Well, my Pippo Pozzato forecast for Monte Paschi Strade Bianche was looking awfully prescient for a while, but that race is selective all the way to the Campo, and in the end Max Iglinsky had a wee bit more in his legs than fellow finalists Michael Rogers and Thomas Lofkvist, both of whom (along with Pozzato, Fabian Cancellara, Francesco Ginanni, Ryder Hesjedal and a handful of others) enlivened this beautiful race. In fact, I saw less of Iglinsky on the attack than just about everyone else named here, but that's cycling. Sometimes the cagiest rider wins. Final top ten:
- Maxim Iglinsky, Astana
- Thomas Lofkvist, Sky
- Michael Rogers, HTC-Columbia
- Filippo Pozzato, Katusha
- Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Transitions
- Francesco Ginanni, Androni Giocattoli
- Leonardo Bertagnolli, Androni Giocattoli
- Juan Antonio Flecha, Sky
- Enrico Gasparotto, Astana
- Daniele Righi, Lampre
In Murcia, it was time trial day... and a surprising result, with Frantisek Rabon taking the stage and the overall lead. Not a huge surprise, Rabon has a few palmares against the watch, but he beat a pretty elite crop, including Brad Wiggins, Lance Armstrong, Dave Zabriskie and others, and by a pretty fair margin. The stage:
- Frantisek Rabon, HTC-Columbia
- Denis Menchov, Rabobank, at 0.33
- Bradley Wiggins, Sky, at 0.48
- Andreas Kloden, The Shack, at 0.52
- Patrick Gretsch, HTC, at 1.03
Wow... 33" win in a 22km race? Those are huge gaps. But then, it's early.