Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand

Exciting Giro Finale: Now and 20 Years Ago

Bruce Hildenbrand — Sat, 31 May 2008 04:59:17 GMT

The Giro heads into an extremely exciting final weekend in which the top three riders are separated by only 21 seconds. Saturday the race climbs the grueling Passo Gavia and the fearsome Passo Mortirolo and the final day features a 17-mile individual time trial. You have to go back 20 years to find a Giro which included both the Gavia Pass and a final stage time trial and guess what, an American won the whole enchilada!

Andy Hampsten's historic victory is most remembered for the stage which has become know as "The Day Strong Men Cried". It was on the slopes of the Gavia Pass, in the midst of a horrific blizzard, that Hampsten showed us the character of a true champion. While almost every other rider in the race was thinking only of survival, Andy rode away from his competitors and into the teeth of a snowstorm that turned the 8600' pass into a chaotic mess.

Conditions were so bad that most riders stopped on top and hopped into their team cars to warm up. But not Hampsten. He knew that the real race was going to be on the descent where the loss of the body heat he was generating going up the 4500' climb was going to end and the shivering would begin. There were no follow vehicles, no race radios, Andy headed down into the 5500' descent all by himself. There would be no help of any kind for him on the way down, he was literally on his own.

This blog isn't long enough to describe the tortuous ordeal in the detail it so rightly deserves, suffice it to say that Andy persevered and took the maglia rosa, the pink jersey signifying the race leader, at the finish. And just to prove that he deserved to be in pink, he and his Team 7-Eleven defended the jersey in the final week which included three mountain stages, a mountain time trial and a final stage time trial near Venice.

If the current media coverage, Versus TV, cycling.tv, the Internet, etc. had been around 20 years ago Andy would be a huge hero in the States. It was an epic win in epic conditions. But, the mild-mannered Hampsten would probably not have wanted all that public attention. He just likes living in Boulder, riding his bike and hanging with his daughter, Emma, girlfriend, Elaine, and his buds.

Bruce

Contador Climbs the Dolomites

Bruce Hildenbrand — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:10:20 GMT

The first three mountain stages of the 2008 Giro d'Italia are in the record books and, not surprisingly, the overall results have been dramatically shuffled. At the top of the heap is 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador who had ridden consistently, but not brilliantly, in the Dolomites to eek out a slim lead over Riccardo The Cobra Ricco, two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni and last year's champion Danilo The Killer Di Luca.

Before Contador supporters start filling my mail box, let me explain that I think Alberto rode very intelligently in the Dolomites. Climbing form is about as elusive as finding a normal person on the Maury Povich Show and it must be remembered that Astana was invited to the Giro at the last minute. In Contador's case, he was on a beach in Spain taking a well-deserved break from racing. I was probably riding more hills than Alberto and if the 2007 Tour champion realized that, it is even more reason for him to be cautious when the roads went uphill.

As we all know, you can't fake your climbing form. On the flats, you can sit in and still look strong. If you have a sprint, you might even be able to win a few races. But, when it comes to going uphill, the laws of gravity are always strictly enforced. There is no place to hide. Astana teammate Chris Horner, who was riding the Tour of Catalonia and not at the Giro, has always said that in a three week race you have to race smart and that is exactly what Contador has done so far.

Would we like to have seen the punishing attacks Alberto unleashed in the Pyrenees last July. Absolutely! Those accelerations were the high point of the race and showed the mettle of the a true champion. But, until Contador feels completely confident in his climbing form, look for a more tactical, and close(!), battle to take place in the Italian Alps. There are several more hard stages including the 20th anniversary of American Andy Hampsten's ascent of the Passo Gavia (hopefully there will be no blizzard) and the fearsome Mortirolo. The Giro is far from over. With three Italians breathing down his neck, Contador better get some confidence or start working on his poker face.

Bruce

ps - Levi Leipheimer is struggling a bit at the Giro. Unlike Contador he has not found his climbing legs most likely a result of the last minute invitation to the Giro. Levi is in the perfect position to shoot for a stage win, but because the battle for the overall with Contador is so close, Leipheimer will be riding in support of Alberto and not get that chance. Hang in there!

pps - Alberto Contador was riding 30x34 gearing on the Plan de Corones climb; the last 3 miles are dirt with sections up to 24%.

Slipstream Shines at the Giro

Bruce Hildenbrand — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:54:54 GMT

Things could not have started any better for the Slipstream/Chipotle team at the Giro d'Italia when they won the opening 23km team time trial to put Christian Vandevelde into the maglia rosa, the pink leader's jersey. It was a stunning effort made all the more exceptional by the fact that they bested every Pro Tour team, most with budgets two to three times that of the upstart American squad.

To be sure, Slipstream targeted this stage from the outset and well they should. With ace time trialists in Dave Zabriskie, David Millar and Christian Vandevelde you play to your strengths. Ryder Hesjedal and Magnus Backstedt can also turn the cranks pretty well which is critical since it is a team time trial. Acknowledging that Vandevelde was the strongest rider on the squad that day, the team elected to have him cross the finish line first. When their time edged the powerful CSC formation by six seconds and High Road Sports finished a further one second back, the celebrations began.

It has been 20 years since an American wore the pink jersey in the Giro. In 1988, Andy Hampsten became the first, and still only, US rider to win Italy's national race. Christian was quick to point out that he isn't aiming to follow in Hapmsten's footsteps, but Slipstream has a number of cards to play with sprinters Julian Dean and Chris Sutton and opportunists like Backstedt, Vandevelde and Millar all going for stage wins.

Unfortunately, a crash on some railroad tracks on stage 2 took out the teams' best time trialist, Dave Zabriskie. With a fractured L1 vertebrae, he is headed home, but he was instrumental in winning the team time trial so it is a bittersweet moment. Can the "Argyle Armada" bring home some more glory? They are off to a great start and a positive attitude is a huge factor in a three-week race. Bravo!

Bruce