Live Coverage - Stage 18 Giro d'Italia

Published: May. 29, 2008

12:56 PM: Good day and welcome

To VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the 18th stage of the 2008 Giro d'Italia.

Today's stage begins at 1:35 local time in Mendrisio, Switzerland, and travels back into Italy for a finish in Varese, 147 kilometers later. The stage offers an interesting opportunity in that both locales are slated to host the next two world championships, with Varese hosting the 2008 world's this fall and the Swiss town of Mendrisio scheduled to play host in 2009. Today's finish includes two trips around the 17.4km circuit that will be used for the road race, so maybe Quick Step's Paolo Bettini will be particularly attentive today.

The road to Varese is marked by rolling terrain, with a series of short, punchy climbs throughout, although only one - the Category 3 Brinzio at 89km - is ranked and will offer KOM points. Of course, Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare) has a pretty tight hold on that competition, with 99 points more than his nearest competitor.

1. Emanuele Sella (I), CSF Group Navigare, 127 points
2. Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Tinkoff, 28
3. Fortunato Baliani (I), CSF Group Navigare, 27
4. Alessandro Bertolini (I), Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, 20
5. Gabriele Bosisio (I), LPR, 19

At this point, he'd have to drop out of the Giro to lose the green climbers' jersey.

Two successive world titles and a talent for finishing on uphill finishes, like the one featured today, may give Bettini that elusive Giro stage win he's been trying for ever since he put on the rainbow jersey. Let's see how he does.

We'll begin our coverage soon, a little before the peloton makes its way through the neutral zone this afternoon.

The weather is not ideal for bike racing. At the finish in Varese, temperatures are a cool 61 degrees (16c) and the rain has been falling on-and-off for most of the day. The forecast for this afternoon calls for a 100-percent chance of rain, a degree of certainty not usually offered by meteorologists.

Conditions at the start are about the same, with lots of rain as this part of Europe is now covered by a large weather front that is dumping tons of rain throughout Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

It'll be a day for the rain capes and, hopefully, a day for riders - and promoters - to exhibit a bit of caution. It's a crappy day, somewhat reminiscent of that stage in 2006, when Alessandro Petacchi broke his patella in a wet and nasty crash on the way to Namur. www.velonews.com/article/9841
01:20 PM: If you haven't had a chance

to read John Wilcockson's soon-to-be four-part story on Andy Hampsten's 1988 Giro d'Italia victory, you should do so.

Already a rabid bike fan at the time, the Live Update Guy had only learned about Hampsten's overall victory from news reports touting the 7-Eleven rider's return to Colorado at the old Stapleton airport in Denver. (We didn't have that fancy Internet thing, back in those days.) What we all had to wait for were the details... and that took a few weeks before the latest issue of Winning magazine showed up at the local newsstand. It was John's article then that made us realize just how remarkable that victory really was. It became the topic of long discussions on local training rides for months to come.

Now, 20 years later, John Wilcockson remembers back to a time when the word "epic" actually meant something more than one's most recent ride on sunny local mountain bike trails.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Folks, these are well worth the time to read. We'll have the fourth and final installment posted tomorrow, a day before the Giro again visits the slopes of the Gavia, in what will be decidedly more civilized ride than that experienced by Hampsten and anyone else who managed to finish that day.
01:32 PM: In the neutral zone

the peloton is rolling, but it may be a bit before they hit the formal start. It doesn't look like a pleasant day out there.
01:43 PM: On the road again

The peloton is now at 8km and an early attack by Yuriy Krivtsov (Ag2r) was negated and the peloton is back together again.
01:44 PM: Drop us a line

If you have comments, questions or complaints, go ahead and hit the "Contact our editors" link below the Live Update window. We'll try to answer as many as possible and even post a few during today's coverage.
01:48 PM: Paolo!

