Giro d'Italia Cycling News for May 23, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones

Stage 15 shortened

The 15th stage of the Giro d'Italia has been shortened by 50 kilometres, due to adverse conditions at the start and at the top of the first climb, the Forcola di Livigno. It was raining heavily at the start and there was even some snow at the top of the climb, so race officials decided to move the stage to the bottom of the valley, starting in Villa di Tirano. This will reduce the stage from 205 km to 154 km, and make it essentially flat until the finish in Lissone. In addition, at the entrance of the two 5.8 km finishing circuits in Lissone, all riders in the peloton will be given the same time, which should reduce the risk of crashes.

Follow the 15th stage live on cyclingnews.com.

Basso fights on

Even though he is still suffering from a stomach bug, Team CSC's Ivan Basso has decided to start Monday's stage 15. "When I'm back on my bike, I'll know whether it makes sense to continue in the race," said Basso on the team's website, team-csc.com. Basso is still aiming for a stage victory in the Alps later this week, should he recover sufficiently.

Special day for Parra

Ivan Parra (Selle Italia)
Photo ©: Sirotti

For dual Dolomite stage winner Ivan Parra (Colombia-Selle Italia), the weekend's successes were more than a dream come true. Cyclingnews' John Trevorrow spoke to Parra at the team hotel in the evening after his stage win, where he was relaxing with his teammates.

"Today was a very, very special day," he said. "I hoped to win one stage in the Giro, but to win two is beyond what I could dream. It is the best day of my life. Now that I have two victories, it's incredible for me. I hope in future I can have other victories in grand tours."

Do you think you could win one more in this Giro? "I think it would be very difficult. Two victories is complete for me. I don't really hope for more. I'd like to arrive in Milan in good condition, no crashes, no problems, nothing wrong with my legs."

You have a few Aussie teammates - have you thought about coming to Australia later this year? "Maybe, why not? It's a good opportunity to come to Australia. I don't have any other races in October [referring to the Sun Tour]. I'd like to come to Australia, I hear it's very good."

More post-stage 14 comments

Cyclingnews' John Trevorrow was in Livigno at the end of stage 14, where he spoke to some very tired bike riders.

Charly Wegelius (Liquigas-Bianchi, 27th at 7'39)

How do you feel after two tough days in a row? "Terrible."

Did you expect Di Luca to be a GC contender. "No."

How do you see yourself? "Alright."

Brett Lancaster (Panaria, 82nd at 41'40)

Brett finished slightly ahead of the gruppetto after bombing the day's final descent into Livigno with a few other riders. "I've just been cruising all day, a lot better than yesterday," he said. "I've gotta get up there for the sprints now. That's the hardest stuff out of the way. And then a rest day.

"I'm bloody hungry!" [Rides off in search of food]

Henk Vogels (Davitamon-Lotto, 150th at 42'59)

"I'm stuffed man. Seven and a half hours on a bike over one of the biggest climbs I've ever done in my life. Over 15 hours of riding in two days. But Milan's getting closer.

How's the knee? "Both knees are sore now, but I think it's just from the distance. It's been a huge effort and my knees have been killing me. I don't even know what to say man, I'm delirious."

Matt Wilson and Mark Renshaw (Francaise des Jeux, 155th and 111th at 42'59)

We spoke to Matt Wilson and Mark Renshaw at dinner on Sunday evening, and they were a bit more lucid. "The last two days have been really tough," said Wilson. "The terrain was so tough, no matter how well you're going, it's just hard for everyone. It's also very unusual in a grand tour to get two tough stages in a row. They are definitely the two hardest stages we'll face in this year's Giro.

"I actually struggled a bit today. I had an achilles problem and it started flaring up. I just got myself in survival mode just to get through it."

We reminded Mark Renshaw of his comment that yesterday that was the toughest day: "Well, I've just had the two toughest days I've ever had on a bike. Over 10,000 metres of climbing, 14 hours on the bike. I'm really KO'd."

Renshaw's specialty is the track, so this is a little bit different: "Yeah, not bad for a trackie. I know there's a lot of tough stuff to come. I got through this, so I think I can finish it. It's great for my future. It's a tough grounding but it can help set me off for next year. I've got a lot more confidence in myself in finishing."

With Stage 15 being a sprinters stage and Tuesday being a rest day, the FDJ boys can look forward to taking it easy over the next couple of days. "We've got four rest days," Matt clarified. "Tomorrow's a sprint day. I've got no sprinter. Then the rest day, then another sprinter's stage, then a time trial. That's a rest day for me."

"I might have to have a go in that," Mark chimed in.

Wilson added, "We've been lucky with the weather, it's been great. If we'd had a nasty day today, it would have been and extra hour on the bike and 40 more people out of the bike race. It's not just on the climbs where it's heavier and cold, it's also on the descents. These roads have so much rubber on them, you get them wet and they are really treacherous."

Trent Wilson (Colombia-Selle Italia, 157th at 42'59)

When we spoke to Trent in the morning, he was suffering from his crash towards the end of Saturday's stage, which left him with a swollen foot and aches all over his body. But he survived the 14th stage...just.

"Mate, I was going up the Stelvio, and I was seriously thinking I was having a bad dream. Last night, I woke up six or seven times, with sore bones, muscles, everything, from the crash and just the tour in general. I thought I was dreaming. I've never been in so much pain in all my life, and I never thought I'd get over the Stelvio, let alone finish the stage.

"I know I'm having a well deserved beer now, but gee I really did struggle today. I went out the back on the first climb with a big group, but we got back on. But then on the flat section, I was going out the back. I was in the convoy three or four times and I thought, 'how am I going to get over the Stelvio?' Got to the Stelvio, got in the gruppetto, but I was on and off the whole time in the convoy. The descent was alright but then to get to Livigno, I was in and out of the convoy. I spent more time in the convoy than in the actual bunch. I think the directors were getting sick of looking at my backside.

