Giro d’Italia/Tour of Italy 2009 Stage 12 – Go Levi & Lance!

Today was the test of all test in the Giro d’Italia! A 60 km time-trial that would surely kick just about anyones ass! Todays stage was everything you could ever want in a professional bike race. I managed to get a hold of a video on Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong, Dennis Menchov and even a little bit of footage on Danilo Di Luca:

Lance Armstrong really is coming into form from this race. I could only imagine how well he’d be doing right now if he hadn’t crashed and broke his collar bone a while back. Of course, I wasn’t to surprised at Dennis Menchov and his performance today. The three mountain stages coming up will tell us a little more about how well to form he really is. Danilo Di Luca Fell back a little and lost the pink jersey today which also didn’t surprise me. Over confident people like that will inevitably fall.

What did surprise me today is that Levi didn’t win the stage! I am hoping that he will kick ass on the mountain stages coming up and take the pink jersey from Dennis Menchov. It sure would be nice to see an American take both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour De France. Let’s check out the carnage after todays stage. I sure do like where Levi is now sitting in the General classification. 3rd ain’t to shabby and only 40 seconds down from the leader. Lance Armstrong moved up to 12th overall and is only 6:34 behind the race leader. Not bad for a guy who is coming out of a 3 year retirement and is 37 years old.

OVERALL STAGE RESULTS AND GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

Stage 12 Results

Lance Armstrong at 2:26 behind the stage winner is phenomenal. Good job today Lance and keep climbing that ladder to the top!

General Classification After Stage 12

One last thing to note about the video above. Lance really looked like he is riding into great form. You can start to see he’s beginning to dance on the peddles in a form that only Lance can do best. Count his revolutions and you’ll see what I mean. Up hill at approximately 95 revolutions per minute. Its hard to count when the video cuts out the way that it normally does in the trees, but I managed to catch a section that allowed me to count it out.

What did you think about todays stage? CrankyBike.Com wants to know. Leave me a comment! Until tomorrow – Keep Crankin’…

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Giro d’Italia / Tour of Italy 2009 – Stage 10 – Climb of Pra’ Martino

Todays race was quite the spectacle since the Giro took the day off yesterday and the fiasco on Sunday. I’m still a little tweaked over the outcome. But that still doesn’t stop me from watching and writing about the Giro d’Italia. So, today I thought, why not show some video footage I discovered on YouTube. Your in for a treat today as I have two very important parts of the race for viewing. Here is the first one – Pra’ Martino…

What a great part of the race to get on CrankyBike.com! I hope to be able to bring you more videos as the race progresses. If you watch the beginning of the video, you can see just in the background, Lance pumping away on the cranks. If you know anything about Lance, if you see his peddle style, you’ll know what kind of shape he is in. The way he is looking now tells me he will be a force of reckoning in the Tour De France. Next video is the final kilometers of the stage. Enjoy!

All that’s left is to show you the results of Stage 10:

Stage 10 Results

And Finally…

General Classification after Stage 10

It was a great day for Astana in my opinion. Lance moved up from 25th to 18th. I’d like to see him place in the top 15. When we get to the time trial, I think we are going to see Levi fly and Lance is going to tap it out for an even higher finish come the day we show up in Rome! That’s it from CrankyBike…

I forgot to mention that I was trying to set up the site to do a live feed. I didn’t quite work out the way that I’d hoped it would. That’s Ok. We will have it ready by the close of the Giro and will be ready for the great show coming up in July.

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Can Columbia-HighRoad Win Any Stage They Want?

Team Columbia-Highroad has so far taken this Giro by storm! They showed a very strong team in the time trial by beating the stage favorite; Team Garmin-Slipstream. Not only have they shown team strength, the guys have also shown that they have quite a few guys who can take stages. Do they have the strength to grab the maglia rosa and take it all the way to the podium in Rome?

Here is my take: I won’t deny that Columbia-Highroad has a great and strong team for this years Giro. I find it hard to believe they will keep the maglia rosa all the way to Rome. I’m going to stray here for a minute. Danilo De Luca says he’s strong enough to wear the Jersey all the way to Rome. Hogwash! Danilo is most definitely a strong contender since he did in fact win last year. But I don’t believe he is strong enough with the likes of Levi and Ivan Basso in the peleton!

I think we are going to see him wear the maglia rosa for a while still, at least until the rest day.

I’m really watching Levi close and he appears to me to be completely relaxed on every stage. I think he is just buying his time before pouncing on Danilo and taking the maglia rosa For the overall win in Rome. But of course, thats who I am rooting for in the Giro, so I’m a little bias. Lance is beginning to come into form. You can see it in his peddling. I sure am hoping the Astana financial crisis is worked out before the 31st of May. If not, I don’t believe I will have any interest in the Tour De France this year. Who am I kiddin’? You can bet I’ll be either glued to the television or glued to the race online.

