Racing in Italy is always something I look forward to.  Even though at the moment I am completely useless – hardly able to get out of my own way – I am still happy to be here.  The hole I dug for myself during the Tour de l’Ain, racing through a sickness, has been deeper than I would have liked.  Having had only one day where I wasn’t racing or traveling in the past month doesn’t seem to be helping matters either.  But here I am in Northern Italy racing, or more accurately starting, some of the hardest one-day races of the year and somehow enjoying it.

Trittico Lombardo (Tre Valli Varesine, Coppa Agostoni and Coppa Bernocchi) and Trofeo Melinda used to be the races where the Italian World Championship team would be selected, back when Worlds were in August.  If you performed well here you would likely be part of the Squadra Azzurra. Now, even though these races play a minor roll in the Worlds selection process, they are still raced as if the rainbow jersey itself was on the line.  After Dan Martin (Garmin-Transitions) won Tre Valli Varesine the other day you would have thought it was the end of Italian cycling if you had glanced at the newspapers the following morning.  Italians are expected to shine here, and dominate these races in their home country.

The following day in Coppa Agostoni, the Italians blew the race apart from kilometer-zero, allowing only thirty-five riders to reach the finish line in Monza.  I was one of the many to hop in the team car in the feed zone, with my race long over before then.  A feeling I would like to soon forget and I hope to put that performance behind me come Saturday during the Trofeo Melinda.

Trofeo Melinda is held in the Trentino region of Northern Italy, and there isn’t a flat road in sight.  Maurizio Fondriest and Gilberto Simoni are from this area if that helps paint a picture of what kind of rider you’d be if raised here.  On our easy spin today we knocked out 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) in the flattest 1.5-hour loop we could find.  The race on Saturday will be more of the same, always going up or down.  Racing through endless fields of apple trees with only tiny hillside villages separating one from the next will make for a beautiful day.  I am just hoping to see more of the race from the bike than from inside the team car behind.

There are very few climbs in the cycling world that are a cherished as the Passo Gavia.  There is also no other church/museum as beloved as the Madonna de Ghisallo.  Brendan and I were lucky to experience both of these in the same day this past Saturday!  After our seven-hour journey the day before we decided the body could use a little rest so we headed out for a short and easy ride around Ponte de Legno.  Once out on the road we couldn’t pass up riding the Passo Gavia as it basically starts at our hotel’s front door.  The easy day soon turned into not so easy.  We ignored all signs stating the road was closed and continued to ride up its steep slopes and into the snow.  Experiencing the climb with no traffic was really special.  It was just the trees and the wind out there, making for a very peaceful ride.  Around five kilometers from the top my knees had had enough, and not wanting to cause any injuries before the Giro we decided to flip it and head back to the hotel.

In the afternoon we drove down the valley and alongside the famous Lago di Como (Lake Como) and then up to the top of the Madonna de Ghisallo.  There the church waited for us with open doors and a surprising amount of tourists.  We gazed at its walls, covered in cycling memorabilia, just trying to soak in as much of the history around us as possible.  But for that you would need much longer than a few minutes.  Every inch of the church is covered with bikes, jerseys and any and all things cycling related.  It was truly amazing to see this firsthand and a must for any cycling fan.  I was also very surprised and happy to see so many tour buses park outside with their guests interested in learning the history of cycling.  Cycling is defiantly growing at the moment, I feel.

Today saw Brendan and I pedaling up and over mountains for nearly seven hours.  Accumulating over 4,000 meters of climbing!  I would have to say that today’s ride goes down as my biggest training ride ever.  It was another beautiful day for us here in Italy.  We finally made it around to the correct side of the Mortirolo only to be able to make it nine of the twelve kilometers up before running into the snow line.  Snow and ice once again forced us to detour.  Luckily, nine kilometers was more than enough for me!  Its steep slopes are relentless.  Even descending was a workout.  The friction from my breaks had my wheel so hot that I burned myself when my knee touched its sidewall!

The rest of the ride we basically spent bar hopping.  A couple cappuccinos at this bar and a few pastries at another in a town down the valley.  Not a bad way to spend the day, but I believe when I am back here in a month’s time I will be missing those opportunities for coffee stops.  We also made another quick trip up the Passo Santa Christina and it didn’t get any easier overnight.  We are hoping to get in one more solid ride tomorrow, but with rain in the forecast it is not looking likely.

