Clarified: The Future of Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo and Il Lombardia

The statements made by Michele Acquarone, Managing Director at RCS Sport, that were quoted in the Dutch De Telegraaf newspaper have been clarified by Acquarone. "My friends of the Telegraaf have exaggerated my thoughts but the substance of what they have written is correct. My comments were much wider than what was reported and which covered the problem of overcrowding on the racing calendar, and the overlap of important races. For example, Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. But, I want to add that Tirreno-Adriatico is a flagship event for RCS Sport and our aim is to give it the right visibility. For years we have a cast that is better than Paris-Nice but we have to collide with the force of ASO (the Tour de France organizer) and the contracts that are "imposed" on broadcasters. We are not so powerful but with the new agreement signed with IMG we hope to move forward. We cannot sit still and suffer forever. "

Acquarone continued regarding moving Milan-Sanremo and Il Lombardia to Sundays rather then the Saturdays when they are held now, "There are those who are studying the problem to ensure that our races are seen by all. Our intent is to further enhance our great heritage, not wasting it."

"The future is now," continued Acquarone. "The UCI has already opened discussions to study how to solve the problem of the calendar and it has already held a first meeting in Paris which was attended by Mauro Vegni. And I'm sure we can reach a good solution for the UCI, for RCS Sport and cycling. These are my thoughts: the Telegraaf exaggerated some comments but I want to be clear that Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo and Il Lombardia will not be touched other than on the calendar."

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page .  

2010 Giro di Lombardia: Results

The planned rider protest at the start in Milan was minimal with only a few riders wearing the "Io corro con il cuore" ("I race with my heart") stickers on their helmets.

The race started under dry conditions but became cold and wet at Lake Como making for absolutely dreadful riding conditions. How bad was it? 195 riders started but only 34 arrived at the finish in Como.

Proving to be best suited for these conditions, and coming off a victory in the Giro del Piemonte only 3 days before, was Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto). Gilbert won his second consecutive Giro di Lombardia by 12 seconds over Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli).

"Today was a really, really hard day. It was cold and there was a lot of rain. It was a tough race but I always go pretty well with the wet and cold. I'm from Belgium, I'm used to it," said Gilbert.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) crashed on the technical descent of the new Colma di Sormano and could never catch back on to the leaders. Scarponi missed a shift at a critical point on the final climb of the race, the San Fermo di Battaglia, when he and Gilbert were riding shoulder to shoulder...literally. Gilbert gained a small gap which Scarponi was not able to close in the remaining few kilometers. No matter, Gilbert was clearly the strongest rider.

Top 10 results:

1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 6:46:32
2 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:12
3 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:00:55
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:08
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
6 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:01:12
7 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:07
8 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:03:01
9 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 0:03:25
10 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha 0:03:50

Photos: by Bettini

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.

Giro di Lombardia: “Io corro con il cuore”

The start of tomorrow's Giro di Lombardia will be delayed 10 minutes due to a rider protest. The protest is against the recent comments of Italian Olympic Committee anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri in which he stated "I'm not the only one saying it. Lately, all of the cyclists I've interrogated have said that everyone dopes. The longer I’m involved in this the more I marvel at how widespread doping is."

Tomorrow the racers, and team staff, will be wearing a yellow sticker that says "Io corro con il cuore" ("I race with my heart"). The motto, chosen by those who devote their lives to cycling, cannot be misunderstood: racing with the heart means to compete with passion, with integrity and with their natural gifts.

A message (as pictured above) in a bottle will be distributed at the start, on the Madonna del Ghisallo, and finish in more than 2,000 bottles. The message discusses the efforts that cycling is making in the fight against doping:
-46,000 blood and urine controls in 4 years, plus implementation of the biological passport
-13 killion euro spent by teams, organizers and riders for antidoping controls
-365 days a year a rider must communicate where he is training, or where he is and where he sleeps
-the professional rider's association contributes 200,000 euro per year to to support anti-doping controls cost
-of the 4 most popular sports analyzed by the AFLD (France) in 2008, cycling was the sport with the least positives

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.

2010 Giro di Lombardia: Saturday, October 16th

The Giro di Lombardia professional race, one of the five "monuments" of the one day classics, will take place on Saturday,October 16th. It is also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves" ("classica delle foglie morte") as it is normally held in October. Originally called the Milano-Milano when it was first held in 1905, it became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907. The 2010 Giro di Lombardia will be the 104th edition of the race; the only years when it has not been held were 1943 and 1944, when it was interrupted by World War II.



The route for this year has changed dramatically to offer a more exciting spectacle for fans. For its 104th edition, "Il Lombardia" will start in Milan; the first time since October 13, 1984, when Bernard Hinault won in Como.

From the start, the course heads almost due north, passing through Como, before passing around the outside of the inverted ‘Y’ of the Lago di Como and the Lago di Lecco. Before reaching Lecco the riders will climb the Intelvi Tartavelle and Colle Balisio. After passing through the city of Lecco, the race takes the familiar banks of the lake in the direction of Bellagio to the base of the iconic climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo.

After the Ghisallo, instead of descending towards Erbe, the race will turn right to pass over the 1124m Colma di Sormano (which replaces the Civiglio ascent). Rising 629m in 9.6km, the Sormano presents a much longer and tougher climb than is usually experienced at this stage of the race. With just 41km to go from the top it will likely thin the peloton further as it makes its way to the finish.

After descending to Nesso, on the banks of the Lago di Como, the course makes its way south once more towards the finish. Once reaching Como though, instead of simply heading towards the lakefront, the race will finally rejoin the route of previous years and tackle the short, sharp climb of San Fermo di Battaglia.

From the top of the climb it is a simple 3.5km descent, followed by a flat 1.5km to the finish so, as so many times before, the leader over the San Fermo di Battaglia will likely be the winner of the race.

Last year’s race was won by Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto). New world champion Thor Hushovd will debut his rainbow jersey.

Invited teams:
AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA)
ASTANA (KAZ)
CAISSE D’EPARGNE (SPA)
EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI (SPA)
FRANCAISE DES JEUX (FRA)
GARMIN – TRANSITIONS (USA)
LAMPRE – VINI FARNESE (ITA)
LIQUIGAS – DOIMO (ITA)
OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO (BEL)
QUICK STEP (BEL)
RABOBANK (OLA)
SKY PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (GBR)
TEAM HTC COLUMBIA (USA)
TEAM KATUSHA (RUS)
TEAM MILRAM (GER)
TEAM SAXO BANK (DAN)
ACQUA E SAPONE – D’ANGELO & ANTENUCCI (ITA)
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI – SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI (ITA)
BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM (FRA)
BMC RACING TEAM (USA)
CARMIOORO NGC (GBR)
CERVELO TEST TEAM (SVI)
COFIDIS, LE CREDIT EN LIGNE (FRA)
COLNAGO – CSF INOX (IRL)
ISD – NERI (ITA)
RADIO SHACK (USA)



Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.