"Let's hope tomorrow is just a nice sunny day, just cruise into the finish. Then rest day Tuesday, if I could get through today, I can do anything, I can jump through walls."

Russell Van Hout (Colombia-Selle Italia, 158th at 42'59)

"Today I was a lot better," said Russell. "The last couple of times I crossed the line in those mountain days, I've been absolutely finished. That day when I had to chase down to the time limit almost ruined me. I reckon I'm just getting over it. Today I just climb a lot easier, I had a better rhythm, and I knew it was a good group. I was pretty happy we didn't have to race up the Stelvio. I was actually checking out some of the scenery with Rory."

You could have done that yesterday? "No way. My teeth were stuck into the headstem."

"Today was a lot better. I'm still really sore in the legs and that, but when I looked around today, I saw that two thirds of the bunch were hurting like me and that made me feel better. I got through today quite comfortably, so I have another rest day cruising in the middle of the bunch tomorrow, then a rest day Tuesday. I'd like to have another attack on Wednesday though."

What about the time trial? "Nope, I don't think I've got the legs to do a time trial. But if I can get in another breakaway that'd be nice. Hopefully I can have a good day Wednesday because it goes through the town I used to live in [Novi Ligure]. I'd like to go up the road because I have a lot of fans in that town. I'd like to go well."

Valjavec: "Second place is like a win"

With his second place in the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia, 28 year old Tadej Valjavec (Phonak) celebrated the biggest success of his career to date. With it the Slovenian's Giro, which up until now has been disappointing, has been saved.

After finishing ninth overall last year, Tadej Valjavec envisaged finishing in the top six. He geared his entire training towards this tour, but until last Friday, saw no results. Now Valjavec has progressed up the leader board with his fifth place on Saturday and his second place on Sunday. It won't be enough for a top 10 GC place, but Valjavec is still happy with his result thanks to his efforts in the two stages: "I can now take a relaxed approach into the final week," he said.

How do you rate this success? "For me this second place is like a win. The feeling of success is very important for me and it came at just the right moment. I was ill, had come off my bike and my self-confidence had diminished. I wanted one thing: To go home. But everyone said to me that I can still ride well. There is still one week left of the Giro. Thanks to the 13th and 14th stages I am happy with my achievement"

How did you manage to motivate yourself for these difficult stages through the dolomites after the lows? I don't really know myself where I suddenly gained the self-confidence to attack. My family and entourage motivated me. But most of all, I think it was a higher power that helped me."

How did you find today's stage? "It was very difficult, yet also the nicest stage of this year's Giro. In summer I often train here around Livigno. I know a lot of people here and really like the scenery. I wanted to ride well here. I succeeded in it and I am overjoyed."

Baranowski wants a perfect 10

32 year-old Pole Dariusz Baranowski is one of the stalwarts of the Liberty Seguros team during the Giro. Nicknamed "Darek" by his teammates, Baranowski is in pursuit of a "perfect 10": to complete his 10th grand tour without abandoning. In his 11 year career, Baranowski has ridden five Tours de France, two Vueltas a España, and two Giri d'Italia, and finished them all.

Baranowski has ridden in three of the best teams in the world: US Postal until 1998, Banesto from 1999-2002, and in Liberty Seguros since last year, after one season with the Polish CCC team. "In these three teams I have been fine," he said. "When I was in US Postal, it was a team that was beginning and that little by little was becoming big. Then, in Banesto, I worked for the big leaders as Zülle or Chava Jiménez, and here in Liberty Seguros-Würth, I have continued doing the same work for Roberto Heras or now Scarponi.

Baranowski just missed out on being part of Lance Armstrong's incredible six Tours in a row, leaving the team at the end of 1998. "In 98, Lance did not do the Tour as I did, but he went to the Vuelta. We coincide in some other races and in the preseason, but since then, when we meet, we always chat a bit."

Why did you change to Banesto, did they make you an offer? "Yes, because of it, and because that year there were many changes in US Postal. I was one of those that left."

Of these three teams, which environment do you like the most? "Initially I liked that of US Postal, because it was my first team, but then I started feeling good in Spain and now, in Liberty Seguros-Würth, I feel like I'm with my family."

In the Giro you finished 12th in 2003, with CCC. Were you the leader at the time? "No, we came with Pavel Tonkov as leader, but he had to abandon after two weeks and I ended up being the leader, although the race was very advanced I limited myself to following the best wheels, because we did not have team for anything else either."

Which other Giro did you ride? "2002 was the first one, when Banesto came with Piepoli as leader."

How do you see the Giro overall? "It is very nice, with a parcours that's always very hard, because the Italian climbs have steep slopes. I like the race, though I prefer the Tour's climbs, longer and not as steep."

And the Giro 2005? "I believe that it is the hardest of recent years and, especially, with the ProTour, the best teams of the world have come, the participation has improved and gained prestige. This year looks like more the Tour, it's much more competitive."

Of the three grand tours, which do you like the most? "The Tour has the most prestige, but the Vuelta a España is the one I like most. I don't know exactly why, but it has very nice mountains."

Although he continues living in Poland, Dariusz Baranowski spends long periods in Lloret de Mar, Spain, where he used to bring his wife, Agnieszka, and his son, Alan. "Now it is more difficult, because Alan is already eight years old and goes to the school, but when he was smaller we were coming to Spain with two of my dogs."

Dogs? "I have five, two Alsatian dogs that live in the garden, and three bulldogs that are inside the house, two French bulldogs, smaller (about 15 kilos each) and an English bulldog that we have bought now."

Why the interest in bulldogs? "Because they are very nice and have a character that they seem to be almost human."

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