Now, on to the situation of Rabobank’s Pedro Horrillo, who crashed out on the descent of the Culmine di San Pietro. Man took one serious fall. I think I heard that he fell some 60 meters. All I know is that they had a rescue team out there trying to get to him. He was airlifted to the hospital and it was reported that he sustained breaks to the T12 and C4 Vertebrae. Not only that, he ended up in a coma and they do not know for sure if he will make it. I think I read somewhere that he even punctured a lung!

That’s the quick and juicy for today. Up next is the stats:

Stage 9 Results

General Classification As Of Stage 9

I’ve tried to make it easier for you to find my favorites. Since this is my blog, I get to choose who I highlight on the leader boards. I tell you what, if you have a leader you’d like for me to highlight, let me know in a comment and I will post tomorrows picks in different highlighted colors. Of course, I think I should highlight the Astana guys with the same color of the maglia rosa, but since Livestrong is and always will be Yellow, they will be yellow here as well!

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Giro D’Italia Stage 7 Results – Let’s Get Wet!

Today’s stage went through three countries: Switzerland, Italy and of course started in Austria. The talk of todays stage is Team Astana’s Jersey’s. Here is a quick picture of Lance wearing a jersey that seems to be sponsorless!

I’d have to say that the Astana team needs to beat feet and get themselves a new sponsor who is willing to fork over the 15 million dollars needed. Otherwise, what’s going to happen to the top team in professional cycling? Lance is currently working on a deal with (Don’t know) and hopefully that will get them back in the financial green. It sure would be a let down for 100′s of 1,000′s of cancer survivors and probably just as many cycling enthusiast like myself.

The winner of today’s stage was a young kid by the name of Edvald Boasson Hagen. Don’t ask me to pronounce that name cause I’d butcher it. My hats off to the Versus crew. Paul and Phil seem to know exactly how to pronounce all the pro’s names. This young man has the makings of becoming another Thor Hushovd. I think we all should keep our eye on him when he matures more into the pro’s arena. On Fire is all I got to say about him. Good job today!

Its gotta feel good to win a stage in one of the top three races in Europe! Ok, let’s see the results of todays stage and finish off this post with the overall top 25 general classification. I go to the 25th place because that is where Lance currently resides. Levi is still sitting in the 4th spot! Keep it up boys and let’s bring home at least two of the three big races in Europe this year!

That’s it for today. We shall follow what happens in stage 8. The Giro d’Italia is one hell of a race. It should get more credit than the Tour De France in my opinion. The only thing that keeps me watching it is that the French can’t even win there own race when American’s come out to play! Just a jab. I love France and the French. There country is absolutely Beautiful. If you ever get the chance to go, GO!

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Giro De Italia Stage 5 Results – Where’s Lance Armstrong?

Todays stage 5 left a few names behind. For starters and probably the most interesting results today comes from Lance Armstrong. Where’s Lance Armstrong? Is he not ready to get back into cycling? Is he to old to keep up with all the hot new young riders on the circuit? Many questions are being asked about his performance in yesterdays stage. What do you think is going on?

My opinion is that he is only using the Giro De Italia as a training race to prepare for the big prize of stomping them all in the Tour De France! We all know that Levi Leipheimer is in the best shape of his career. Lance sees this as an opportunity to help Team Astana take at least two of the three big tours. He’s been working hard for Levi over the last few month’s as a Domestique. If you ask me, you couldn’t ask for a better way to prepare for the Tour De France!

We have to look at the big picture Lance is currently focusing on. He came back to racing to get more coverage to Cancer. That’s exactly what he has been doing at every race he’s entered this season. Some would say that this will affect his performance in the grand tours. I beg to differ. I think this focus is a strong motivator for him and it gives him a solid purpose for racing. The better he and his teammates perform, the more exposure cancer will get. Look at what his comeback has already done for cycling!

The same is holding true for cancer on a global scale. Maybe all the professional riders should focus on more important things than just winning a race on a bicycle. Coming from me, most who know that that is a pretty intense statement. I’m a truly die hard fan of cycling. I have been this way since I was a teenager. But what Lance is doing for cancer has opened up my eyes and makes me believe that I should be focusing more on the important things in life. I can (Like Lance) focus my passion for the sport of cycling. Focus it on things that will help others through some of the toughest times they will probably ever face. Whether it is cancer, obesity, or education for so many lost young Americans.

The Giro De Italia is the perfect race to set the stage for Lance in his quest to return to cycling and take fighting cancer to the next level. So, to get back to the business of Lance and the Giro, I’m absolutely ecstatic over the results the Astana team is having right now. I also hope that Lance can take over the team! Here are the results of today’s stage 5:

Giro De Italia Stage 5 Results

I intentionally showed the top 40 results so that I could get and keep track of Lance Armstrong’s results for the stage. He’s only 2:58 down from the winner of todays stage. But as a domestique, I think thats pretty good. I’m really impressed with Chris Horner and his performance so far. Let’s look at the General Classification:

Giro De Italia Stage 5 General Results

Today’s Stage 6 should unfold and be a very interesting race. I got my money on Levi just staying close to the leaders and buying his time for the mountain stages that better suit him. Good Luck today goes out to the Astana team!

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