Bettini is on the attack. Let's see what kind of gap the world champion gets. He's clearly eager for a stage win. He's ridden spectacularly throughout the Giro. If anyone deserves a shot, it's certainly the Cricket.
01:49 PM: Five seconds

at 12km, Bettini only has a tiny advantage on the field.
01:53 PM: Bettini has company

The world champion started the break, but he's been joined by several riders. At 14km, they have an advantage of 40 seconds. We'll ID these guys ASAP.
02:01 PM: The men in the break

The break is made up of

15. Rafael Cardenas Felix (COL), Barloworld, at 11:24
18. Gabriele Bosisio (ITA), Team L.P.R., at 14:58
21. Paolo Bettini (ITA), Quick Step, at 19:54
25. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne, at 23:23
26. Mauricio A. Ardila Cano (COL), Rabobank, at 24:44
30. Giovanni Visconti (ITA), Quick Step, at 30:02
49. Jens Voigt (GER), CSC, at 50:09
55. Simon Spilak (SLO), Lampre, at 57:54
56. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA), Ag2r La Mondiale at 57:54
71. Daniele Bennati (ITA), Liquigas, at 1:23:26
72. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:24:38
122. Nikolai Trussov (RUS), Tinkoff, at 2:17:15
02:03 PM: Nice group

Full of the usual suspects, this break is developing into a nice group. At 20km, they have 1:42 on the peloton. Look at this bunch. Bettini, Voigt, Bosisio... there's some serious horsepower. Now we have to see what the peloton thinks of this bunch.
02:09 PM: At 24km

the men in the break have an advantage of 2:35 over the peloton.
02:23 PM: Working away

at the front, the 12 leaders' advantage has bumped up to 4:12 at km 33.
02:27 PM: Bennati

scores a few more points at the intermediate sprint at Clivio. As the leaders near the 40km mark, the gap is holding at around 4:20.
02:28 PM: Back in Italy

the Giro d'Italia is back in Italy after both the break and the peloton have crossed over the border.
02:33 PM: Five minutes

the Bettini-initiated break now has five minutes on the field. The leaders are now at 43km. The pace has been a moderate 38.8kph over the opening hour, due in no small part to today's weather.
02:39 PM: Reader comment

Jon C writes in to ask
Why do you always report distances in meters and kilometers?!?!? You write for an American audience and you guys are most probably Americans. Why not report distances in something we can all relate to?

Sorry Jon, we often depend on maps, profiles and, above all, race radio reports that come to us in kilometers. While we are mostly Americans, we're also a little rushed and don't always have the time to do the math... which, if you're wondering, requires one to convert kilometers into miles using the formula kilometers x 0.6214 = miles.
02:42 PM: At 50km

the gap is holding, moving up only sightly over the last 7km to 5:03.
02:55 PM: Reader question

Jack G writes in to ask
What are those motorcycles I sometimes see with 2 front wheels? I have never seen such things in the US. Are they somehow better?

We've seen them around, but generally only at the Giro and most often for the TV cameras. We imagine that they're more stable, but they have to be a little less maneuverable than traditional two-wheelers. We need to run out and check the brand on them... and maybe grab a close-up photo.
02:57 PM: The leaders

are now at 53km and they have upped their advantage to 5:20.

We gotta admit, we're cheering for this one. With Voigt and Bettini in there, this break has some of our favorites in there and we'd sure like to see them make it. Of course, the sprinters' teams may not share our biases this afternoon.
03:02 PM: Metrics

Well, Jon certainly opened a can of worms there. We've received several comments in response. A couple agree, one points out that we do take the time to convert temperatures and a lot of you suggest, like Jack C, that the real question "is not why do you report in the metric format, but why we don't ALL use it? It makes so much more sense."

Dylan, in Canada, points out that the U.S. is just one of three countries firmly mired in the non-metric system: "The only other countries besides the U.S. that have not adopted the metric system are Liberia (in western Africa) and Burma (also known as Myanmar, in Southeast Asia). Hmm, 195 Countries in the world and only three have not adopted the metric system."

Well, there is that. We've always been fans of the metric system, not only because it makes our speeds and distances look better, it also doesn't look quite as bad when we step on the scale in the morning.

Okay, enough on that topic. Back to bike racing.

