We are now half way through the Giro for 2010. I have been hearing that it has been one of the most exciting tours in history to watch. From mud to rain to crashes and everything else. Throw in some good Aussie performances and 5 different leaders of the tour I can see why it must be good on TV. The peloton however has been battered and bashed by the extreme weather and racing conditions for the first half of this years race. Many riders have already pulled out and with the huge mountains still to come it is going to test even the toughest of riders.

Todays stage was sunny. Thank you Lord. After yesterdays epic race the bunch rolled off at a very slow pace and were all contend to have an easy start to the day. 3 riders escaped early and were let go to 10 minutes before we started to ride tempo and reel them in. The job was left to our team to chase the leaders. We have the fastest guy in the peloton and so it is our responsibility to bring the race to a sprint.

This was Jacks last stage so he was sent to the front very early to ride tempo and chase to front guys. I was added to that chase with 60km to go and so Jack and I drove the bunch as hard as we could until the final climb of the day at 15km to go. We did our job well and brought back the break but unfortunately a strong group of climbers escaped on the final climb to ruin the sprinters day.

Unlucky for us. On a good note I showed the form is there and I am feeling better. I am hoping to get in a break away before the Giro’s end.

Ciao

Cam

This was a day that I’m sure most of us will not forget. 270km from when we first stepped on the bike to getting off at the bus on the other end of the stage. 7 and half hours in the saddle in which 7 of them were spent in the rain. Three mountain passes with down hills that dropped to around 5 degrees. Give me some long fingered gloves, some leg warmers, arm warmers, jackets. Just give me everything you have in the car. What a day. To have 2000km in your legs already and then do a race like that is something I wish for none of you to experience. Our race meeting before the stage was simple. Our director said “Good Luck”.

A huge day also in the shake up of the tour. 56 guys split off the front and big favourites like Cadel and Vino were not present. Congrats to Richie Porte who now wears the leaders jersey. Unbelievable. What a story that is.

Should be a sprint tomorrow in the sun so fingers crossed that Tyler is up amongst the winners again.

See ya

Cam

What a sprint win for the team. A perfect team race and a finish that should be shown when teaching young riders how to lead out your sprinter. Julian Dean was amazing in the last 500 meters and nearly took the stage win himself. He held on for third with Tyler taking his second stage win of this years Giro with ease. The whole team rode fantastic today and the result was first class. 

I was a bit sore today from my crash yesterday and my arm looked like a heavy weight boxers and if you know me im not that well built. Every bump hurt but i finished the stage and hopefully the swelling and pain will calm down over the next few days. Tomorrow is the longest stage of this years tour so a good night sleep will be needed.

Good Night

Cam

My Giro just won’t get better. This is one tough tour and crashing does not help. Another day in the wet which has been the story of this Giro. Every day brings new elements but one thing that has been constant is the rain. It was a flat stage that ended in a sprint. Tyler having another good ride placing third. With 60km to go I went around a corner in the middle of the peloton when I hit a pot hole and my front wheel came out from underneath me. I went straight over the handlebars and landed on my helmet breaking it in four places and taking most impact also on my arm and shoulder.

It took a few minutes of checking my shoulder and calming down before getting a bike change and continuing on with the stage. I sat behind my team car for the next 55km trying to make time cut and not be eliminated from the race due to being to far behind. I made it back with a couple km to go to the last group on the road. The next two days are very long stages with a 230km then a 262km. This is going to hurt.

Ciao

Cam

Well I am on the massage table finally after a post stage transfer of 2 hours. This is a good time for me to introduce to you my soigneur (french term for a person who takes care of) for the entire Giro this year, Sandra Ni Hodnae. Sandra is responsible for keeping my body in one piece during the race. An hour massage each night along with preparing drinks, race food, hotel meals and the list goes on. It is a very hard job and one I think ill stick to turning the pedals.

While we are talking about some of the staff we have on our team I thought I would let you know just how many staff members we have looking after us here at the Giro. We have:
* 2 x Directors
* 4 x Soigneur
* 3 x Mechanics
* 1 x Physio
* 1 x Doctor
* 1 x Bus Driver
* 1 x Chiro
* 1 x Chef
* 1 x Scientist
TOTAL STAFF = 15
TOTAL RIDERS = 9 ( now 8 minus Christian)

As you can see we are well looked after in all avenues.

Now to Stage 8. 192km with our first mountain top finish. A pretty stress free stage for our team as we all tried to save as much energy as possible for the two sprint stages to come. It was a fast start to the race with a few hills in the first 40km. The bunch split in two but came back together at the 70km mark. The peloton then rode a good pace to the bottom of the last climb before the big climbers let loose and we rode nice and easy to the finish (as easy as you can up a 15km mountain)

It should be a sunny day for stage 9 which will be a nice change. I’m sure you will see Argyle on the front most of the day and then look out for our sprint train with Tyler hungry for another stage win.

Until tomorrow. Bye

Cam

That is the only word that comes to my mind when I think about what we had just gone through in this stage. I’m sure on TV it was one of the best ever stages to watch but I assure you their was not much smiling going on out on the bike. Dirt for dinner anybody?

The stage was 222km long and it did not stop raining the entire time. The first 85km was spent at no less of an average then 50km/hr and the last 100 was spent full gas also. The mud road sections had hills in it as steep as 16% and so with all this it made for one of the toughest non mountain stages I have ever done.

David had an awesome ride finishing 11th on the stage and moved into third on the overall classification.

My average power for the 5 and half hours was 250 watts at 69kg so it for sure was a solid day.

Tomorrow is the first mountain top finish.

Cam

Cameron in a muddy stage 7

What a great stage. I really enjoyed todays race and most is due to the fact my legs felt good and my health felt much better. This stage had a little bit of everything. 172km long with 3 climbs along the way the heavens dropping a little bit of rain here and there.
It took a fair while for the break to go as we raced on the wet roads for quite some time. Two riders ended up escaping in which one was Matt Lloyd a fellow Australian who ended up taking a great stage victory.

The first climb was 10km long at an average gradient of 5%. The bunch set a good pace up the climb but everyone made it over. I struck trouble on the decent, puncturing 1km in and after a change from the mavic spares car I had a 20km wet decent chase to get contact back with the peloton. I have to say I have never cornered so fast in the wet in my life. Matt White had me behind the car at high speeds and it was basically shut your eyes and hope you make it around the corner. I rejoined at the bottom of the climb and had a good 30km before the next 8km berg.

Up the next climb the field started to split and I was told to find a big bunch that had been dropped to ride into the finish. The aim is to try and save as much energy as I can over the next few days in order to have more energy to help Tyler in two days time. I went a little further then I probably should of on the climb but my legs felt good so I kept going. Half way up the climb David Millar who on our team is sitting 7th overall punctured and after a quick wheel change I dropped back with Dan Martin to help pace him back onto the main group. It was a hard task and after the stage David said he was sitting around 600 watts for a couple of km when we were chasing back on. That made me feel a bit better as to why it did hurt so much.

I pulled the anchor on a couple km from the top and road in with the big sprinters bunch that had been dropped. It was a good feeling that my legs are coming back. Todays 7th stage is going to be a wet one and we are heading over the white dirt roads of the Tuscany region. This will be a new experience for me and at 222km long it will be a tough stage.

Ciao

With one of the shortest stages of this years Giro at 162km long it was a fast start as many riders fancied there chances in a break away. 4 riders ended up escaping with no one of any threat for the general classification. This means the sprinter teams have to set the tempo of the peloton and bring back the break in order to have a sprint for the stage win.

Unfortunately even with Lampre, HTC Columbia and us trying hard to pull it back the break held on by a few seconds. A little bit frustrating for the team as Tyler won the bunch kick for fourth place.

I did not have a good day and still are feeling the effects of the bronchitis that I have had. Their have been thoughts of pulling out of the tour as I am really struggling to gain full good health but I am continuing to fight through the stages in hope that it will get better and I can compete at this level.

Cam

Tyler wins the bunch kick for 4th

The alarm goes off, open the curtains and its a perfect sunny day. So we think. On our way to the course in the afternoon the clouds start rolling in and with just over and hour before we start the thunder roars and yep we are going to get wet.

33km Team Time Trial which is going to have a little bit of everything in it. Some teams were getting wet at the end of the course, some in the middle and some at the start. Every team had a little bit of storm, a little bit of sunshine and a little bit of wind from all directions.

Even after losing Christian Vande Velde the day before to a broken collar bone we believed we were still a shot for the win. It was going to be tough on a flat, fast circuit like this one to hold the speed with one less rider but we gave it one hell of a crack. Unfortunately our run of luck with the weather was not a favourable one and we did not have the horse power today and fell away to an eighth place finish.

We averaged around 52km/hr but were 49 seconds off the pace of the winning team. David Millar has now dropped down on the overall classification but still holds a top ten. We will look for stage wins with Tyler Farrar over the next couple of days who has proven he is one of the fastest guys at this years race.

On a personal note I am feeling much better and am looking forward to getting stronger each day from now. I played as big a part as I could of yesterday in the TTT and although disappointed with our overall result the sensations of better form is slowly coming back.

Watch for the Argyle sprint train over the next few days.

Ciao

Cam