GranFondo USA Series Changes from Colnago to Cannondale

The GranFondo USA series, now owned by Star-Events from Monaco, is changing sponsors from Colnago to Cannondale. All the series locations are now identified as GranFondo Cannondale followed by the location name. Events this year will be held in San Diego, LA – Beverly Hills, Philadelphia, Vail, Reno and Miami.

Visit here for latest news.

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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 2,300 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.

La Sterrata, a Gran Fondo on the Strade Bianche

Now, something in between L'Erocia for vintage bikes on strade bianche and the "Strade Bianche" pro's race: La Sterrata, a gran fondo on those same dusty roads. This event will be holding its 2nd edition on June 24th starting in Bucine (AR),in Tuscany. Distances are 132 and 85 km.

Video from first edition last year:


Entry details, only in Italian, are here.

My thanks to Uli from Gran Fondo New York for the tip.

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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 2,300 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.

Win a Trip to the 2012 Giro d'Italia

Santini and Nashbar (a U.S. company) are sponsoring a contest for a trip to the 2012 Giro d'Italia.
Self explanatory:


Or, go to Facebook here.


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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 2,300 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.

Attenzione: 2012 L'Eroica Field Limits and Registration

Field limits were imposed for the first time for last year's L'Eroica. That will be the case again for this year's edition.

The field limit is 3,000 of which 2,200 slots are for Italians and 800 slots for foreigners (an increase of 300 for foreigners from last year). The field limit applies to anyone between 15 and 60. If you are over 60 years of age the field limit does not apply, whether you are Italian or not, but you must still register. According to the rules riders over 65 cannot ride the long course of 205km.

Registration begins on March 1st at www.eroica-ciclismo.it Don't delay.

Participation in L'Eroica is strictly limited to vintage bikes according to the rules on the website.

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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 2,300 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.

The Actual CAS Report on Contador Decision

If you wish to to read the actual report issued by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)in its decision against Alberto Contador you can read it here; this is a pdf file of scans of the CAS document, it is published on the Spanish newspaper El Pais website. The report is in English.

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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 2,300 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.

"Bad Day" for Giro d'Italia

This afternoon Michele Acquarone, Managing Director at RCS Sport which owns the Giro d'Italia, tweeted "Bad day" in reference to today's suspension of Alberto Contador and the retroactive stripping of Contador's 2011 Giro d'Italia victory.

Later, Acquarone told cyclingnews.com , "I'm very upset but we can’t be quiet on this, I will need to produce a new trophy. Until this morning Alberto Contador was our winner. Tomorrow we’ll have a committee meeting and we’ll discuss if there’s anything we can do and how to work to protect our races. I believe big damage has been caused to the Giro, and there’s a big problem but I want to discuss it all with the staff and the CEO to understand. I’ve not read the sentence and what the judges have said but right now it’s too early. I need to take some time to understand and discuss with my people. Tomorrow we will make our position."

The idea of "how to work to protect our races" is exactly the dilemma that then race director Angelo Zomegnan faced in March, 2011, two months before the start of the Giro. His words at the time, "The sport's justice process is slower than we would wish. Clearly, something is not working in the guarantee of our event. I have my hands tied, I can not tell Contador to go home if he and his team want to take part. There is always the presumption of innocence and Contador at the moment is an acquitted athlete in a process and is free to race. But it is clear that this is not the ideal situation."

Obviously, this situation cannot be allowed to happen again. It will be interesting to see what changes are made in the UCI rules to prevent a re-occurrence of this kind, or if RCS Sport can take unilateral action to protect their event.

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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 2,300 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.

Michele Scarponi Becomes 2011 Giro d'Italia Winner

After a seemingly forever 566 days Alberto Contador was today handed a two year suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the presence of clenbuterol in his urine sample during the 2010 Tour de France.

The suspension means that Contador will lose race results dating back to the 2010 Tour de France and includes the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Andy Schleck will become the 2010 Tour de France winner. Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) becomes the winner of the 2011 Giro d'Italia with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) moving into 2nd place and John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale) moving into 3rd.

Of the CAS decision Michele Scarponi said, "Together with my team, Lampre-ISD, I acknowledge the decision by the CAS about the Contador case. For what concerns the human aspect, I'm very sorry for Alberto. For what concerns the professional aspect, this decision doesn't change the value of the results I obtained and the targets for the future"

The two year suspension for Contador ends August 5th, 2012, which only leaves the Vuelta a España as the only grand tour he can contest this year.

Related Stories:
The Giro and the Contador Problem
The Giro and the Contador Problem, Part II
Contador Wins 2011 Giro d'Italia
2010 Tour de France: Contador Wins, Petacchi Takes Green Jersey

Photo: 2011 Giro d'Italia podium

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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 2,300 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.