Our latest time check gives the 12 men up the road an advantage of 5:35.
03:09 PM: Those three wheelers

Quick answer for Jack. Several of you - including our own Patrick O'Grady - quickly responded to Jack's question and pointed out that the Piaggio MP3 is the creature folks are using. It's even available here in the U.S., albeit in limited supplies. We doubt you'd want to ride that to Sturgis this summer.
03:09 PM: At 61km

the leaders' advantage is now 5:40.
03:14 PM: on a long

and gradual descent, the speed has picked up. The 12 escapees are now at 72km and the gap is holding at 5:45.
03:15 PM: Time check

the leaders have inched (sorry, centimetered) their lead up to 6:00.
03:21 PM: The rain has eased

The roads are a little better. Things are still damp, but it's not pouring. The time gap, with about 70km remaining, the gap is 6:00. The Astana team has taken over at the front of the main field, assuming chasing duties.
03:29 PM: Feedback

in addition to our little flury of letters on the metric system and three-wheeled motorcycles, we'ver received several letters from those of you who have enjoyed John Wilcockson's series on Andy Hampsten's Giro victory in 1988. We can't disagree. We're a little biased, but we also came to work for VeloNews due in no small part because it offered a chance to work with a guy we'd been reading for years.

Reader Eduardo in Panama writes in to say:
I totally agree that John Wilcockson's history is great reading material...and very informative. I didn´t recall all the facts about the other competitors...beating Breukink in the time trial that was huge, chasing Zimmerman ...what a great victory....
By the way, this morning I was just looking at a picture of John cheering Greg LeMond in the 1992 Tour de France, in my Greg LeMond the official history issue.

Oh yeah, we remember that shot. It's actually part of a series, by Graham Watson.
03:30 PM: The leaders are working their

way up the day's only ranked climb. Now that the weather has eased up a bit, the pace appears to be picking up, but the gap is holding between 5:45 and 6:00.
03:32 PM: Basisio

is driving at the front of the break. We see Voigt getting gapped, but he's hanging on. This climb isn't going to result in the tough German being spot off the back.
03:38 PM: Two hours in the saddle

the average speed over the first two hours were covered with an average speed of 41.6kph.
03:40 PM: You just knew

that Jens Voigt was in the mood to attack today. We saw Voigt walked his bike upright through the riders before the start to inch closer to the front so he'd be in position to chase any early attacks.

One guy we were sort of expecting to see in any break that formed today was David Millar of Slipstream. He's not there and it may just be that he's not on the top of his game at this point. Andrew Hood spoke with Millar this morning: "I'm feeling pretty tired. Maybe I can get into the breakaway, but we'll see how the legs are. This has been a hard Giro."
03:41 PM: The gap

is now 5:48.
03:42 PM: Slipstream

Hood also spoke with Christian Vande Velde this morning. The team has only five riders left in the field and the Slipstream boys are keeping that in mind.

"We're going to try to get the rest of our guys to Milan. Julian (Dean) will likely pull out after today because it's just not worth it for him to go over the final mountains. He'll do some special sprint work before the Tour. I'll see how I can do over the mountains and maybe save something for Sunday's time trial."
03:44 PM: On the world's course

The escapees are on the part of the route that includes the world's course that will be used this fall. Bettini is dressed for the occasion.
03:46 PM: Blood

The vampires struck this morning, testing 25 riders from Lampre, Saunier Duval, Rabobank and Tinkoff. None of the riders were deemed 'inapt.'
03:49 PM: The rest of the

stage covers the rolling terrain of the world's course. Visconti and Bettini are at the front of the break. The gap is holding between 5:45 and 6:00. With 47.5km remaining, these guys may make it.
03:52 PM: Bettini

is feeling rather randy up there.

He's really putting the pressure on whenever the break hits these little hills. Voigt was showing signs of wear and the world champion may be trying to rid himself of some company.

Meanwhile the gap is holding, largely because the Astana team is really not driving the chase, simply intending to limit the damage from some of the better placed escapees.
03:54 PM: Gerolsteiner

We spoke with Johanne Frohlinger before the stage, he's only one of two Gerolsteiner riders still in the race.

