There are aspects of the sprinting phenomenon which is ‘Cav’ that don’t rest easy with me here at the Giro d’Italia.
The baby and Paul Smith on the podium, mouthing off about his team, the swearing…
But when I see him sprint, I could forgive him just about anything.
He has the coolness under fire, the spacial awareness, the grinta and the raw speed – but most of all he wants to win so badly.
Maybe that’s why he says inappropriate things about his team; defeat hurts him so much that the emotion pours out – he’s disappointed in himself and his boys because he knows that they all could have done better.
Elia Viviani is rapid, I first saw him in action at the Grenoble Six Day a few years ago; he was posting lap times not that far behind those of Gregory Bauge and Kevin Sireau.
It’s apparent that consciously the Italian isn’t scared of Cav – but the problem which all the sprinters have is that in their sub-conscious mind they know that the Manxman is virtually unbeatable.
But it’s their job to try and beat him.
Matt Goss just doesn’t seem to have the edge he did a year or two ago.
Vik’s theory is that the Orica-GreenEdge team is a wee bit too cosy, all those Aussies – lots of fun, but who’s cracking the whip?
For me, from the current crop of fast chargers if there’s a bona fide Cav challenger then its F des J’s French champion Nacer Bouhanni.
He has that sprinters’ arrogance about him, he doesn’t seem overawed by Cav and is seriously fast.
If you watch the video of Stage 6 below, check out the rate at which he crosses the finish line…
There could be no criticism of QuickStep today, they were excellent.
They rode tempo on Bobridge and Wurf, kept calm through the crashes and moments when it looked like they may be washed away and delivered Cav immaculately.
When Steegmans is good in the lead out role, he’s one of the very best in the world.
F des J too did their share – but GreenEdge are getting themselves a bad rep for letting other teams do the work and then setting their train up very late in the day.
In the unspoken protocol of the pro peloton, that’s not the thing to do, especially when there are Pro Continental teams well in the mix.
But I do miss Super Mario’s trains; those Acqua e Sapone and Domina Vacanze boys in their prime were a sight to behold – with Mario Scirea not only the man who could ride fastest for longest but the brains of the operation.
No quarter asked or given; he once rode a rider who had infiltrated the train into the barriers, he took himself down too – but the point was made that you didn’t mess with Scirea and his men.
And Cav must look back to those heady days of Tony Martin, Mark Renshaw and Matt Goss at HTC – now that was a train…
The Gazzetta hunt was successful; and they like Luca Paolini.
‘The beautiful debutant,’ says the headline; at 36 riding his first Giro and taking the maglia rosa with great panache.
He’s first rider from Como to wear the jersey and only the third rider from Como to win a stage.
His victory gesture meant ‘the head and the heart’ and somehow didn’t make me feel nearly as ill as babies’ dummies getting poked into gobs or imaginary arrows being fired.
I listed his palmares the other day but had actually missed his Worlds U23 silver in Verona behind Leonardo Giordani in 1999.
Giordani is still around, with Vini Fantini, but never found his feet in the Elite ranks the way that Paolini did.
The Gazzetta gives Paolini 10/10 for his day’s work – and they’re not known for chucking praise around lightly – whilst Hejedal gets 8.5 for his aggression.
Stage 7 doesn’t have a nice flat salt marsh finish for Cav; within the 177 K from Marina di San Salvo to Pescara there are 3,300 metres of climbing so we may well get a big shake of the GC crisp bag even before the chrono…
Ciao, ciao.
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Result - Giro d'Italia 2013 - Stage 6: Mola di Bari - Margherita di Savoia, 169km
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2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
3 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
4 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ
5 Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
6 Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Davide Appollonio (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack Leopard
9 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
10 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida
11 Edwin Alcibiades Avila Vanegas (Col) Colombia
12 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol
13 Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team
14 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
15 Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) Euskaltel-Euskadi
16 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
17 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team
18 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
19 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ
20 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha
21 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha
22 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
23 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
24 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
25 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
26 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp
27 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol
28 Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Lotto Belisol
29 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
30 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
31 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
32 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha
33 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol
34 Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col) Colombia
35 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
36 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team
37 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
38 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
39 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team
40 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
41 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
42 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard
43 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
44 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Sharp
45 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
46 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox
47 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
48 Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
49 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
50 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team
51 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp
53 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
54 Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli
55 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
56 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
57 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge
58 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
59 Bruno Pires (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
60 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida
61 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) RadioShack Leopard
62 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
63 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol
64 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
65 Robert Gesink (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
66 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
67 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
68 Paul Martens (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
69 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
70 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ
71 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
72 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
73 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ
74 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
75 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp
76 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ
77 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling
78 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol
79 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling
80 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
81 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
82 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
83 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
84 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack Leopard
85 Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard
86 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
87 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
88 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
89 Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano
90 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
91 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
92 Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
93 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
94 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
95 Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia
96 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
97 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
98 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
99 Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) Colombia
100 Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col) Cannondale Pro Cycling
101 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard
102 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
103 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Sharp
104 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
105 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
106 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
107 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida
108 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
109 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
110 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling
111 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
112 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
113 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
114 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling
115 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
116 Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha
117 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida