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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