It took 10 days of hard racing for the weather to show its ugly face. Rain in
these parts of Spain mean that up north, where the race is headed, things may
get even worse. Let's hope it's not as bad as they say, for the sake of the
riders.
The sky opened up during the first individual time trial. This had to cause
concern for the main protagonists, who had to change their plans and be more
careful on the tricky corners and those slick sections of pavement. At times the
road looked like a mirror. Scary when you are trying to keep those 700x20
tubulars (or clinchers) on a straight line at warp speed.
Ham Gazers of the Day
Alexander Vinokourov: Was "Vino" on a training ride or was the "Camiseta
de Oro" on a different time zone yesterday? A man with a better than average
reputation on the bike couldn't allow himself to lose such a huge amount of
time. I'm wondering if Rudy P. gave him an earful afterwards.
Angel Casero: Well...well...well...he wasn't as "fresh" as he said at
the beginning of the Vuelta. A time trial course suited to his abilities and yet
he gets spanked by some climbers (his own teammate "Tricky" Beltran and Heras,
to name a few). I will pick him as the next passenger on the Vamonos a Casa
bus.
Golden Hams of the Day
Oscar Sevilla: He was on a different time zone, for that matter, on a
different planet. Whatever he did as a warmup to get himself ready and into the
zone helped. Cara de Niņo rode the time trial of his life.
Aitor Gonzalez: Winning a stage two days ago wasn't enough. He came
and defeated riders like Millar, who had their eye on this stage. Now he's only
one second behind his team leader. And by the way, the rumor is that he will not
be racing for Kelme next year. Is he going to follow team orders?....aaahhhh,
the wait is killing me.
[Editor's Note: Locutus will be back with Wednesday's edition
of the Museo de Jamon Awards - many thanks to Manny for covering the past few
days.]
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