Wednesday 30 March 2011

Dolce Terre Novi

Stivali !

over 1500 riders are down to ride the gran fondo 'Dolce Terre Novi' in Novi Ligure this Sunday, the weather will be good too...

Speroni !

Saturday 26 March 2011

Berzano di San Pietro & San Paolo Solbrito

Stivali !

Another fantastic day for a ride upto the highspot of today  - Albugnano, via Pino d'Asti. Both classic Piemontese hilltop villages with stunning views of the Alps, a 180 degree panorama. A nice twisting descent follows en route to Berzano di San Pietro. After a short climb to Moncucco Torinese it was virtually all downhill after. Through Buttigliera, San Paolo Solbrito and back to Montafia where Loz put in a series of sprint efforts to the surprise of the Cafe ride locals.

Speroni !

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Casasco - today's ride

Stivali !

Beautiful day for a bike ride. Riding into Monferrato's rolling hills and shallow valleys.
I turned left to Viale on the way back on one of those flat valley roads and saw a rider just ahead & thought I'd catch up & say 'ciao'. However, this guy was obviously a strong bugger. A 10 second gap opened to 15. I closed it back to 10 but no more after 10 minutes of trying between 40 & 45 kph.
He wasn't going my way home, I turned right up to Valmezzana. That was a slow climb after the chase. My excuse, he had deep aero wheels ;-)
Maybe I'll catch him next time.

Speroni !

First Ride Review: Specialized Epic Comp Carbon 29 | Cyclingnews.com

First Ride Review: Specialized Epic Comp Carbon 29 | Cyclingnews.com

Stivali !

specialized now know how to make a 29er

Speroni !

Monday 21 March 2011

interesting article on bbc sport - cycling

Stivali !

This sounds positive, lets see what happens; bbc sport - cycling

Jonathan Vaughters' 10-point plan to reinvigorate cycling:
1. More races of the highest level outside of Europe.
2. Consistent, understandable formats for cycling fans.
3. Long-term guaranteed entry to the Tour de France for professional teams.
4. More focus on prevention of doping, in the first place, as opposed to catching cheats.
5. More team-time trials more often.
6. Technical innovation, such as cameras on bikes, inside cars, helmets, inside team buses to make the "craziness and danger of the peloton more real to the viewer".
7. Equipment innovation to see if the the smartest team wins sometimes, rather than the strongest.
8. Open radios to the public and listen to your favourite team and what they are doing.
9. GPS tracking of individual riders to make races fun to watch.
10. Have an understandable and consistent way of determining the best rider in the world and the best team in the world. That might mean riders have to ride Paris-Roubaix, and if they do not finish they would be docked points.

Speroni !

Sunday 20 March 2011

Today's ride - Monale

Stivali !

Only had time for a quick ride today to Monale. A bit blowy but nice weather, still in tights & light gloves & overshoes.
All the locals we passed must have still been aware of Milan San Remo taking place only yesterday as they saluted us with more vigour than usual.
By the way, congratulations to Matt Goss, but a special word also to Michele Scarponi who did a great ride too (fantastic effort on Cipressa). Gilbert & Nibali were my favourites, they did really well but were unlucky in this long race where anything can happen.
If you missed it, some highlights are here in two parts:
Part 1
Part 2

Speroni !

Friday 18 March 2011

MSR 2011

Stivali !

Yes, I am excited. Can't wait.
The weather has picked up too.
Bella !
Here's Claudio winning in 1991 care of steephill.tv


Speroni !

Italia 150 years old

Stivali !

Yesterday was Saint Patrick's day, twiddly-diddly-dee ! It was also a significant day in Italy's history. Yesterday was also the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification. Torino was where it all started in 1861. The first parliamentary building of today's was Palazzo Carignano, one of my favourite buildings in Torino, fantastic baroque architecture & the inside is spectacular too.
 
Here are some other images from our stroll through the streets yesterday:
The queue outside the gelateria....
3 stripes, tri-colore
the streets were full
 amore...
tricolori flags everywhere
 the most prestigious cioccolataria in Torino...
nice chair..
 via cavour

 Piemonte, the home of Martini
 nice to see all the shops celebrating






 Coffee anyone?

Speroni !

Thursday 17 March 2011

MIlan San Remo 2011

Stivali !

