Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Rest before the tough one

The riders in the Giro d'Italia took advantage of the first rest day on Monday to catch their breath after nine days of tough racing between Venice and Milan. Team Barloworld reached Cuneo on Sunday night after the Milan circuit race where South Africa'sRobert Hunter took a seventh place in the bunch sprint. 

Monday morning saw the Team Barloworld riders take a two-hour ride around Cuneo as part of their recovery.  Although moral in the team is high, they are today faced with one of the toughest stages ahead, so all jokes aside as the team focuses on making their already felt presence even more prominent.

 First time Giro d’Italia rider, Diego Caccia said "I'm thrilled to be riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. It's something special for an Italian. The crowds were huge along the road to Bergamo and it was a special day for me because my family and friends were there too. That was awesome and it was a day I'll never forget.”

The team mechanics have been hard at work cleaning and preparing the team bikes anequipment for the next two weeks of the Giro which kicks off again today with the tenth stage from Cuneo to Pinerolo.  This stage will recreate one of the legendary attacks of Italian icon Fausto Coppi, with two 1st categorized mountains (Moncenisio and Sestriere) and the 2nd categorised Pra Martino climb.

“It's definitely one of the toughest stage of the Giro,’ said team manager Claudio Corti, “but Team Barloworld has the men to tackle this demanding 262km route.”

 Colombian climber Mauricio Soler will be in the action, as will Felix Cardenas, Chris Froome and John Lee Augustyn. 

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