Savoldelli on the mend...

Thats good news, should make the Giro more interesting for all us who are are following it.

bobke said:

I guess this is why Danielson has been waiting for Paolo so much:

cyclingnews,com:

Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) is looking forward to the final week of the Giro, and believes he has recovered from his allergy problems that plagued him last week. After stage 14, the two time Giro winner told tuttobiciweb.com, "Today is the first day that I felt good, and didn't have any breathing problems. It is true that the Giro ends at L'Aprica, but it is also true that I did not expect Basso to be so strong. That he could stay with the leaders on the climbs and in the time trials, I knew, but I really did not expect this difference. [I think he is] A lot calmer than last year and supported by a very strong team.

"It's a shame that I have to deal with this allergy, because I have never arrived at the Giro d'Italia so strong."

On the live pictures, Savoldelli was being dropped as the road moved upwards.
The very same thing used happen at the 2005 Giro.

I think Savoldelli has problems adjusting to the change in gradient and cannot adjust as quickly as the super climbers.
So it takes him a kilometre or two to get his tempo right.
Nothing wrong with that because he usually manages to get himself sorted.
Problem being that he then has to make up that lost ground.

On stage 14, he had that problem and lost three mins adjusting during the stage but through a combination of riding and then descending really well, that deficit fell to barly over a minute.
So all hope isn't lost for Paolo.

Now he can only try to keep his podium place... He simply can't attack, he's not that kind of a rider (his cycling style isn't attacking one in high mountains). And most important - Basso looks untouchable.

I also don't think Savo can win it, unless Basso does another "stomach/other problem" day (which will not occur). So, I think Savo can try to leapfrog Gut, and also try to keep his third place. He almost has the Blue Jersey secured, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I did predict before the Giro started that Savoldelli wouldn't retain his title.
Not through anything that he would do - more by the fact that DC's lukewarm support for Savoldelli.
And by the fact that Basso wants to win this Giro badly.

A little bird tells me that Basso has made the winning of this Giro, his priority for 2006 over winning a TDF.
You heard it hear first.

bobke said:

I guess this is why Danielson has been waiting for Paolo so much:

cyclingnews,com:

Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) is looking forward to the final week of the Giro, and believes he has recovered from his allergy problems that plagued him last week. After stage 14, the two time Giro winner told tuttobiciweb.com, "Today is the first day that I felt good, and didn't have any breathing problems. It is true that the Giro ends at L'Aprica, but it is also true that I did not expect Basso to be so strong. That he could stay with the leaders on the climbs and in the time trials, I knew, but I really did not expect this difference. [I think he is] A lot calmer than last year and supported by a very strong team.

"It's a shame that I have to deal with this allergy, because I have never arrived at the Giro d'Italia so strong."

Paolo has now upped expectations for his performance in the last week. Let's hope that he can live up to them. In my mind, considering that he is not a pure climber, I would consider it an exceptional job just to hold on to third.

There is another issue here that concerns me. Paolo said that he arrived feeling very strong. I think his prologue performance was testimony to that fact. What I wonder about is the connection between feeling strong and climbing.

When I left middle school I could do 50 push ups. In High Shool I joined the track team as a miler and I ran on the Cross Country team. After 2 and a half years of distance running I could only do 5 push ups. The constant running had actually stripped my upper body of muscle. I'm thinking that a good climber needs to be more than just aerobically conditioned, but he also has to be stripped of all fat and any excess muscle. "Feeling strong" is not in itself enough. When I look at Basso he appears to be lean accross his entire body. When I look at Savoldelli, he seems to be more muscular accross his hips, butt and thighs that Basso. But for climbing this may be a bad thing. That extra muscle still needs to be carried up the mountain and it needs to be supplied with food and oxygen.

I believe that Lance may actually have benefited from his cancer in that it helped to strip his entire body of muscle. Then when he began to train again he only restored the cycling muscle. Any opinions?

saluki said:

I believe that Lance may actually have benefited from his cancer in that it helped to strip his entire body of muscle. Then when he began to train again he only restored the cycling muscle. Any opinions?

I would agree. Many people have stated that following his bout with cancer LA came back several kgs lighter, and this helped him to make the transition from good one-day classics man to GT rider.

In any event, I do hope Il Falco has a good last week in the Giro...

limerickman said:

I did predict before the Giro started that Savoldelli wouldn't retain his title.
Not through anything that he would do - more by the fact that DC's lukewarm support for Savoldelli.
And by the fact that Basso wants to win this Giro badly.

A little bird tells me that Basso has made the winning of this Giro, his priority for 2006 over winning a TDF.
You heard it hear first.

I don't think that any amount of DC support would have gotten Paolo over those mountains faster. The only failure that I can see came in the first climb when Danielson left him alone while doing his own pace. That could have cost Paolo twenty or thirty seconds at most.

While Basso badly wanted the Giro, Riis badly wants the TDF. And Riis will get it.

saluki said:

While Basso badly wanted the Giro, Riis badly wants the TDF. And Riis will get it.

Whoa, are you predicting a Giro-Tour double by Basso? Sounds good to me! 😎

Powerful Pete said:

Whoa, are you predicting a Giro-Tour double by Basso? Sounds good to me! 😎

Basso may not be the best climber in the tour and he may not be the best TT man in the tour, but he will be close enough to the best in both categories to win it. The big trick will be for Riis to get him a short rest after the Giro and then bring him back up to peak level. I don't think Riis should try to hold him at the current level for the entire time.

saluki said:

Basso may not be the best climber in the tour and he may not be the best TT man in the tour, but he will be close enough to the best in both categories to win it. The big trick will be for Riis to get him a short rest after the Giro and then bring him back up to peak level. I don't think Riis should try to hold him at the current level for the entire time.

