The Verona TTT (team time trial), I’ll not prattle on about it, rather, here’s what the Liquigas Team had to say:
“The predictions of the Giro d’Italia fourth stage’s eve were right. In the Verona TTT the final result presented a well balanced stage classification, with ten teams (from 3rd to 12th) separated by only twelve seconds.
“Liquigas-Cannondale took the seventh place with a time of 37’30”, 26” behind winning team Garmin, 21” behind Katusha (who were second), 4” behind Astana (third), 2” ahead of RadioShack (eighth) and 8” in front of Lampre (twelfth).
“We can say to had a good team time trial – affirmed Ivan Basso – for both the performance for the results in respect of teams of other pretenders to the pink jersey.
“It wasn’t an easy route, and we knew this. It’s a new step: the “special” classification among the riders that fight for GC didn’t change. Only Rodriguez earned a lot seconds, but we’re speaking about short gaps.
“This is not the moment to look to the GC, we have only to think and concentrate of next stages to build our race, stone by stone.”
For team director Stefano Zanatta the results didn’t hold any big surprises.
“We knew that many teams are the same level in this kind of race and so it happened.
“Our performance was good, as we thought it would be. We had to pass this test without any problems, and let’s hope we continue like that.”
A sore one for Phinney – he’s conducted himself well, but once those cycling Gods single you out, they don’t let go, easily.
He struggled on the climb and then overcooked it on a left-hand bend, there’ll be pics everywhere tomorrow of that grass sprouting from his rear mech.
Garmin were no surprise in the Verona TTT – just a pity that Alex Rasmussen got the mallet, it would be nice to say I had a friend who’d worn the pink jersey.
A great day for Rodriguez and for Kreuziger – not so hot for Gadret though.
And no rosa for Sky, but they have been grafting like Trojans for two days.
Our pal Vik made a good point today – and one which Phinney repeated in his pre race interview; ‘it’s good that the Giro has started properly.‘
I just don’t like Grand Tours starting somewhere outside their homeland, call me old fashioned but it’s too gimmicky, too commercial for my taste.
And as if the celebrate the Giro being in Italia, I managed to get a Gazzetta Dello Sport in Edinburgh, today.
It only took four shops and a route march, but it was worth it – even if the coverage is of stage two.
The coverage is good – four pages, with Cav getting a lot of column centimetres.
Naturally, Delilah – the most loved child in the world – gets mention and Cav gets called, ‘Papa Jet.’
Vik, Ivan, have you been sick, yet?
But the Manxman is newsworthy, he’s photogenic and there’s always an angle – if Greipel had won the stage you can rest assured that the coverage wouldn’t have been so full.
The main feature page is headlined; ‘Ragazzi d’Italia‘ – ‘Italian Boys.’
Alluding to the fact that Cav has a house in Quarrata (albeit I thought he was an Essex boy, these days) and Phinney lives in Lucca.
They also mention that Max Sciandri has been a big influence on both riders; ‘padre‘ – ‘father’ to both of them.
In typical Gazzetta fashion we get a potted Papa Jet ‘pass notes’ – an arrow helpfully points to the middle of the Irish Sea, ‘Isola di Man‘ says the caption.
But let’s get serious, 84 wins, including 8 Giro stages, 20 Tour stages, 3 Vuelta stages, Milano-Sanremo, the Worlds and two world madison titles.
Whilst 84 wins doesn’t challenge Merckx, at 26 years-of-age it’s remarkable.
Only the really big riders build up wins in those numbers, with very few achieving treble figures.
Eric Vanderaerden, Laurent Jalabert, Mario Cipollini and Erik Zabel are some of the few riders I know who have achieved this feat – it’s possible Cav will emulate this well before his 30th birthday.
(and someone is bound to say, ‘Sid Barras’ – a great rider but at British level, only)
Phinney’s mum, Connie Carpenter has her pic in the Gazzetta, too – ‘Mamma Rosa‘
Connie’s looking better than ever – her and Davis handed that big laddie some head start in the world of cycling with those amazing genes they gave him.
Flat as a pancake tomorrow – Cav?
I’ve stopped writing him off – he just makes you look silly.
Ciao, ragazzi.
Result - Giro d'Italia 2012 - Stage 4: Verona TTT 32.2km
Stage Result
2 Katusha Team 0:00:05
3 Astana Pro Team 0:00:22
4 Team Saxo Bank
5 Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:00:24
6 Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:25
7 Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:26
8 RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:28
9 Sky Procycling 0:00:30
10 BMC Racing Team 0:00:31
11 Movistar Team 0:00:32
12 Lampre-ISD 0:00:34
13 Team NetApp 0:00:43
14 Farnese Vini-Selle Italia 0:00:59
15 Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:01
16 Lotto Belisol Team 0:01:05
17 Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:10
18 FDJ-BigMat
19 Colnago-CSF Inox 0:01:12
20 Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela 0:01:44
21 AG2R-La Mondiale 0:01:45
22 Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:02:22
Overall Classification
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Barracuda 0:00:10
3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin – Barracuda
4 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Barracuda 0:00:11
5 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:13
6 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:19
7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:21
8 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin – Barracuda 0:00:25
9 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Barracuda 0:00:26
10 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:30
11 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
12 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
13 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin – Barracuda 0:00:31
14 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:33
15 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
16 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team 0:00:35
17 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
18 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:36
19 Nelson Oliveira (Por) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:37
20 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
21 Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team
22 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
23 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:38
24 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:00:39
25 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
26 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:00:40
27 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
28 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:41
29 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:42
30 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
31 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha Team 0:00:45
32 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin – Barracuda
33 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:47
34 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team
35 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
36 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:00:49
37 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling
38 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:00:50
39 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:51
40 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
41 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:52
42 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:53
43 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:00:55
44 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
45 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:56
46 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
47 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:57
48 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team
49 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team
50 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo Bank
51 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
52 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:00:58
53 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
54 Christian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
55 Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:59
56 Jan Barta (Cze) Team NetApp
57 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:01:01
58 Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
59 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Movistar Team
60 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:02
61 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 0:01:03
62 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team
64 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:07
65 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
66 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Astana Pro Team
67 Matthias Brandle (Aut) Team NetApp 0:01:08
68 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:01:09
69 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team
70 Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:10
71 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:11
72 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
73 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:12
74 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia 0:01:13
75 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
76 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp 0:01:14
77 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
78 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:01:15
79 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Team NetApp
80 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:01:17
81 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team Saxo Bank
82 Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetApp
83 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:01:19
84 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:20
85 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:01:22
86 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:24
87 Timon Seubert (Ger) Team NetApp
88 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:25
89 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:26
90 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
91 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:01:29
92 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team NetApp 0:01:32
93 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:01:33
94 Johann Tschopp (Swi) BMC Racing Team
95 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Farnese Vini – Selle Italia
96 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:34
97 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre – ISD 0:01:35
98 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan 0:01:36
99 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
100 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetA