Fantasy Cycling 2004
Giro d'Italia

Date: Sunday, 9 May, 2004
Time: 6:50:32 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 1: Genova - Alba, 143km

First sprint blood of the race to Alesandro Petacchi today as he got a clear win after a rough-house finale which saw Lisa's Robbie McEwan lucky to survive a Commisaire's panel review and keep his fourth place on the line. Between these two Olaf Pollack was second and Crescenzo D'amore (crazy name!) was third. The stage was run off at 38.7km/h to finish in 3h41'56.

Sophia's Jan Svorada was just edged out in seventh and the boxed-in Mario Cipollini could only manage 14th for Steve today.

Also safely finishing in the 165-strong bunch were Marco Velo (Nightowlers), 51st, Bo Hamburger (Tiger Team), 63rd, Magnus Backstedt (Sureshots), 65th, Pavel Tonkov (Tiger Team), 84th, Charly Wegelius (Nightowlers), 128th, and Jacky Durand (Tiger Team) 147th.

Five minutes adrift of everybody else, Daniele Righi finished last 6'28 behind Petacchi. There were no abandons.

Overall, it's not surprising that the two stage winners and the man who came second in both fill the top three places. Pollack is in pink by 2s from McGee with Petacchi at 20s.

Of our riders, Marco Velo is 7th at 34s and Mario Cipollini 9th at 37s both for Steve.

Further down we have:

Righi trails the field at 7'11.

In the points competition, Petacchi (25), d'Amore (22) and Pollack (20) lead. McEwan lies fourth for Lisa with 14 and Svorada is at seventh for Sophia with 9. Cipollini (SNO) is 17th with 2.

Messers Wegmann, Gonzalez Martinez and Moreni led over the only GPM to date.

Date: Monday, 10 May, 2004
Time: 7:28:22 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 2: Novi Ligure - Pontremoli, 184km

Unable to handle the pressure from the Saeco team at the front of the peleton, none of the big sprint names finished near the front of the bunch (shrunk to a quarter of yesterday's size) today. Damiano Cunego was the red demon to get top honours on the line ahead of Bradley McGee, Christian Moreni and Igor Astarloa. The bunch time of 4h37'08 equates to an average speed of 39.8 km/h.

Pavel Tonkov finished last of the bunch in 43rd spot for Thomas. In 44th (at 2'39) Nightowler Marco Velo led home the second group of 56 riders. Also in that group were Sophia's Bo Hamburger (46th), Lisa's Robbie McEwan (55th) and Steve's Charly Wegelius (77th). At 10'31 a group of 23 riders including Nightowler Mario Cipollini (125th) and Sureshot Jan Svorada (135th) limped home. Our two remaining riders, Thomas's Jacky Durand (160th) and Sophia's Magnus Backstedt (163rd) trundled over the line in the groupetto 19'50 after the stage was won. Jurgen Vandewalle finished last, alone, in 167th at 24'26. Two riders failed to make it to the finish today.

Overall, today's results saw McGee returned to the Maglia Rosa, leading Popovych by 32s and Trampusch by 36s.

None of our riders feature in the leading positions, they're down at:

Vandewalle trails the field at 27'06

In the points competition, Cunego (25pts) now leads Petacchi (also 25) and d'Amore (22). McEwan lies 8th for Lisa with 14pts. Also listed are:

Moos (5pts), Wegmann (3) and Zampieri (3) lead the mountains classification.

Date: Tuesday, 11 May, 2004
Time: 7:06:04 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 3: Pontremelli - Corno Alle Scale, 191km

Today's injection of a moutain-top finish into an otherwise pretty flat first week brought the main GC contenders to the fore in a big way. No less a rider than Gilberto Simoni took the stage ahead of team-mate Damiano Cunego (at 15s) with Franco Pellizotti third and Giuliano Figueras fourth both just a second further back. In taking 5h46'09 for the day's business, Simoni averaged 33.1 km/h.

Pavel Tonkov came home thirteenth (at 55s) and Bo Hamburger 41st (at 2'21), both for Thomas. Nightowler Charly Wegelius was 63rd at 6'03. Down at 11'55 was Lisa's Robbie McEwan. In a group of twelve at 16'51, Magnus Backstedt was 107th for Sophia and Marco Velo was 110th for Steve. In 116th place, Nightowler Mario Cipollini led in the main groupetto, exactly 19 minutes behind Simoni. Sureshot Jan Svorada (135th) was in that group but Thomas's Jacky Durand struggled home over a minute later at 20'10 in 163rd out of 166 finishers. Last man home today was Alberto Loddo, alone at 20'54. Vandewalle was the only rider to abandon today.

First and second on the day, Simoni and Cunego also moved into those places on GC, just 13s apart. Popovych slipped just one place back another 8s behind. Our only rider of note in the overall is Tonkov who holds 17th for Thomas, at 1'39.

Our other riders are to be found further back:

Lodo is last, almost three minutes adrift, in 166th at 44'25

In the points competition, Simoni has moved up to third on 25 behind leader Cunego (45pts) and Petacchi (26). Those of our riders listed are:

After the first serious GPM awards, the mountains classification is led by Simoni (16pts), Cunego (13) and Mazzoleni (8).

Date: Wednesday, 12 May, 2004
Time: 8:33:11 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 4: Porretta Terme - Civitella in val de Chiana, 184km

250m from the line, Mario Cipollini was brought down hard at 65km/h by Andrus Aug of his own lead-out train. The badly battered Lion King managed to limp across the line just behind the 147-strong bunch but was taken to hospital and is a doubtful starter for tomorrow. Cipo's ignominious exit left the way clear for Alessandro Petacchi to take a clear win, a bike length ahead of Lisa's Robbie McEwan, Simone Cadamuro and Marco Zanotti. The bunch averaged 37.3 km/h to finish the stage in 4h55'40.

Among those finishing in the bunch were Sophia's Magnus Backstedt, seventh, Steve's Marco Velo, eleventh, Sureshot Jan Svorada, twelfth, Thomas's Bo Hamburger, 80th, teammate Pavel Tonkov , 90th, Jacky Durand (also of the Tiger Team), 134th, and Nightowler Charly Wegelius, 145th.

Battered Nightowler Mario Cipolliini was 150th man home at 1'35 but, because his crash was in the last kilometre, lost no time on the GC. Kyrylo Pospyeyev was last man home in 165th, finishing with two companions exactly seven minutes behind Petacchi. John Gadret was today's only abandon.

There's no change at the top of the overall standings, and Pavel Tonkov is still 17th at 1'39 for Thomas.

Our other riders are to be found:

Feddy Bichot props up the classification in 165th place, at 46'03.

Robbie McEwan's second place on the stage lifted him to third in the points classification for Lisa with 34. Petacchi (on 51 points after today's victory) retook the ciclamino jersey from Cunego (45). Further down are:

Fabian Wegman moved up to third on the mountains classification. He has 12 pts to Simoni's 16 and Cunego's 13.

Date: Friday, 14 May, 2004
Time: 2:36:14 am
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 5: Civitella in val di Chiana - Spoleto, 177km

More leadout train problems again today for the big sprint stars. After Mario Cipollini's 65km/h encounter with the tarmac yesterday, thanks to team-mate Aug's inattention, today Alessandro's Petacchi's leadout train left him boxed in on the rails so he couldn't contest the sprint. Robbie McEwan took full advantage of Petacchi's absence to pull off his first stage victory of the year. In taking 4h24'57 his average speed was 40.1km/h: the fastest so far of this Giro. Olaf Pollack, Marco Zanotti and Alexandre Usov got closest to McEwan as 69 riders contested the final dash to the line.

Tiger Team riders Bo Hamburger, 31st, and Pavel Tonkov, 58th, finished in the bunch. Nightowler Marco Velo led in small group 29s down in 74th spot while Sureshots Jan Svorada and Magnus Backstedt finished together in another small group, at 2'37 to claim 116th and 117th places respectively. To the suprise of many, Cipo did take the start today and (what's more) made it to the finish. The patched-up Lion King was nursed home by several team-mates (including Aug) to finish 121st at 3'19. Fellow Nightowler Charly Wegelius was in the same group in 142nd place, just ahead of Thomas's Jacky Durand in 147th. Maxim Rudenko rounded off proceedings in 165th place as last of a trio of riders at 9'46. Nobody failed to finish today's stage.

As yesterday, the stage result had no effect on matters at the top of the overall classification. Our best placed rider remains Pavel Tonkov (TTT) in 17th at 1'39.

Our other riders placings on GC are:

Furthest behind the Maglia Rosa is again Alberto Loddo 54'11 down in 165th place.

Todays win also gave Robbie McEwan (RSR) the points leader's Maglia Ciclamino. He now has 59pts to Petacchi's 55 and Cunego's unchanged 45. Further down are:

There were no GPM points on offer today, so no change at all to the mountains classification.

Date: Saturday, 15 May, 2004
Time: 2:39:12 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 6: Spoleto - Valmontone, 164 km

No mitigating circumstances today: Alessandro Petacchi roared home at the head of affairs to take the stage in 4h00'55 (39.6 km/h) ahead of Olaf Pollack and Alejandro Albert Borrajo (who may well be the only Argentinian in the European professional peleton).

Robbie McEwan was just out of the money today in ninth place for Lisa. Also in the 70-strong leading bunch were Thomas's Bo Hamburger in seventeenth, Steve's Marco Velo in 38th, Sophia's Magnus Backstedt in 41st, and Thomas's Pavel Tonkov in 63rd. Sureshot Jan Svorada finished 134th in a small group at 3'38 which also contained Nightowler Charly Wegelius in 142nd. 155th at 6'15 was Jan Svorada for Thomas, while the last group on the road was the Mario Cipollini ambulance brigade at 9'42. Cipo was only saved from finishing last on the stage by infiltrator Freddy Bichot who took 164th spot. Andoni Aranaga Azkune was today's sole abandon but one wonders how long the Lion King can continue in his current condition.

Still no change at the top of the GC. Pavel Tonkov moved up to 16th overall, still at 1'39, as Davide Rebellin slipped back a little.

Our other riders placings on GC are:

Freddy Bichot dropped back behind Alberto Loddo to prop up the order, he's 1h01'35 down in 165th place; the first and (so far) only rider at more than an hour.

Petacchi grabbed the Ciclamino Jersey off Robbie (RSR) McEwan's back with his win today. He now leads the points competition with 80pts to McEwan's 66 and Olaf Pollack's 62. Further down are:

Just one classified climb today, very early in the proceedings. First man over, Fabian Wegmann, now leads the mountains competition on 17pts. Alexandre Moos was second at the GPM and moves into third overall, with 14pts. Simoni is on 16pts between these two.

Date: Saturday, 15 May, 2004
Time: 7:00:50 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 7: Frosinone - Montevergine di Mercogliano, 214km

The second uphill finish of this year's race saw the GC contenders back in the limelight. Damiano Cunego had the fastest finish of a group of four who completed the stage in 5h26'25 (equivalent to 39.3 km/h). Bradley McGee was second, Franco Pellizotti third and Giuliano Figueras fourth.

Nightowler Charly Weglius's efforts in support of Serguei Gonchar (seventh today) brought the British rider to the top of the hill in 36th place at 1'45. For Thomas, Bo Hamburger and Pavel Tonkov finished 40th (at 2'05) and 41st (at 2'08) but Steve's Marco Velo came in 96th in a group at 14'59 and first Sureshot home today was Magnus Backstedt: 109th at 15'35. Jacky Durand of the Tiger Team led home the groupetto in 124th place at 20'01. That final group to finish also included Sophia's Jan Svorada (132nd), Lisa's Robbie McEwan (155th) and last man home Matthew Wilson (161st). Unsurprisingly, Nightowler Mario Cipollini was one of three riders who didn't take the start this morning but notably none of those who did start failed to finish.

His win today put Damiano Cunego in the pink, his team leader Gilberto Simoni dropping to second overall at 10s. Franco Pellizotti moves up into third on GC at 28s.

Our riders may be found at:

At 1h21'43, Freddy Bichot is 161st and last overall.

Cunego's win eased him into second place on points, with 70pts, between Petacchi (80pts) and Ready Steady Rider McEwan (66pts). Further down are:

Cunego also took over leadership of the mountains classification on 28pts, ahead of Wegmann (17pts) and Simoni (16pts) who didn't add to their totals today.

Date: Sunday, 16 May, 2004
Time: 7:36:07 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 8: Giffoni Valle Piana - Policoro, 214km

That man Petacchi triumphed again today! Emerging from the maelstrom of the final kilometre to record yet another convincing victory ahead of Tomas Vaitkus, Olaf Pollack and Marco Zanotti. Lisa's Robbie McEwan was second across the line but was relegated to 117th for benefiting from a teammate's handsling. The bunch managed an average speed of 43.0 km/h to finish in 4h52'49.

Sureshot Jan Svorada was just outside the money today, in fifth place. Bo Hamburger was 31st for Thomas, Marco Velo 47th for Steve, Pavel Tonkov 103rd for Thomas and Magnus Backstedt 105th for Sophia. In a large group just gapped from the main bunch, Nightowler Charly Wegelius finished 141st at 44s but Thomas's Jacky Durand was in the 7-strong groupetto that got dropped for 11'12 and in fact finished dead last in 159th place. Two more non-starters today but again no abandons en route.

With almost everybody finishing together there was no change to the top of the GC, and indeed the whole overall classification is virtually unchanged since yesterday. For the record, our riders may be found at:

At 1h32'55, Freddy Bichot is 159th and last overall.

Petacchi's win consolidated his hold on the Maglia Ciclamino, with 105pts. Pollack jumped up to second on, 78pts, pushing Cunego (70pts) and Ready Steady Rider McEwan (66pts) to down a place to third and fourth respectively. Further down are:

The day's single GPM made no difference to the top of the mountains classification.

Date: Monday, 17 May, 2004
Time: 9:18:30 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 9: Policoro - Carovigno, 142km

American Fred Rodriguez just got the jump on Alessandro Petacchi to win another bunch sprint today. Angelo Furlan was third and Robbie McEwan (one of Lisa's Ready Steady Riders) was fourth.

One of Sophia's Sureshots, Jan Svorada, was just edged out into fifth spot and also finishing near the head of affairs were Sureshot Magnus Backstedt (fourteenth), Bo Hamburger of Thomas's Tiger Team (25th) and Nightowler Marco Velo (26th). Tiger Team member Pavel Tonkov came home furether down the big bunch in 50th, as 87 riders finished in a time of 4h4'38 (an average speed of 34.8 km/h). Also riding for Thomas, Jacky Durand was 107th at 50s but Steve's Charly Wegelius was dropped and finished 129th, in a small group at 5'54. Last man home today was Juan Gomis Lopez, 158th and one of two team-mates to take 9'29 longer than the main field to get home. Fredy Ganzalez Martinez was the sole rider to pack during today's stage.

As usual for a sprinters' benefit like today, there was no impact on the state of affairs at the head of the overall classification. The top three remain the same and our riders are to be found at:

Freddy Bichot still props up the rest, he's 158th at 1h39'51

Petacchi is now roaring away with that Ciclamino Jersey and now has 125pts to Robbie (RSR) McEwan's 80pts. Olaf Pollack (78pts) and Maglia Rosa Damiano Cunega (70pts) didn't add to their totals today. Further down are:

No GPM climbs today, so no change at all in the mountains classification.

Date: Wednesday, 19 May, 2004
Time: 10:01:49 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 10: Porto Sant'Elpidio - Ascoli Piceno, 146km

Normal service was resumed today after Tuesday's rest day: Alessandro Petacchi executed a picture-perfect sprint finish to take win number five of this year's Giro. Clocked at 67.1 km/h in the closing metres, Petachi's time of 3h24'27 for the short, tough stage, run off in the warmest temperatures so far of this year's event, equates to an average of 40.5 km/h. Marco Zanotti, Andris Nauduzs and Sureshot Magnus Backstedt had the closest view of the young master's rear wheel.

Fellow Sureshot Jan Svorada was in the hunt too: he placed 6th, but Ready Steady Rider Robbie McEwan didn't shine today, finishing fifteenth. With a huge bunch (almost 130 riders) still together at the end of the race, many shared the winner's time; among them: Nightowler Marco Velo (30th), Thomas's Bo Hamburger (45th) and Pavel Tonkov (82nd). Also on the Tiger Team, Jacky Durand finished 115th at 21s, the same time awarded to Nightowler Charly Wegelius in 121st. Back marker of a 17-strong groupetto at 13'32, Reubens Bertogliati finished 153rd and last on the stage. Two riders failed to finish today and three didn't even take the start this morning.

Still no change at all at the top of the GC. Our riders clock in at:

Freddy Bichot having quit today, Dean Podgornik rounds out the lists in 153rd at 1h45'55

If he makes it to Milan, Petacchi looks assured of claiming the overall points jersey. He now has 150pts at the head of affairs. Pollack (86pts), Zanotti (85pts) and Lisa's Robbie McEwan (81pts) look too far behind and too slow in the sprints to see ciclamino in their sights again this year. Our riders who feature on the classification are:

First across the line at both GPMs today, Wegmann upped his tally to 23pts and pulled closer to Cunego (28pts) in that category. Simoni remains third with 16pts.

Date: Thursday, 20 May, 2004
Time: 6:44:39 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 11: Porto Sant’Elpidio - Cesena, 228 km

Neither the sprinters nor the GC big guns made the headlines today as Emanuele Sella pulled off an audacious solo breakaway win. Behind him, Cristian Moreni, Steve Zampieri and Tiger Team member Bo Hamburger filled out the top placings on the stage at 30s. Sella's time of 5h19'8 translates to an average speed of 42.9 km/h.

Pavel Tonkov (also of Thomas's Tiger Team) was our next rider to finish: he placed 28th in a group of 25 riders at 49s. It was more than seven minutes before our next rider crossed the line: Nightowler Charly Wegelius took 79th place at 8'18 while Ready Steady Rider Robbie McEwan was 82nd at 8'43. Jan Svorada came home 88th for Sophia in a small group at 11'48 and the main groupetto at 16'50 included Sureshot Magnus Backstedt (104th) and Steve's Marco Velo (106th). Our last man home was Thomas's Jacky Durand (143rd at 17'39), last man home overall was Massimo Iannetti: he finished 153th at 21'42. In spite of the shattered and scattered field, nobody dropped out today.

No change at the top of the overall classification. Our riders are:

Tail end Charlie after today's stage is Dean Podgornik, 153rd at 2h2'45

No change in the top three points places and Lisa's Robbie McEwan is still fourth with 81pts. Other riders of ours are:

Three GPMs today and Fabian Wegman took one first and one second place to inch ahead at the top of the moutains classification on 30pts. Although not scoring today Cunego (28pts) and Simoni (16pts) remain in the top three.

Date: Friday, 21 May, 2004
Time: 7:16:24 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 12: Cesena - Treviso, 210km

After two weeks of this year's Giro Alessandro Petacchi has now equalled his tally last year of six stage wins. Today's was a fiercely contested affair but still nobody could get closer than a bike length behind the young master. Robbie McEwan of Lisa's Ready Steady Riders once again got closer than most, placing second just ahead of Alexandre Usov and Zoran Klemencic. The stage was run off at 43.7km/h in 4h48'12.

Sophia's Jan Svorada was seventeenth and Steve's Marco Velo was 29th, both in the same time as the winner. After a gap in the finishing bunch, Thomas's Bo Hamburger (35th), Pavel Tonkov (91st) and Jacky Durand (113th) and Steve's Charly Wegelius (114th) were timed at 6s. Sophia's Magnus Backstedt finished 146th at 1'22 and Marco Zanotti was last of a trio that crossed the line at 1'49 to complete the field. Yesterday's last man home, Massimo Iannetti didn't take the start today.

Overall there was no change at the top of the GC. Our riders are down at:

Bringing up the rear is again Dean Podgornik, 152nd at 2h'2'45

Robbie McEwan forced his way into second place on the points classification, splitting runaway leader Petacchi (175pts) and Pollack (98th). The Ready Steady Rider has 101 pts. Further down the list we have:

No GPMs in today's pancake-flat stage, so no change at all in the mountains classification.

Date: Saturday, 22 May, 2004
Time: 10:02:43 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 13: Trieste - Altopiano Carsico ITT, 52km

Not wanting the result of their home Tour overturned in a penultimate day time trial, the Italians have scheduled the only full stage against the watch before the final week of big mountains. The course was tough and very technical and rain towards the end of the afternoon made life even harder for the later starters. Sergei Gonchar was fastest on the day, completing the course in 1h6'45 (46.7km/h) but the real winner today was third fastest rider, Yaroslav Popovych, whose time (34s slower than the winner) propelled him into the Maglia Rosa that Damiano Cunego had been keeping warm for Gilberto Simoni. Prologue winner Bradley McGee was second fastest today at 18s and in fourth place was Marzio Bruseghin at 44s.

Best of our riders was Sureshot Magnus Backstedt. The big Swede finished 7th, 1'52 down. Steve had hoped better of Marco Velo today but had to settle for 39th place at 3'46. Best Tiger Team rider on the day was, unsurprisingly, Pavel Tonkov but 55th place at 4'29 wa a poor result for him. In grabbing 72nd place at 5'14, Nightowler Charly Wegelius did better than might have been expected of a climbing domestique. He finished just ahead of the Tiger Team's Bo Hamburger (77th) and Jacky Durand (78th) who both finished at 5'28. Almost a minute slower, Sureshot Jan Svorada was 107th on the day at 6'19 while sole Ready Steady Rider Robbie McEwan was 113th at 6'37. Slowest of all was our Argentinian friend Alejandro Albert Borrajo, 152nd at 10'46.

Overall it was (as might be expected) all change today: Cunego dropped to sixth at 1'48 and surrendered the Maglia Rosa, not to team-mate Simoni but to Popovych. Today's winner, Gonchar lies second at 3s and Bradley McGee holds third at 1'02. Simoni's run at the final title starts from fourth place at 1'27. None of our riders are in a position to challenge for overall homours on GC, they're down at:

and nobody's behind Corrado Serina, 152nd at 2h9'15

Olaf Pollack reasserted his claim to second place on the points classification by scoring six points to advance his total to 104pts. He moved ahead of Ready Steady Rider Robbie McEwan who's total was unchanged on 101pts. Runaway leader alessandro Petacchi's haul was also unchanged: he has 175pts. Further down the list we have:

No points were awarded in the mountains classification today.

Date: Sunday, 23 May, 2004
Time: 11:59:41 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 14: Trieste - Pula/Pola, 175 km

Almost inevitably, Alesaandro Petacchi registered his post-war record-equalling seventh stage victory today. He averaged 42.2km/h in completing the stage in 4h08'58 and beat out Fred Rodriguez, Nightowler Marco Velo and Olaf Pollack in the sprint.

Sophia's Jan Svorada was sixth, Thomas's Bo Hamburger 42nd and Lisa's Robbie McEwan 70th. Tiger Team rider Pavel Tonkov was 85th, Sureshot Magnus Backstedt 110th and Steve's Charly Wegelius 121st. All of these riders finished in the leading group of 141. Outside the bunch, Thomas's Jacky Durand was 146th at 3'21. At 10'55 Corrado Serina was 150th and last today, there being two non-starters this morning.

Popovych, Gontchar and McGee held onto the podium positions today. Our riders are now to be found:

and still nobody's behind Corrado Serina, 150th at 2h20'10

Petacchi (200pts), Pollack (118pts) and ready Steady Rider McEwan (101pts) still lead the points competition. Further down the list we have:

Just one GPM in today's stage. Pavel Tonkov (TTT) took second place to register our first points in this competition. Overall, Wegmann (30pts), Cunego (28pts) and Simoni (16pts) still head up the contenders for the Green Jersey. Tonkov's three points today move him into the listing in 15th place.

Date: Monday, 24 May, 2004
Time: 8:03:12 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 15: Porec/Parenzo - San Vendemiano, 234 km

The unstoppable Alessandro Petacchi set a new post-war record for Giro stage victories today with his eighth win. For the third time, Ready Steady Rider Robbie McEwan was the nearest thing to a rival, finishing ahead of Olaf Pollack and Andris Nauduzs. In taking 5h59'52 Petacchi averaged 40.515 km/h for the day's work.

