well the Giro is starting tomorrow - and for the first time in a long time the Giro has the Tour winner, the Vuelta winner and the defending champion all on the start line and all with a shot to win! this ain't no greg lemond training day... but the kick-side of the whole mess is that all three have been accused of being dirty in the past year - in fact there are rumous about almost the whole start list - oh yea and pretty much every past winner of either of the three races.
So with DeLuca barely making the start with his CAS hearing just ending and Astana getting an invitation at the very last minute and Rabbobank sliding under everyone's radar even with the Tour fiasco last year - the Giro director Angelo Zomegnan said, "Nobody knows if there will be any doping scandals at this year's
Giro d'Italia but I'm hopeful and I think it'll be a great race. There will always be someone who tries
to cheat in sport, just like in life but all the riders have accepted
the biological passport system and have been tested several times."
Beauty there Zomi! Because you were right - Max Richeze of the CSF Group Navigare team's A sample just tested positive for steroids. oops - and he was about to get awarded two stage wins from 2007 because another long time Giro star Alassandro Pettachi got banned for a year for using his inhaler a bit too much a year ago.
So now Alessandro sits at home until August 31st. Oops now he'll miss the Tour and the Vuelta. He'll miss the world championships. He'll lose a bunch of old victories and who knows if he'll even have the incentive to race again.
Let's look at who Unibet is giving the best odds on this year:
1.Klöden, A 3.50 - hmmm. might be clean, but is the only guy from the T-Mobile '06 Tour team that got busted for a late-night dope trip to Freiburg that hasn't been officially named. but doped up or not he is the most underrated Grand Tour rider of the past 10 years.
2. Contador Velasco, A 5.00 - Tour de France winner, every other small stage race in Spain winner, should have been the next Lance Armstrong at Discovery. oh yea and admitted doper Jorg Jaksche says he is AC in the Puerto files. oh but Fuentes says he's not. oh and Contador says he'll take a DNA test and the Spanish say he doesn't have to. But Pat McQuaid thinks he's clear so supports him 100%
3. Di Luca, D 7.50 - Busted in Oct for a 3 year old case (oil for drugs). almost busted again for having the hormone levels of a 13 year old girl. barely escaped being banned a few weeks ago by CAS for oil for drugs. so while his old pal Mazzoleni gets 2 years - he only got 3 months - but both were caught on tape talking about EPO with Dr. Santuccione. hmm.
4. Menchov, D 11.00 - Menchov is like teflon when it comes to doping rumours. When Puerto first came out his name was on the list, but immediately removed. then German TV said in January that he was involved in a blood doping program at an Austrian lab. of course no one has published any proof, but it keeps going... oh yea when he won the vuelta because Heras was busted for EPO he said he didn't really want to be considered the winner... ever heard that one before - cheated out of a huge win and doesn't care? hmm...
5. Simoni, G 12.00 - banned for doping - but ironically it was for cocaine! the only dope Gibo likes is the kind that gets you high not helps you ride high into the mountains...
6. Leipheimer, L 12.00 - of course he's clean as a whistle. of course when he happens to be vacationing at the same hotel as Michelle Ferrari only months after his Gerolsteiner team forced him to cut ties with the controversial Dr it was just a fluke. Little Levi is the almost-all-american dream!!!
7. Soler, M 12.00 - climbing sensation from last year's Tour! no dirt. hopefully doesn't turn into a Rubino. that would suck if he did.
8. Ricco, Riccardo 13.00 - man this kid is exciting. he lit it up in Milan San Remo last year. he followed up by ripping it through the Giro. he pissed Gibo off a bit, but he certainly didn't care. he hasn't been nearly as aggressive this season so far, so he could be like a rocket ready to launch... who knows... hopefully Piepoli brings his inhaler this year to the Giro as the way they switch speeds should work over most of the climbers at this year's Giro.
9. Nibali, V 17.00 - this guy i don't know anything about except that his nickname is The Shark! that's sweet.
10. Pellizotti, F 22.00 - Pellizotti has the best hair in the peloton. it's true at Pozzato gets more press for his hair and wins more races, but Pellizotti will have a great race this year I think. he has a very good team behind him and they don't have to work the race the way they did last year... even though the Astana teal-train will smoke everyone uphill Franco should be up there with the best of the rest.
11. Piepoli, L 28.00 - oops he got caught with more asthma dope in his system last year at the Giro then Pettachi did. but Piepoli's riding and Pettachi is sitting on his ass at home. hmm... can't TT, but with Ricco should be among the few to stick to the Kazakstan Railway and might be able to show himself near the front. he should pray for rain since he seems to ride better in bad weather.
12. Savoldelli, P 35.00 - man this guy just keeps coming back for more punishment. Couldn't get off Astana quick enough when he found out that Johan was taking over. should be a huge asset to DeLuca when DeLuca is chasing back onto the front group after getting dropped in the mountains. still won't help DeLuca get better then 5th.
13. Rujano Guillen, J 35.00 - if this guy doesn't take dope this year he's going to suck again. about as big a waste of a pay check as any team manager could think of. good lucking making it past stage 10...
14. Karpets, V 40.00 - kind of underrated, but has an AWESOME MULLET. I would pick him to finish top 5 if he didn't weigh like 190 pounds. that boy is big and he's gonna need to team up with his pal Menchov to limit his loses in the steep mountains.
15. Sella, E 40.00 - ok so he won stage in 2004. Whatever. i could pick 20 people who will finish higher then he will...
16. Larsson, G E 40.00 - he's a TT specialist in a race with 4 TTs. that's good. but there's also 4 mountain top finishes... ooops. he's gonna get killed. don't bet on him.
17. Garate, J M 50.00 - come on. this guy may be riding on a Specialized, and he was 7th last year. i guess he might not suck. but he sure ain't gonna win this race. I would put good money on him finishing top 10 - but he's a grinder and is going to have to do a lot of work on his own. Quick Step sure ain't build for stage racing.
18. Bruseghin, M 50.00 - i bet he's a bit excited that Cunego isn't racing the Giro so he'll have a chance to make an attempt to lead the team. of course it won't matter at this year's Giro because he's a TT specialist - but an Italian TT specialist which is kind of an oxymoron - like saying he's a good Spanish cyclo-crosser.
19. Zabriskie, D 50.00 - seriously. that's the only guy on Slipstream that Unibet is even laying odds on? I don't know how serious JV wants to take the Giro for his top guys because he's got the Tour coming up, but before Astana got invited I would have picked VandeVelde for top 10 and still might. They have a VERY good team for stage racing and if JV can just keep track of how many seconds separate his boys from the ones who want the jerseys they could come away with a few days in a few new flocks!
