Long couple of days here... If any of these links seem a tad stale, pardon. But then, this is a good time to get your house in order for the Giro...
- All the action is in Romandie this week, which is a relief after several weeks of multiple simultaneous races around the globe. Well, Europe. Wrapup of McEwen's sprint win, which didn't catch too many by surprise, can be found at CN. And don't miss Paolo Savoldelli, as flamboyant as ever.
- VeloNews are surprisingly on the ball today: find out what today's winner Robbie McEwen thinks.
More on the flip:
- The Paceline (Discovery Channel site) has Graham Watson reporting on Paolo Savoldelli's prologue win, as well as handicapping thursday's stage 2. N.B., torrential rains are in the forecast, apparently. Could make for a strange day.
- Speaking of Il Falco Bergamasco, nobody seems more keyed up about Savoldelli seeking a repeat of his 2000 Romandie win than BiciRace.
- This is a bit stale, but CN checked in with Davitamon before the race.
- Anyone keeping score in Belgium over the last month would notice the incredible disparity between the two big squads, Quick Step and Davitamon. Kind of a blowout so far. But this isn't much different from where matters stood a year ago, and in the end Davitamon arguably accomplished more over the long season. We previewed this dynamic in February: Davitamon are the better team for May-September, provided they can get through April without a collective nervous breakdown.
- Lastly, some pre-Giro jockeying from Liege:
"Cunego? I knew he had good form; all the riders who are favourites for the Giro were up front at Liège." When La Gazzetta dello Sport's Gigi Perna asked Basso if he knew Cunego was marking him closely all day, he replied in the affirmative. "Yes, I realized he pulled me back when I attacked in the final kilometre, and that wasn't the only time."
- Off the back: Pez relives four days ago.