With so many past winners on the start line, and so many favourites, it should be a great race......
Here's the start list:
  • Rabobank Cycling Team
  • 1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa)
  • 2 Lars Boom (Ned)
  • 3 Michael Matthews (Aus)
  • 4 Rick Flens (Ned)
  • 5 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned)
  • 6 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned)
  • 7 Bram Tankink (Ned)
  • 8 Maarten Wijnants (Bel)
  • Acqua & Sapone
  • 11 Danilo Napolitano (Ita)
  • 12 Paolo Ciavatta (Ukn)
  • 13 Massimo Codol (Ita)
  • 14 Alessandro Donati (Ita)
  • 15 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita)
  • 16 Claudio Corioni (Ita)
  • 17 Simone Masciarelli (Ita)
  • 18 Fabio Taborre (Ita)
  • AG2R La Mondiale
  • 21 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita)
  • 22 Martin Elmiger (Swi)
  • 23 Sébastien Hinault (Fra)
  • 24 Biel Kadri (Fra)
  • 25 Sébastien Minard (Fra)
  • 26 Lloyd Mondory (Fra)
  • 27 Matteo Montaguti (Ita)
  • 28 Anthony Ravard (Fra)
  • Androni Giocattoli
  • 31 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa)
  • 32 Roberto Ferrari (Ita)
  • 33 Luca Barla (Ita)
  • 34 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita)
  • 35 Giairo Ermetti (Ita)
  • 36 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita)
  • 37 Luca Solari (Ita)
  • 38 Antonio Santoro (Ukn)
  • BMC Racing Team
  • 41 Alessandro Ballan (Ita)
  • 42 Marcus Burghardt (Ger)
  • 43 George Hincapie (USA)
  • 44 Danilo Wyss (Swi)
  • 45 Karsten Kroon (Ned)
  • 46 Ivan Santaromita (ITA)
  • 47 Michael Schär (Swi)
  • 48 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel)
  • Colnago – CSF Inox
  • 51 Sacha Modolo (Ukn)
  • 52 Manuel Belletti (Ita)
  • 53 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita)
  • 54 Stefano Pirazzi (Ukn)
  • 55 Simone Stortoni (Ita)
  • 56 Marco Frapporti (Ita)
  • 57 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita)
  • 58 Gianluca Brambilla (Ukn)
  • Cofidis,Le Credit en Ligne
  • 61 Leonardo Duque (Col)
  • 62 Kevin Ista (Bel)
  • 63 KEUKELEIRE Jens (Bel)
  • 64 Arnaud Labbe (Fra)
  • 65 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat)
  • 66 Nico Sijmens (Bel)
  • 67 Tristan Valentin (Fra)
  • 68 Romain Zingle (Bel)
  • Euskaltel – Euskadi
  • 71 Daniel Sesma (Spa)
  • 72 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa)
  • 73 Francisco Javier Aramendia Llorente (Spa)
  • 74 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa)
  • 75 Ivan Murillo Velasco (Spa)
  • 76 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa)
  • 77 Amets Txurruka (Spa)
  • 78 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa)
  • Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli
  • 81 Giovanni Visconti (Ita)
  • 82 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn)
  • 83 Francesco Failli (Ita)
  • 84 Oscar Gatto (Ita)
  • 85 Leonardo Giordani (Ita)
  • 86 Elia Favilli (Ita)
  • 87 Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita)
  • 88 Patrick Sinkewitz (Ger)
  • FDJ
  • 91 William Bonnet (Fra)
  • 92 Mickael Delage (Fra)
  • 93 Anthony Geslin (Fra)
  • 94 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra)
  • 95 Yoann Offredo (Fra)
  • 96 Dominique Rollin (Can)
  • 97 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus)
  • 98 Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra)
  • Geox-TMC
  • 101 Matthias Brändle (Aut)
  • 102 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa)
  • 103 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa)
  • 104 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa)
  • 105 Marko Kump (Slo)
  • 106 RATTO Daniele (Ita)
  • 107 Tomas Alberio (Ukn)
  • 108 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita)
  • HTC-Highroad
  • 111 Mark Cavendish (GBr)
  • 112 Michael Albasini (Swi)
  • 113 Lars Ytting Bak (Den)
  • 114 Bernhard Eisel (Aut)
  • 115 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus)
  • 116 Mark Renshaw (Aus)
  • 117 Bert Grabsch (Ger)
  • 118 Peter Velits (Svk)
  • Katusha Team
  • 121 Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
  • 122 Leif Hoste (Bel)
  • 123 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus)
  • 124 Vladimir Goussev (Rus)
  • 125 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus)
