{"id":143329,"date":"2010-07-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-07-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-07-05T00:00:00","slug":"shadowing-and-alliances-this-is-how-basso-challenges-contador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.varesenews.it\/2010\/07\/shadowing-and-alliances-this-is-how-basso-challenges-contador\/143329\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cShadowing\u201d and alliances; this is how Basso challenges Contador"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" \/><br \/>\n<meta content=\"Word.Document\" name=\"ProgId\" \/><br \/>\n<meta content=\"Microsoft Word 11\" name=\"Generator\" \/><br \/>\n<meta content=\"Microsoft Word 11\" name=\"Originator\" \/>\n<link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:\\DOCUME~1\\PPeggy\\IMPOST~1\\Temp\\msohtml1\\01\\clip_filelist.xml\" \/><o:smarttagtype name=\"metricconverter\" namespaceuri=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags\"><\/o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n<w:WordDocument>\n<w:View>Normal<\/w:View>\n<w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n<w:HyphenationZone>14<\/w:HyphenationZone>\n<w:PunctuationKerning \/>\n<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas \/>\n<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n<w:Compatibility>\n<w:BreakWrappedTables \/>\n<w:SnapToGridInCell \/>\n<w:WrapTextWithPunct \/>\n<w:UseAsianBreakRules \/>\n<w:DontGrowAutofit \/>\n<\/w:Compatibility>\n<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel>\n<\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\">\n<\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object \nclassid=\"clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D\" id=ieooui><\/object>\n\n\n<style>\nst1\\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n<!--\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\n p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ansi-language:EN-GB;}\na:link, span.MsoHyperlink\n\t{color:blue;\n\ttext-decoration:underline;\n\ttext-underline:single;}\na:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed\n\t{color:purple;\n\ttext-decoration:underline;\n\ttext-underline:single;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:595.3pt 841.9pt;\n\tmargin:70.85pt 2.0cm 2.0cm 2.0cm;\n\tmso-header-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:35.4pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n--><\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n{mso-style-name:\"Tabella normale\";\nmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\nmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\nmso-style-noshow:yes;\nmso-style-parent:\"\";\nmso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;\nmso-para-margin:0cm;\nmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\nmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\nfont-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\nmso-ansi-language:#0400;\nmso-fareast-language:#0400;\nmso-bidi-language:#0400;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\">by Lorenzo Franzetti* &ndash; The days of waiting and discussion, that normally precede the start of the &ldquo;Grande Boucle&rdquo;, have begun. For three days, until Saturday, Rotterdam will be the world capital of cycling; the Tour de France is setting off in Holland. According to tradition, <i>le Gran d&eacute;part<\/i> is an important occasion for the world of cycling, that concentrates more than 70% of its business around the French stage race. Millions of euros are changing hands, in negotiations already for next season; companies and investments, riders and teams, the media, well-known and not so well-known managers, all are at the start of the most important cycling event of the season.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\">And what about the race? Are we going to witness Alberto Contador&rsquo;s third Tour? Ivan Basso has promised a hard battle and great performance. But will the Varese cyclist really be able to beat the apparently clear superiority of his Spanish rival?<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Today, cycling leaves little to the imagination, at least behind the scenes. Professional cyclists make increasing use of technological and scientific (and legal, of course) instruments to improve their performance. Seen from the side of the road, cycling is still a great sport, but the romanticism disappears when an athlete has to analyse his performance in such depth in order to improve.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\">Today, technology provides cyclists with very sophisticated instruments, power meters that can monitor every part of their performance. And, generally speaking, these instruments are the same for everyone. There&rsquo;s not much difference between the instruments used by Alberto Contador and those used by Ivan Basso (in the photo, in Verona &ndash; RCS Press Office). Every race and every training session is recorded and analysed graphically and scientifically: aside from tactical choices and conditions of health, it is not difficult for every cyclist to discover the performance level of his opponents.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\">And so, today, we can make a &ldquo;scientific&rdquo; comparison of two athletes: Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso. The Varese cyclist knows that, uphill, his power varies between 420 and 440 watts, an average of 6.4 watts\/kg (Ivan&rsquo;s ideal weight is <st1:metricconverter productid=\"69 kg\" w:st=\"on\">69 kg<\/st1:metricconverter>). In contrast, his Spanish rival can put out as much as 480 watts, or 6.7 watts\/kg. But this data is from last year, and there&rsquo;s a lot of uncertainty about the data from this season&rsquo;s races.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\">But how can Ivan Basso so calmly claim to be able to win the Tour? When a cyclist talks about &ldquo;good feelings&rdquo;, is he making it up, is it &ldquo;pre-tactics&rdquo;, or has he got something concrete on which to base his comments? The answer is simple: the winner of the 2010 Giro d&rsquo;Italia has scientific data to back him up. And how did he get this data? With the help of two &ldquo;spies&rdquo;. Spies? Yes, two, greatly-trusted team-mates, the Pole, Sylvester Szmydt, and the Czech, Roman Kreuziger. In June, these two cyclists competed in two important, different races. Szmydt took part in the &ldquo;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN\">Crit&eacute;rium du Dauphin&eacute;&rdquo;, in France; his precise task was to &ldquo;shadow&rdquo; Alberto Contador (in the photo, wearing the jersey of the race leader &ndash; from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.astana.lu\/\">www.astana.lu<\/a>), and on the more important slopes, he almost kept up with the Spaniard. The Czech, Kreuziger, had the task of &ldquo;spying&rdquo; on the other great rival, Lance Armstrong, in the Tour of Switzerland. And so, the comparison of the scientific data recorded was very easy, and, fortunately for Basso, very comforting.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN\">Of course, the Tour de France cannot be reduced to a simple comparison of graphs and pedal strokes per minute, but this aspect has become very important in modern cycling; and all the more so for Ivan Basso, who, psychologically, needs the constant reassurance of the numbers. This is how he tackles this sport; besides, everyone needs certainties, and the Varese cyclist looks for, and often finds them, in the power meters. But this does not mean that the Tour de France&rsquo;s results have already been written.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN\">Unforeseen events, imagination, tactical choices, and luck: fortunately for us fans, these elements still count in the world of cycling. And this Tour could still reward us with unexpected turns of events, thanks to a very interesting, tough route, from the very start. The cyclists will have to tackle a number of fearsome paved roads (the forest of Arenberg), which were made famous by the Paris- Roubaix, then climb the Alps, then tackle the Pyrenees (with a double climb up the Col du Tourmalet) and a final time-trial (over <st1:metricconverter productid=\"50 km\" w:st=\"on\">50 km<\/st1:metricconverter>, on the penultimate day).<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN\">So, is Contador stronger? Yes. But in a great stage race, alliances can also make the difference; the Spaniard has none, and Ivan Basso has always had a great feeling with Lance Armstrong. Rival No. 4 is Andy Schleck, and No. 5, Cadel Evans. What about the others? Souls in search of glory, whose hopes of wearing the yellow jersey in Paris are limited.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><i><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN\">* Department head of the magazine &ldquo;Ciclismo&rdquo;<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-family: Arial\" lang=\"EN-GB\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pre-tactics and preparation alone are not all it takes to win a great stage race. Ivan Basso and the Liquigas-Doimo team have already implemented a series of moves to \u201chalt\u201d the Spanish phenomenon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cShadowing\u201d and alliances; this is how Basso challenges Contador<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pre-tactics and preparation alone are not all it takes to win a great stage race. 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