The double is very very difficult to achieve - no matter how well a rider is performing.

The competition at the TDF will be very very tight : Landis, Valverde, Ullrich, Vino, Kloden, Menchov, Rasmussen : all gunning for the win.

limerickman said:

The double is very very difficult to achieve - no matter how well a rider is performing.

The competition at the TDF will be very very tight : Landis, Valverde, Ullrich, Vino, Kloden, Menchov, Rasmussen : all gunning for the win.

Despite Landis' early season condition, I don't think he has enough natural talent. A top 5 maybe.

I still can't see Ullrich getting enough of his climbing back in time to win it.

I haven't heard anything from Kloden this year. I know he had an injury a month or two ago. But before the injury he was running at the back of the peleton.

All I can say about Rasmussen is 2 50K ITTs.

That leaves Valverde, Vino and Menchov. All could be competitive. Valverde's TT still looked a little weak in the Tour of Romandie. Vino can only do it if that winter conditioning program that he went through caused him to loose a little more weight. In last years TDF he just looked too muscular to be a great climber. Of course Vino is excellent in the ITT. Menchov will be challenging. He has the same traits as Basso, but I give Basso a very slight edge. Cadel Evans is another guy who might be close, but not quite good enough. I personally like this kid Alberto Contador a lot - but he won't be free to work for himself. Popovitch would have to improve a lot to be competitive. I don't see it.

saluki said:

Despite Landis' early season condition, I don't think he has enough natural talent. A top 5 maybe.

Landis has natural talent. Now that he's brought up his TT to top world class level, he is a serious contender. However, perhaps his team is not quite up to snuff. Top 5. Not 1st. A few minutes will separate the top 3. I think Basso will lose minutes to Floyd in the TT, only to regain+ going up mountains.

-bikeguy

bikeguy said:

Landis has natural talent. Now that he's brought up his TT to top world class level, he is a serious contender. However, perhaps his team is not quite up to snuff. Top 5. Not 1st. A few minutes will separate the top 3. I think Basso will lose minutes to Floyd in the TT, only to regain+ going up mountains.

-bikeguy

Don't get me wrong, I like Floyd, but his TT will not gain time on Basso. In the Tour of Georgia Floyd only beat Danielson by 4 seconds in the TT. And what did Basso beat Danielson by in the Giro.

I guess you can also take another view. Floyd rode Basso off his wheel a couple of years ago in the last moutain stage of the TDF. But I think that was an anomoly. I think that Floyd will loose very small amounts of time to Basso in both the mountains and the ITTs. But it's just an opinion. 😉

saluki said:

Don't get me wrong, I like Floyd, but his TT will not gain time on Basso. In the Tour of Georgia Floyd only beat Danielson by 4 seconds in the TT. And what did Basso beat Danielson by in the Giro.

I guess you can also take another view. Floyd rode Basso off his wheel a couple of years ago in the last moutain stage of the TDF. But I think that was an anomoly. I think that Floyd will loose very small amounts of time to Basso in both the mountains and the ITTs. But it's just an opinion. 😉

Floyd also beat Zabriskie and Pinotti in that TT. Zabriskie was 1 second (2?) slower than Armstrong in last years TdF.

In the Amgen TT, he again beat Zabriskie, Julich, Leipheimer, Hincapie, Vandevelde, Savoldelli (by 6:30), Danielso, Evans and O'Neill. That was 27.6 k. All those riders are great TT'ers.

Judging by the hubbub going on over at the biketechreview forum over Landis' praying landis position, I think Landis is one of the top 2 TT'ers that exists on this planet right now.

-bikeguy

bikeguy said:

Floyd also beat Zabriskie and Pinotti in that TT. Zabriskie was 1 second (2?) slower than Armstrong in last years TdF.

In the Amgen TT, he again beat Zabriskie, Julich, Leipheimer, Hincapie, Vandevelde, Savoldelli (by 6:30), Danielso, Evans and O'Neill. That was 27.6 k. All those riders are great TT'ers.

Judging by the hubbub going on over at the biketechreview forum over Landis' praying landis position, I think Landis is one of the top 2 TT'ers that exists on this planet right now.

-bikeguy

I can only hope that you are right. I don't think that Zabriskie's early season form was as good as his form in last years TDF however. But speaking of Zabriskie, why can't someone teach this kid how to climb. He's not that big is he?

Didn't Zabriski beat Lance by a second in that TT?

I don't think it matters if Landis, Basso , or anyone else shows up. Ullrich seems to be motivated and that makes it a pretty done deal.
Armstrong at his best couldn't ride JU off his wheel in the climbs when JU was not in best shape. And Basso is not Armstrong. JU will blow Basso out of the water in the TT's and will enter the TDF with a motivated and skilled team ......
It is JU's to lose. It's just too bad JU was not this motivated to contest the TDF when LA was making his annual stroll around France.
The TDF is not a climbers race. Pantani was the only true climber to win it. The others, LA, JU, Indurain all won it by climbing well and TT'ing the best.And the list goes on ..LeMond, Hinault, Fiignon, Merckx.....All tt'ers.

Basso on Savo pre-Giro:

"Savoldelli is ... just as dangerous [as Simoni]. He's as crafty as a fox 😉 and has won thte Giro twice without having a strong team to help him. He's consistently goodin time trials and on the climbs and can always come up with a shock move on a big day."

Here's to hoping the final part of that move is accurate this year. :p

Hehe..I didn`t look at the title carefully and I thought it writes "Savoldelli on demand with Howard Stern".😄