Giro stage 16: Movistar triples with Intxausti
Stage 16: Valloire to Ivrea, 238km, medium mountains Benat Intxausti (Movistar) won a three-man sprint ahead of Tanel Kangert (Astana) … Read More
Giro Tweets: 100+ and double dream dashed
The second week of the Giro has come and gone. And we’ve seen the two most famous British cyclists have … Read More
Happy birthday Mark Cavendish: 28 years and 101 wins
Regular followers of VeloVoices will know that I’m quite a big fan of Mark Cavendish – the term ‘man-crush’ is … Read More
Giro stage 16 preview
Stage 16: Valloire to Ivrea, 238km, medium mountains I have a picture in my head of the race organisers putting … Read More
Podcast #10: Cav’s century, Wiggo’s woes – and Vincenzo victorious?
Panache and Tim chew over an intriguing middle week of the Giro which saw Mark Cavendish pass 100 not out, … Read More
Tour of California review: Tejay too hot to handle
Tejay van Garderen took his first major stage race general classification victory with an impressive all-round performance in stifling heat … Read More
Giro stage 15: Visconti in first as peloton stays in neutral
Stage 15: Cesana Torinese to Les Granges du Galibier (Monumento Pantani), 145km
On a snowy and curiously subdued afternoon, Movistar’s Giovanni Visconti took maximum advantage, securing a place in the day’s decisive breakaway and then picking the perfect moment to solo away to victory on the slopes of the Col du Galibier. Continue reading
Giro stage 15 preview
Stage 15: Cesana Torinese to Col du Galibier (Valloire), 149km, high mountains
At the time of writing, due to weather conditions this stage is due to finish 4.25km below the summit of the Galibier at the site of the Pantani Memorial, although it is entirely possible this plan will continue to be revised even once the race is under way.
Before the Galibier is even reached the peloton must get over the Col du Mont Cenis and Telegraphe, so this could be a ripper of a stage regardless of where it finishes. Of course, it was on the Galibier that Andy Schleck showed that he could look into his suitcase full of courage and come up with the goods, when he took the stage in an audacious breakaway in the 2011 Tour de France. Continue reading
Giro stage 14: Santambrogio wins as Nibali tightens grip on Giro
Stage 14: Cervere to Bardonecchia, 180km
With TV images restricted to the final 400 metres of the concluding Jafferau climb, it was perhaps appropriate that the first figure to emerge from the mist was the flourescent hi-vis glow of the Vini Fantini-Selle Italia strip of Mauro Santambrogio, who led the equally bright maglia rosa of Vincenzo Nibali to the finish. Nibali did not challenge for the stage victory, settling instead for second place, but he was the day’s big winner as he put time into all his key rivals. Ag2r La Mondiale’s Carlos Betancur was nine seconds behind in third, his third top-three finish in the last six stages.
Videos
A nice little piece on Mark Cavendish by Cyclingnews where he talks about his most memorable victories, chess and dancing.
As part of #CavDay, here’s a little video from OPQS recorded after Scheldeprijs (where Cavendish was second to Marcel Kittel). Cav reflects on the race and family life with Peta Todd and daughter Delilah, whose first birthday it was that day.
Images
Who’s this dashing young fellow, then? (Well, it is #CavDay …)
To celebrate Mark Cavendish‘s 28th birthday, we’re devoting #CavDay to the Manx Missile. Here’s the man off the bike, sporting the rainbow jersey of the 2011 World Champion while clutching baby Delilah. Isn’t he sweet?
Image: Sky
Asides
Ivan Basso‘s withdrawal from the Giro with injury means there are now only four former winners still in the race: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp, 2012), Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida, 2011), Danilo di Luca (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia, 2007) and Stefano Garzelli (Vini Fantini, 2000).
An omen? Not only was the Tour de Romandie the first career WorldTour victory for Chris Froome, but the previous two winners of the race have gone on to take the overall at the Tour de France: Cadel Evans (2011) and Bradley Wiggins (2012).
