Friday, March 29, 2024

Giro d’Italia 2009 – Day 8: Stage 21, Roma

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HomeDiariesGiro d'Italia 2009 - Day 8: Stage 21, Roma

“Super Grinta,” Denis, Roma and Ignatas Konovalovas.

That was what the Gazzetta said about Danilo after the Vesuvio stage; “grinta” is the quality of physical and mental toughness that the true greats have – “Super Grinta” – great expression.

Roma
Slick cobbles made for an interesting day!

And now it’s 09:55, Ciampino Airport, Rome on Monday.

The hire car is gone, we’re in the departure lounge – and it’s all over.

Roma
Rain equals bar.

I think it’s perhaps the best of the eight Grand Tours I’ve done; maybe the UCI and Tour de France don’t think much of Danilo Di Luca, but the Italian public loves him.

He made this a Giro exciting and memorable, a real bike race; not a procession with riders frightened to loose their GC placings.

Roma
‘The Killer’ did his best to spook Menchov early doors.
Roma
Di Luca took the second place graciously.

Di Luca has a bit of ‘previous’ – but who doesn’t at the top level, in this sport? As long as he’s clean now, let him get on with his racing.

Roma
Is Mario following us?

The final time trial could have been a damp squib; the course was crazy – far from pan flat, mostly cobbled and like a skating rink during the frequent showers.

Roma
Historic ruins are everywhere in this city.

But the backdrop of Roma was spectacular and Menchov’s crash made it so dramatic.

Our angle was, “come to the chrono in Rome with VeloVeritas” – not just the race, but the course, the sights, a bit of gossip.

We had a great – if long – day in Rome.

Roma
The beautiful Colosseum.

The race security was dire, folks just hauled barriers open and wandered across the road, not bothering to slide them back into place and leaving them jutting in to the road.

Roma
The diners barely look up from their pasta as Rabo warm up.

Many of the spectators were tourists, not aficionados, no-one had a watch – at the Tour, old guys wander up to you with their fob watches and compare their timing with you.

I love the Gazzetta’s race coverage but one thing they don’t do – L’Equipe does for the Tour – is to publish a full start list. At le Tour, every second spectateur has their start sheet, torn from L’Equipe.

The Gazzetta’s pictures of Menchov’s brush with the cobble sets are great; his mechanic gets compared to a Formula One mechanic.

Roma
Menchov deserved this win.

But for his crash, the Russian would probably have won the stage, he missed victory by 24 seconds but lost 20 to 25 whilst he was on the deck.

Brad Wiggins was unlucky to loose the stage by a single second – a win would have salvaged the race for Garmin.

He was unlucky in that he rode in the rain, but Phil Deignan reckons that it was the same for his Cervelo team mate, Ignatas Konovalovas.

Roma
Carlos has had a good Giro, much better than we thought he would.
Roma
Well, guess we have to have a photo of the man.

We saw the tall, powerful, Lithuanian thrash past in his white time trial champion’s skinsuit. We could see that he was ripping, but he wasn’t on our – or anybody else’s – list of stage favourites.

He’s 23, lives in Marseille and was with CA last season; when as well as the Lithuanian TT championship, he won a stage in the Tour of Luxembourg.

Roma
Basso wasn’t his old, breathing-through-his-nose, self in this Giro.

It was a great race for some teams – LPR, Rabobank, Columbia, Cervelo, Liquigas and Diquigiovanni; good for some – Silence and QuickStep, but brutal for a lot of teams. The likes of Bouygues, Galicia, Caisse and Fuji were invisible.

Roma
Phillip Deignan, didn’t have the best day today.

Philip Deignan bit the dust twice, at 5 and 10 K – he has scars on his scars.

Roma
ISD’s Ian Stannard.

Ian Stannard did a good ride yesterday for 29th; whilst most of his ISD team mates opted for road bikes, Ian stuck with his lo-pro, telling us that on the long straights there’s no way you can get the same top end speed on a road bike.

We’re glad we braved the mosh pit at the presentation – we got the chance to chat to Phillip and Ian, plus get good shots of Di Luca, Menchov and Pellizotti.

Roma
Pello takes his best ever Giro result.

It also gave us a sense of the race really being over; if you watch the last rider flash past, then head for the press room, it’s still buzzing about your head.

Hearing the war stories and being there as the riders rode off to the presentation made you think; “that’s it!”

Respect Danilo – never say die.

And Denis, big strong, solid, calm under fire.

Respect also to Petacchi, super cool and working selflessly for Di Luca.

Thanks to Dario Cioni, Rubens Bertogliati, Ben Swift, Ian Stannard, Phil Deignan, Charly Wegelius and all the others who took to time to give us good answers and quotes.

Reality beckons – but so does le Tour!

Roma
Our last Gazetta for a while has great pics of Menchov’s near-disaster.

Oh, aye, how does the Gazzetta score them out of 10?

  • Lance: 6
  • Basso: 7
  • Sastre: 7.5
  • Pellizotti: 8
  • Menchov: 9
  • and Danilo? ‘The Killer’ gets 8.5 – we’d have given him 9.5.

Ciao, tutti!

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

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