Il Giro di Lombardia

Il Giro di Lombardia, also know as Il Lombardia, also known as "La Classica delle Folgie Morte" (The Race of the Falling Leaves) was today. The weather was less than ideal, light rain for most of the race, but nothing compared to the downpour last year, or even more recently, last week at the Worlds. This race is definitely a lot harder though. While this race had only four major climbs compared to the up and down (saliscendi) of Toscana, the climbs here are a lot longer and a lot steeper. These are the Alps. These are mountain pass roads. Okay, not the Stelvio or the Gavia but really hard climbs none-the-less. Combine that with rain, a particularly sketchy descent off the Colma di Sormano, and you have one hell of a race.

The usual allotment of about 180 riders or so started the race. By the time they got to where I was watching from, on the steep upper slopes of the Madonna del Ghisallo, there was Thomas Voeckler and a pursuing pack of no more than forty, with few big names (Gilbert and Contador) popped out the back. Luckily it wasn't pouring, and I was even able to forgo my borrowed umbrella for a while to get some nice pictures. The best thing about switch backs is that you can watch the riders come up them, and then run to the other side before they get there to get another photo.
The excitement was greater than the Worlds. I think the weather dampened things a bit in Firenze. Plus, in the Worlds race, you get to see them come a whole bunch of times. In a point-to-point race, you get one shot to get that photo and cheer your favorite riders on. It was a stacked field too so there was a lot of cheering (though the tufosi will cheer for everyone, even the fat touring cyclists coming up after the race is well and gone). Also, the first official's car has a PA speaker on the roof. That insight into the race combined with the sound of the helicopter makes for an electric atmosphere. The anticipation is even more exciting than the race itself sometimes.
As usual, with bike races, I spent a lot of time waiting around today. Luckily with my hotel being less than a kilometer from where I wanted to stand to watch the race, I was able to sit inside and stay warm and dry, watching the live stream on Rai Sport on my iPad until they hit the base of the Ghisallo. Finally at around 3:30 I made my way down there, the racers came by, and it was back to the hotel to watch the finale online.

I was really rooting for Voeckler. He rides with panache and really goes for it. Sometimes it works out gloriously for him, other times, it's an epic effort that just leads to failure. Unfortunately for him, it was the latter today. He got caught on the final climb with 10km to go to the finish. But a great effort and made the race very exciting. You can always count on him for that. I was originally rooting for, like most of Italy, Vincenzo Nibali, but unfortunately he crashed really hard at the base of the Colma di Sormano and climbed into the ambulance with only 90km remaining.
So, if you didn't watch, or haven't read online yet, defending champion Joaquin Rodriguez, by attacking in the last kilometer of the steep final climb and holding off Valverde on the descent into Lecco, won the race. It was surely a great redemption for him after coming so close last week in Firenze. New World Champion Rui Costa was unable to hang-on on the flat roads before the final climb and slipped back after putting in a little work for teammate and today's runner-up Valverde.

All in all, it was a great race. It's the last big race of the season, the last bike race I'll see this year. Upon waiting for the riders to come along today, I realized nearly every bike race I went to this year it has rained. Granted it didn't rain all week for the Worlds, it more than made up for it on the final day for the biggest event, so that's what I'm taking into consideration. Regardless, bike racing is great, especially when you get to see the big stars fight it out over here amongst the tufosi in Italy.
This will conclude my Lombardia chapter of my trip. Tomorrow it is off to an entirely new experience in Orvieto, Umbria. I heard it is a wonderful place. It will be nice to be back in a town to walk around at night, and seeing the sun again is much anticipated. All in all, my time here "living on top of the mountain" in Lombardia has been spectacular. The quiet surrounds and the smell of burning wood lingering in the cool moist air reminds me of home. I've meet so many great people, rode so many amazing roads, it's been an absolutely beautiful experience.

Dan Martin was hoping for victory and he came close. He managed 5th after failing to follow Purito's (Rodriguez) attack, then suffering a mechanical or crash in the finale (not sure what happened).

Ivan Basso was another hope for today, but I think his time in the spotlight is gone. A lot of other racers of his generation, Dave Zabriskie, Juan Antonio Flecha, Marco Pinotti raced their last race today. Maybe it's time Ivan to hang up the wheels (even though I said the same thing about Horner and look at him. Ivan was riding strong at the Vuelta until he was forced to abandon due to hypothermic conditions).

Rui Costa near the front in his new Rainbow Jersey. He went with the white shorts which is not customary and flies in the face of tradition, but maybe we is thinking to next year, when he's switching to Lampre. There is no way he's wearing neon pink and blue shorts with a white rainbow jersey. That would look worse than AG2R's shit brown shorts (which by the way, look a lot worse in person than they do on tv, I was surprised).

Captions for selected photos above:

Philippe Gilbert just couldn't hang in there on the climbs today, even though he has twice won this race in the past. However, it allowed me to get the best shot of any cyclist I've ever gotten so, thanks for falling off the back Phil!

Voeckler parts the tufosi, who, even though he is French, were supportive of his brave efforts.