"We have more staff than riders now," he said. "We still need masseurs, drivers, mechanics and sport directors. A few of our team cars have gone back, but the bus is staying. We're hoping the both of us can make it to Milan. We had some guys who got sick, others already planned to leave, others crashed. One of guys didn't make the time limit at Corones. It's kind of lonely at the dinner table!"
03:55 PM: Silence-Lotto

is putting riders up front now. The gap is still at 6:00.

Up front, we see the attacks starting out of the break. Bettini and Basisio have scampered off the front. It's still a small gap, though.
03:58 PM: Pssssssst

Zabel has had a flat and is waiting for his car.
04:00 PM: Basisio and Bettini

are back with the group, but we may expect a few more digs between now and the finish.

Back in the peloton, the man in pink, Alberto Contador is gaining confidence every day the Giro closes in on Milan.

"Today's stage will be nervous," he said at the start. "We expect a breakaway to go away. It could be raining all day, so you have to be careful not to crash. But that's better for my allergies."
04:01 PM: The time gap

is now up to 6:15.

Zabel is now working his way back to the peloton.
04:06 PM: Voigt

has attacked out of the break. He's a tough guy.

He's got a little gap as he hits the finish line, a signal that he has two trips around the world's circuit to go.
04:09 PM: Voigt

has 15 seconds on the field.

Let's hope that the men chasing don't include some of the men he was mentioning yesterday. He was complaining about riders taking pulls from team cars up the Fedaia and Giau climbs: "That's cheating! That's as bad doping," Voigt said. "There were at least 20 riders who would have been eliminated (Sunday), but they were getting pulled by the cars. These are the same bastards who are going to chase me down when I attack on Wednesday and Thursday to set up the sprint."
04:10 PM: 26 seconds

these laps are 17.4km, and so the race has about 33km to fgo. He's really powering off.
04:11 PM: Tomorrow and beyond

Slipstream's Danny Pate is hoping to survive two hard days in the mountains: "I'm really tired. It's been a hard race, some of the courses have been pretty crazy. This is the longest race I've ever done. I hope to make it to Milan and come out of this good."
04:12 PM: 33 seconds

Voigt is now ahead of the rest of the break by about 33 seconds. We can expect Bettini to ramp it up on the climbs coming up.
04:13 PM: Back to the peloton

the gap is still at 6:12.

Voigt is holding on to a 33-second lead over the rest of the break. It's a twisty route and is good for a solo break.
04:15 PM: The rain

is starting up again.
04:17 PM: Nocentini

Is trying to get away and bridge up to Voigt. Now Bosisio has joined him.
04:18 PM: The two

are caught
04:20 PM: The original

break is falling apart, but Voigt is still 32 seconds ahead of the next rider.

The peloton is still 5:50 behind, so it's beginning to look like the stage winner will emerge from the original 12 in the break. They are as follows:
5. Rafael Cardenas Felix (COL), Barloworld, at 11:24
18. Gabriele Bosisio (ITA), Team L.P.R., at 14:58
21. Paolo Bettini (ITA), Quick Step, at 19:54
25. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne, at 23:23
26. Mauricio A. Ardila Cano (COL), Rabobank, at 24:44
30. Giovanni Visconti (ITA), Quick Step, at 30:02
49. Jens Voigt (GER), CSC, at 50:09
55. Simon Spilak (SLO), Lampre, at 57:54
56. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA), Ag2r La Mondiale at 57:54
71. Daniele Bennati (ITA), Liquigas, at 1:23:26
72. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:24:38
122. Nikolai Trussov (RUS), Tinkoff, at 2:17:15
04:21 PM: Spilak

Simon Spilak (Lampre) is trying to bridge.
04:22 PM: With 23km

to go, Voigt has 45 seconds on his chasers.
04:24 PM: Spilak

is at 46 seconds and the other 10 in the break are now at 53 seconds.
04:25 PM: Spilak

has been pulled back by the rest of the chase group. Voigt is nearing the end of the penultimate lap and he has 53 seconds.
04:28 PM: 54 seconds

Voigt is nearing the finish line, meaning he will have 17.4km to go. He's now leading the rest of the break by 54 seconds.

