speculating. Bad press, very bad press. We feel suitably chastised. No, really.

• Pierre Bordry tells us two new tidbits today. First, the labs are working on samples from 3, 4, and 15 July. The testing is not yet complete.

Second, according to Bordry, 30 riders have anamolous blood levels that could indicate blood doping. This news repeats Bordry's original announcement about the re-testing - that the blood tests from about 30 riders raised suspicions and would be re-tested. This number grew in the telling to 40, and shifted wildly between being the re-test pool and the positive pool. It's clear from a careful read of Bordry's own statements, though, that the 30 riders are under scrutiny for abnormal levels. The labs have now tracked down the cause of three of those anamolies: CERA. "Soon, we will have the ability to prove autologus blood doping [doping with one's own blood], and we will re-test the samples," Bordry told German television channel ZDF. In the same interview, Bordry reiterated that there are currently 30 riders under scrutiny for abnormal blood parameters, though he declined to identify them "until later." He also noted that one of the riders who showed abnormal levels in the testing in Brest where the Tour began, one reverted to normal levels in subsequent testing. Bordry commented that they were surprised by how much this rider's levels changed during the race and how poorly he performed.

• Riccò is now confirmed positive for CERA on four occasions. Apparently more is better.

• The samples from the Olympics in Beijing for all sports will be re-tested for CERA.

• The Luxembourg ADA is continuing their investigation into the relationship between Fränk Schleck and Dr. Fuentes. Though not strictly related to the Tour positives, we can keep the story going here, since so far, there isn't much story out there. In a hearing held last week, Schleck admitted to paying Fuentes, but claimed never to have doped. The ADA, acting on information from the German authorities, are examining whether sufficient evidence exists to confirm a doping violation from Schleck. The Germans have suggested that there is. The Luxembourg ADA will reconvene and deliberate the case, once their investigation is complete. It remains unclear at this point, if the Luxembourg ADA is simply doing due diligence in the case or if real evidence confirming Schleck's use of Fuentes's services exists. We await more information.

End, Update. Read the original post below the fold.

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Extendo-Dance Mix Edition.

What a lovely vacation we had, but all good things must come to an end. So here we are, another day, another Gossip Page. Gather round, my friends, and join in the feast. There's plenty to go around. We even brought a nice Barolo. For what better way to celebrate a new Italian World Champion? Sadly, the Gossip Headquarters budget could not extend to a Brunello. We'll strive mightily to survive this small set-back.

Basta, with this whining, you say, give us the Gossip!

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Short-and-Sweet Edition.

The Gossip World Headquarters will be closed from Thursday, 25 September until Sunday, 28 September. Please make a note of it. We regret any inconvenience. Yes, the computers will be turned off, the Gossip temporarily on hold, while the many employees here at the Headquarters take a little time off to well, goof off. Because that's what we do best. But we could not possibly leave without a brief Gossipy update. That would be far, far too cruel.

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