Sophia's Jan Svorada was ninth, Thomas's Bo Hamburger 48th and Steve's Marco Velo 49th. Further down the field, given a time of 13s due to splits in the peleton, Thomas's Pavel Tonkov was 102nd and Nightowler Charley Wegelius was 119th at 23s. Last of our riders home was Tiger Team rider Jacky Durand 139th at 1'43 as Sureshot Magnus backstedt was one of two riders not to take the start today. In 148th place, Giancarlo Ginestri finished last at 3'50.

Popovych, Gontchar and McGee still hold the top places on the overall classification. Our riders are now to be found:

and yet again nobody's behind Corrado Serina, 148th at 2h20'10

Petacchi (225pts), Pollack (134pts) and ready Steady Rider McEwan (121pts) still lead the points competition. Further down the list we have:

No mountains today. But just you wait!

Date: Tuesday, 25 May, 2004
Time: 7:16:51 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 16: San Vendemiano - Falzes, 217 km

With four classified mountains, today was a day for the climbers to come to the fore. After 6h11'23 in the saddle it was Damiano Cunego who took the honours, leading home Rinaldo Nocentini (at 1'16), Alexandre Moos (at 1'38) and Raffaele Illiano (also at 1'38).

For Thomas, Pavel Tonkov was best of our riders on the day, finishing 21st at 3'50. Steve's Charly Wegelius claimed 26th at 4'18 while, further back, Tiger Team Rider Bo Hamburger came in 45th at 12'15. In a big group at 21'50, Sureshot Jan Svorada was 55th and in another big group at 25'09, Nightowler Marco Velo was 96th. In the final group to finish, Thomas's Jacky Durand was last man across the line in 145th place at 28'01. Two riders failed to finish the stage and Lisa's Robbie McEwan decided he'd rather not tackle the hills and did not start today.

Cunego's ride was enough to put him in pink and Serguei Gontchar (at 1'14) leapfrogged Yaroslav Popovych (at 2'22) at the top of the GC. Looking down the overall standings, our riders are:

and still propping up everybody else is Corrado Serina, 145th at 2h46'43

With the departure of McEwan, Cunego entered the frame in the points competition: moving up to third on 102pts behind Petacchi (225pts) and Pollack (134pts). Our remaining riders are at:

Alexandre Moos moved into third on the mountains classification today, pushing Gilberto Simoni down to fourth. Moos has 27pts behind Wegmann (45pts) and Cunego (38pts). Thomas's Pavel Tonkov lies eighteenth with 3pts.

Date: Thursday, 27 May, 2004
Time: 6:10:57 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 17: Brunico - Fondo Sarnonico, 153 km

After the second rest day, it was time for more mountain action today. And with it came a stage victory for Pavel Tonkov of Thomas's Tiger Team. He averaged 41.7 km/h to finish in 3h40'05, 2'15 ahead of Alessandro Bertolini with Bradley McGee leading in a good sized group at 2'49 to take third with race leader Damiano Cinego hard on his heels in fourth.

Another Tiger Team rider, Bo Hamburger, was our next rider home in 35th place at 3'31 while Nightowler Charly Wegelius finished 65th at 7'23. Further back, at 13'53, fellow Nightowler Marco Velo was 79th on the day and in 142nd, Thomas's Jacky Durand was first of a pair of riders 14'19 adrift. Behind them was only Domenico Gualdi, 144th and last today at 21'01. Sad to relate, Sureshot Jan Svorada was one of three riders who couldn't finish the stage.

Date: Sunday, 6 June, 2004
Time: 7:05:17 pm
Topic: Giro d'Italia, stage 20: Clusone - Milano, 149 km

Just as he did in Madrid at the end of last year's Vuelta a Esaña, Alessandro Petacchi wrapped up this year's Giro in fine style in Milan today with yet another stage win. Amazingly this was his ninth win in twenty stages. Marco Zanotti, Aart Vierhouten and Olaf Pollack rounded out the top places on the day.

Marco Velo, one of Steve's Nightowlers, finished a respectable seventh in the bunch sprint. Pavel Tonkov and Bo Hambuger were 41st and 60th at 14s for Thomas's Tiger Team, while our only other survivor, Steve's Charly Wegelius, came home 101st at 1'08. Dean Podgornik was 140th and last at 2'58.