  • 126 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr)
  • 127 Luca Paolini (Ita)
  • 128 Vladimir Isiachev (Rus)
  • Lampre – ISD
  • 131 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita)
  • 132 Michele Scarponi (Ita)
  • 133 Grega Bole (Slo)
  • 134 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita)
  • 135 Danilo Hondo (Ger)
  • 136 Matteo Bono (Ita)
  • 137 Manuele Mori (Ita)
  • 138 Diego Ulissi (Ukn)
  • Liquigas-Cannondale
  • 141 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
  • 142 Peter Sagan (Svk)
  • 143 Valerio Agnoli (Ita)
  • 144 Tiziano Dall\’antonia (Ita)
  • 145 Damiano Caruso (Ita)
  • 146 Mauro Finetto (Ita)
  • 147 Kristijan Koren (Slo)
  • 148 Alan Marangoni (Ita)
  • Movistar Team
  • 151 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita)
  • 152 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu)
  • 153 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr)
  • 154 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa)
  • 155 Branislau Samoilau (Blr)
  • 156 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa)
  • 157 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa)
  • 158 Andrei Amador Bipkazacova (Crc)
  • Omega Pharma-Lotto
  • 161 Philippe Gilbert (Bel)
  • 162 André Greipel (Ger)
  • 163 Adam Hansen (Aus)
  • 164 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel)
  • 165 Sebastian Lang (Ger)
  • 166 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa)
  • 167 Marcel Sieberg (Ger)
  • 168 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin)
  • Pro Team Astana
  • 171 Allan Davis (Aus)
  • 172 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita)
  • 173 Assan Bazayev (Kaz)
  • 174 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita)
  • 175 Andriy Grivko (Ukr)
  • 176 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz)
  • 177 Simon Clarke (Aus)
  • 178 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)
  • Quickstep Cycling Team
  • 181 Tom Boonen (Bel)
  • 182 Marco Bandiera (Ita)
  • 183 Davide Malacarne (Ita)
  • 184 Francesco Reda (Ita)
  • 185 Niki Terpstra (Ned)
  • 186 Jérôme Pineau (Fra)
  • 187 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
  • 188 Kevin Van Impe (Bel)
  • Saxo Bank Sungard
  • 191 Baden Cooke (Aus)
  • 192 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe)
  • 193 Juan José Haedo (Arg)
  • 194 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den)
  • 195 Michael Christiansen Morkov (Den)
  • 196 Nick Nuyens (Bel)
  • 197 David Tanner (Aus)
  • 198 Matteo Tosatto (Ita)
  • Sky Procycling
  • 201 Bradley Wiggins (GBr)
  • 202 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor)
  • 203 Geraint Thomas (GBr)
  • 204 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa)
  • 205 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor)
  • 206 Michael Rogers (Aus)
  • 207 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe)
  • 208 Ian Stannard (GBr)
  • Team Garmin-Cervelo
  • 211 Thor Hushovd (Nor)
  • 212 Tyler Farrar (USA)
  • 213 Heinrich Haussler (Ger)
  • 214 Roger Hammond (GBr)
  • 215 Andreas Klier (Ger)
  • 216 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu)
  • 217 Johan Van Summeren (Bel)
  • 218 Matthew Wilson (Aus)
  • Team Leopard-Trek
  • 221 Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
  • 222 Daniele Bennati (Ita)
  • 223 Wouter Weylandt (Bel)
  • 224 Linus Gerdemann (Ger)
  • 225 Fabian Wegmann (Ger)
  • 226 Anders Lund Den (Den)
  • 227 Stuart O\’Grady (Aus)
  • 228 Robert Wagner (Ger)
  • Team Radioshack
  • 231 Robbie McEwen (Aus)
  • 232 Robert Hunter (RSA)
  • 233 Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Por)
  • 234 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)
  • 235 Grégory Rast (Swi)
  • 236 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)
  • 237 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)
  • 238 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
  • Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
  • 241 Borut Bozic (Slo)
  • 242 Thomas De Gendt (Bel)
  • 243 Björn Leukemans (Bel)
  • 244 Marco Marcato (Ita)
  • 245 Jens Mouris (Ned)
  • 246 Alberto Ongarato (Ita)
  • 247 Romain Feillu (Fra)
  • 248 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita)

Speroni !