Saving the fireworks for a live TV Saturday audience, the Giro took another fateful turn today as pre-race favorite Cadel Evans, wearing the world champion’s rainbow jersey, won the stage and pre-race self-promoter Alexander Vinokourov regained the leader’s pink jersey by 1:12 over Evans and 1:29 over David Millar, who hasn’t gotten much attention but bears serious watching.
As we’ve said practically from Day 1, this year’s Giro d’Italia has been a joy to watch, setting a new standard for early-on stage racing thrills and spills. VeloNews provides a nice retrospective of Week 1.
Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong awaits tomorrow’s start of the Tour of California while expressing doubt that 2010 will be a banner year for The King. The problem is simple logistics: He’s not getting into racing form so far this year. He’s missed some big spring classics and not doing the Giro so he can compete in the Tour of California, a far lesser event. And then there’s all the promotional stuff, and a new baby on the way, and on and on…
We’ve all been there. So perhaps Lance can be forgiven if this story is true.