Cardenas is trying to bridge. There is little or no cooperation in the chase group. He is now joined by Visconti.... and they're getting pulled back.
04:29 PM: Ding, ding, ding, ding

One lap to go. One lap to go. Voigt is 17.4km from the finish.
04:30 PM: The gap

the chasers are nipping away. At the finish line, the chasers come through at 40 seconds.
04:31 PM: Bosisio

It's worth noting that Bosisio - who wore the maglia rosa for 1 day and won stage 7 - won the test event last summer on the Beijing race course, so he likes circuits. This field is a wee-bit tougher than what he faced in China
04:32 PM: 15km

to go and Voigt has 38 seconds on a chase group of three and 58 seconds on the Bettini group.
04:35 PM: The three chasers

are Nocentini, Visconti and Bosisio. They are closing in on Voigt. He's beginning to tire. They are now at 29 seconds. The Bettini group is at 53 seconds.
04:36 PM: In the second chase

Looks like Rodriguez trying to bridge out - Bettini is still waiting, wtih Visconti up the road. But ahead, Voigt has opened the gap again. He's at 43 seconds.
04:38 PM: The peloton

is just now reaching the 1-lap-to-go mark, at 7:43
04:39 PM: Bettini

is now bridging up to the trio in the first chase. Voigt has 10km to go.
04:39 PM: The gap

to the three chasers is now 38 seconds at the 10km-to-go mark.
04:41 PM: Rain

man, these roads are slick. With a lot of turns on these last kilometers, Voigt and the others have to be careful.

Bettini is fighting to join, but he's at 1:00. He has Rodriguez with him.
04:42 PM: With 7.5km to go

Voigt is holding on to a 38-second lead.
04:43 PM: Tight

This worlds course looks like a doozy - with climbs, narrow roads and lots of corning - perfect for a gutsy breakaway like Voigt
04:43 PM: 50 seconds!

He might just pull this off. We couldn't think of a more apt prize for the current king of the head-bangers.
04:45 PM: Bettini

who has a bit of company, is 1:15 behind Voigt, with Nocentini, Basisio and Visconti are at 50 seconds.

Just to remind everyone - Voigt went into breakaways in the two Dolomites mountain stages, finished 11th in Plan de Corones and even attacked yesterday with 5km to go to try to surprise the sprinters
04:46 PM: less than 5km

to go and Voigt is upping his lead!
04:47 PM: Four kilometers

to go and Voigt is now 53 seconds ahead of the chasing three.
04:48 PM: The chasers

hit the 4km mark at 1:00 and the Bettini group is at 1:44.
04:49 PM: Voigt

is having a good time out there. It looks like the Visconti group have given up the ghost, as Voigt is now less than three km from the finish.
04:50 PM: Peloton

is at 8:00.
04:51 PM: 2km

to go and Voigt is on his way to victory. He attacked from 35km to go.
04:52 PM: Voigt

is charging into the final kilometer. He has this one. He is more than a minute ahead of the Visconti chase and nearly two minutes ahead of Bettini.
04:53 PM: Voigt

knows he's got it. He's grinning like a mad man...

He has time to adjust his jersey, glasses and he rolls across the line.
04:55 PM: Nice!

Voigt deserves this one.

The three chases are coming to the finish and they cross at 1:07, with Visconti taking the sprint.
04:56 PM: Bettini

and Co. come across at 2:04.
04:58 PM: The peloton

is still out there, but today's stage will have little impact on the overall standings.
05:01 PM: A bit of trouble

for Slipstream. Hesjedal dropped his chain at the back of the bunch. He's chasing back.

There are no time bonuses left, so Ricco likely won't attack. Astana is leading. Levi Leipheimer, the American champion, is leading and a gregario for Alberto Contador.

Now that's funny. Contador contests the field sprint with a big smile on his face, crossing the line 7:50 behind Voigt.
05:03 PM: Little change on GC

Cardenas, who was in the break and finished with Bettini should move up to 11th on GC.
05:05 PM: Okay folks

that's a wrap. We'll be back Live Coverage tomorrow. Thanks for joining us and we'll try to answer as many of your questions as we can. Take care.

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