The longest stage of the 2006 Giro d’ Italia also featured the first major mountain pass (Monte Catria) which brought out the favorites as they began to test their climbing legs. Clocking in at over 230 kilometers it was a long day in the saddle for the pro riders as they made their way through the scenic Italian countryside. It was breathtaking to watch on cycling.tv, this part of Italy is quite dramatic looked with very step mountains and valley roads.
Their was the usual suicide breakaway early that featured five somewhat unknown riders, at one time these brave men had gained over 5 minutes on the peleton. However as the final climb drew near the Lampre boys fancied their leader Damiano Cunego and reduced the lead to seconds by the final kilometer. At the base of the final climb all the big men were lined up.
Danielson and Savoldelli for the Discovery Team, Basso with a couple of CSC team mates as well as Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) and Cunego for Lampre. While the Lampre squad did all the work to bring back the break it was Paolo Savoldelli who took advantage of the 3 kilometer climb and the time bonuses at the end of today’s stage. Lead out by Danielson Savoldelli managed second place in today’s stage, beating Basso by six seconds and collecting a 12 second time bonus that has moved the Discovery Channel rider into second place over all on the General Classification. He trails Serhiy Honchar of the Ukraine by 5 seconds, and is ahead of Basso by 6 seconds who also moved up today by taking third place in todays stage.
In trouble today was Danilo Di Luca who was in the leading group on the last two climbs but seamed to be just hanging on for dear life. Di Luca did manage to get himself at the front of the peleton at the base of the last climb, so he did not loose too much time … it just seamed as he was having an off day.
Ok, lets talk Ullrich… his form is really coming along nicely now. He stayed with the leaders on every climb today and looked fairly fresh, while these climbs today were not huge they were mountains none the less. I do think Ullrich will get dropped in the big crazy climbs in this years Giro (check out stage stage 17), he is not a climber but, all in all his form is improving and he could be riding into his best Tour de France form in years (time will tell).
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