Pride And Shame In Cycling

On the day that a new king of cycling, Ivan Basso, is crowned in Milan, this should be a happy time.

It is not.

That is a shame for Basso, who's 9:18 margin of victory in the Giro d'Italia is the largest in 41 years.

Remarkable.

But there is a shadow hanging over cycling today. "Everybody is under suspicion," writes Samuel Abt in the International Herald Tribune. "Did a rider outdo himself, or did he find a better doctor? Who gets credit for an unexpected victory, a rider or his pharmacist? Who are the riders involved in the ongoing doping scandal in Spain?"

There is a list circulating inSpain with 200 names on it. Basso is not among them. Jan Ullrich's is.

Simoni causing trouble again
And Gilberto Simoni, just as he fanned the flames of controversy in 2004 when his then teammate, Damiano Cuenego, won the Giro, is breathing fire again.

After the finish Saturday, he Simoni accused Basso of asking him to slow down on the descent from the Mortirolo and not leave him behind, hinting that there would be a payback.
"Basso said to me, 'Don't drop me on the descent,' so I thought I had a chance to win today," Simoni said. "If I had thought Basso was going to do that in the finale, I would have played my cards differently."

It was then that Simoni heaped false praise on Basso:
"I've never seen anyone dominate like him, never seen anyone that strong. He seems like an extraterrestrial."

Abt, who knows cycling unlike few others, writes that "extraterrestrial" is a code word, first applied admiringly to Miguel Indurain a decade ago in the a Tour de France after a particularly impressive time trial. The word "extraterrestrial" has a different connotation now, Abt writes: that no rider can be so strong naturally.

Basso, of course, was upset.
"I don't like to be called an extraterrestrial or a phenomenon," he said. "In this Giro, I have always been honest and played fairly."

Said Simoni:
"It's a Giro I would rather forget. I don't want to make up with Basso, whom I no longer consider a friend. All I want to do now is look to the future. I'm hoping to compete in the Tour de France with David (Millar). After that I will ride for another year if (team manager) Mauro Gianetti agrees."

You have to wonder how many friends Simoni has left.

In praise of Basso
And you want to believe in Basso, who always has a smile on his face, even during the toughest stages.

You want to believe him, just as you want to believe Our Boy Lance, who was far away in Indianapolis driving the pace car to begin Sunday's face auto race, the Indianapolis 500.

So, what shall we believe?
Who shall we praise at this yet again precarious moment in cycling?

Basso, who is just 28 and in position to dominate the sport for years, won three of the 21 stages of the three-week race; his CSC team also won the team time trial. It was a show of strength that reminded many of Lance Armstrong.

Spain's Jose Gutierrez of the Phonak team finished, Simoni third at 11:59. "This was a very hard Giro and so it was important to ration your energy and know when and where to gain time. There were seven key stages and I think I rode well on all of them," Basso said.
"In the last two years I've finished on the Tour de France podium twice and even made Armstrong suffer. I've been the same Basso as always, but with a year's experience and improvement in my legs. "There were days when I suffered but I manage to hide my pain when I riding and so fortunately my rivals didn't take advantage."

Basso will now prepare for the Tour de France, which starts in Strasbourg on July 1. "I can't celebrate and rest too much because the Tour is not far away," he said. "This Giro has been hard but leading the race for 15 days has taught me a lot. "I know the pink jersey is not like the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, but now I feel ready to face the pressures of the Tour. I've never said I can win the Tour, but I'm going to try."

In praise of Team CSC
CSC, meanwhile, has emerged as the dominant team in cycling.

"This wonderful achievement in my own native country would have been impossible without the skilled support of my dedicated teammates," said Basso in a Team CSC press release. "They repeatedly sacrificed their chances for individual glory to help me keep the lead in ways that were vital to victory -- a victory shared by all nine of us. It is my hope that this win sets the stage for our performance at the Tour de France.

"Each stage of the race was its own little drama as members of my team chased down breakaways, rode tempo at the front of the main bunch and controlled the flow of the race. I was both humbled and energized by their support."

Said Bjarne Riis, manager of Team CSC:
"Basso's win proved he was the strongest rider in the race and that he had maximum support from the strongest team at the Giro. Teamwork is always at the core of our values, which we put into practice everyday, and look forward to applying at the Tour de France.
"Our German attacker Jens Voigt dominated the early stages of the Giro for the team and could have very well won a stage or two, as could have Carlos Sastre who was second in the 2005 Vuelta a Espana. Giovanni Lombardi was a key rider acting as Basso's 'bodyguard' throughout the race, helping to steer Ivan through the chaotic and sometimes dangerous bunch sprints at the finish. Ivan could often be found glued right on Lombardi's wheel in these situations, protected from other riders in the tightly grouped peloton or from the sometimes harsh elements."

And Bobby Julich, another teammate, praised Basso, too.
"Riding in support of a man like Ivan is rewarding. Not only because he achieves consistently strong results, like this Giro win, but he also has so much class. Our respect for Basso, and each other, is what drives this team and makes us push to be the best each day."

Team CSC in Arlington, Va.
Now, here's a treat for the Crankset:
Next Sunday, June 4, is the CSC Criterium in Arlington, Va. Who will Riis send? Julich has ridden the past two years.
Stay tuned (and there will be pictures!).