Sports Tidbits

The Killer Diluca at Il Giro
Former Giro champ Danilo Diluca is on fine form and is currently dominating the Giro. That could all change tomorrow with a 61km individual time trial, which Diluca isn't the best at. Poised to challenge Diluca are quie a few time trialists that can climb well and are close enough to look at. Leading these are Denis Menchov, perhaps the best climber of the challengers, the others are Michael Rogers, Levi Leipheimer and Ivan Basso. Universal Sports network has been covering the Giro both on the computer as well as on cable tv. Make sure to check the coverage tomorrow and see how things shake out.

Tejay in Europe
Coloradan Tejay Van Garderen, who is currently residing in Holland and racing for the Rabobank Continental team, won the French stage race the Tour of the Haut Anjou which finished on May 10th. Van Garderen used a strong opening stage in which he finished second to put himself into contention for the overall and he took third the next day in the individual time trial to put himself into the lead. With the strong Rabo Conti team at his disposal, Van Garderen was able to defend the lead and take out the overall victory. More young Colorado fire power getting ready to conquer Europe. With the likes of Taylor Phinney, Peter Stetina, Daniel Summerhill and so many others, Colorado continues to show the way for American bike racing. Too bad the local event organizers and the ACA can't step up to the plate quite as well. There's just not enough great events in Colorado any more.

Armstrong pumps up Ritter
It was curious to see a press release in the papers last week from Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. What made it interesting was the fact that Lance Armstrong had called Ritter to express concern and interest in helping to re-vitalize the flailing Colorado cycling scene. The days of the Coors Classic are long gone and Armstrong was looking to get something going. The interesting part was that the press release indicated that Lance had called and wanted to talk. Hhhmmmm, Ritter release a statement to the press that basically said, "Lance called me, wow that's sooooo coooool." Right on Gov, it is cool.

Tiny Crit courses
This past Sunday saw the traditional North Boulder Park Criterium which takes place at the former finish of the great Coors Classic. Many years of summer fun were highlighted by the raucous party at North Boulder Park as the likes of Davis Phinney, Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault did battle around the quaint venue. Today's event bares little resemblance to the old race however and today's version is coming under substantial scrutiny. It seems the course is just to tight and short to provide a proper test. One racer who finished the Pro 1/2 race towards the back of the 31 strong lead group commented, "I spent the entire day trying to move up, I had a teammate in the front but as hard as I tried, I never saw him and could never do anything to get to the front, the course was just to tight to get up there." Come on Colorado promoters, enough of the 1km, twisty crit courses. People don't want to pay $30 to come out and line up on the front line out of panic and fear and race single file for 15 minutes until they get dropped or crashed. Then, if they made the selection, they can look forward to a backpack or gift certificate for a prize. Awesome. Seriously, it can be better, stop doing just the minimum, stop being lazy and provide a great race, not just a "race".

Aspen Weekend
The Independence Pass hill climb on Saturday and the Aspen Criterium on Sunday has turned into one of the best bike racing weekends in the state. Even though these are both un-sanctioned events, the lameness of both the ACA and the USAC make the Aspen weekend a refreshing, less stressful experience. Remember next May when considering where to race, consider coming to Aspen, lodging is cheap that time of year, the weather is great, the Pass is still closed to traffic and the downtown crit is fun, exciting and fast. Next spring make it Aspen.