Long days in the high mountains of northern Italy are all that are on the program for this week.  Brendan Quirk has joined me from the United States to tour around the country and check some of the climbs of the 2010 Giro d’Italia.  I know he was nothing but excited to see this part of the world and be able to climb these hills with so much cycling history, but after our first hard day today he might be dreaded the next three.  And unfortunately for Brendan, today was the “easy” day!  He will be just fine though.  With the climbs of the Mortirolo, Gavia and the Tonale all tagged in paint with the names of Pantani, Gotti and many more recent champions the inspiration to keep climbing is always there.

Our ride today took us to the unexpected.  Snow covered roads diverted us from our original plan to climb the Mortirolo.  Instead we ended climbing up the Santa Cristina.  Brendan thought it would never end, and I had to agree.  I even said “I am glad we are not racing up this in the Giro.”  Once we returned home, after almost six hours on the bike, I checked to map to see where we had gone.  I realized that we would be in fact racing up the Santa Cristina this year!

Tomorrow we will once again try the Mortirolo, hoping that a new route will bring us to the bottom of the climb.  And if the snow stops us again there are plenty more mountains just waiting for us to tackle.  Being in such a beautiful area makes the training so easy.  Even though the computer read six hours, to me it felt like thirty minutes.  For now though it is time for dinner.  Brendan is in desperate need of more pasta!

My journey to the Classics this year did not turn out the way I had envisioned just days ago.  The airspace never opened up here in Europe for the flights to run and my team was unable to work out any other options, waiting hours on hold trying to book any method of travel.  So I decided to take matters into my own hands and rent a car to drive the 1,300 kilometers to Belgium.  I found that even though the cost to rent a car for a one-way trip was approaching the 2,000 Euro mark per day, I could rent the same car and return it back to Spain for just 20 Euros a day.

My mind was made up.  I would pick up the car in Girona, drive to Belgium and race through Liege-Bastogne-Liege, then drive down to Italy to pick up Brendan Quirk for a few days of training on the Giro d’Italia course and finally bring the car back to Girona in early May.  I am tired just from writing about all of the driving ahead, but at least I know I will get to where I need to be.  The outrageous bike charges and the countless security screens that come with air travel will not be missed either.

Driving in Europe is not all that bad either.  I am amazed at how much the scenery changes in such short distances.  Being from America I am use to driving hours on end before I was out of the deserts of the West, or the mountains of North Carolina.  Here in the space of a couple hours you go from the arid landscape of Provence, past the high mountains of the Alps and you are in the rolling pastures covered in yellow mustard seeds that make up central France.  The scenery defiantly keeps the drive entertaining, but I was more than excited to pull into our team hotel late last night.  It was a long trip that took some thirteen hours from door to door, but I am happy I did it.  It is great to be back with the team and where I belong.  I hated watching Amstel on TV, and I didn’t want to be in that same position the rest of the week.  These races are some of the best of the year and regardless of how I feel after the long drive I can’t wait to race tomorrow.

For 2010, Fleche Wallonne has had a pretty significant course change.  As always we pass the infamous Mur de Huy three times.  With its slopes kicking up above 20% it has always been a deciding factor, but probably never more than it will be this year.  In past editions we would pass the Mur two times before the finish on the third trip up, but those first two times were always far out from the finish so the pace was calm.  This year the 2nd passage comes just twenty-nine kilometers from the finish, so it will play a vital role in the race.  The run-in to the 2nd passage will be chaotic, as we all know the race will be decided there.  HTC-Columbia’s goal is to have some riders up the road by then as with a finish like tomorrow it is always good to be a little ahead of the game.

After being sidelined last week with a throat infection I feel like my body is finally getting things sorted out.  The forced break has come at an opportune time.  With a big block of racing already under my belt a little rest has done my body and mind some good.  It is also Courtney’s last week here in Europe, so we have been able to enjoy our time together.  At least I have, since she has basically been taking care of my every need while I have laid around the house this past week.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she is ready to get back to the US and take a break!  But we have had a great time regardless.

It has also been nice to sit back and watch some of the racing action this week, with Flanders and Roubaix taking place.  There is no better way to get motivated for my races ahead than by watching these guys battle each other over the cobbles.  I really have an awesome couple of months ahead of me.  The Ardennes week is fast approaching.   I will be racing in all three, Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.  These are three of the biggest and most exciting races of the year for me.  The crowds and the courses make this week special.  Then it is off to northern Italy where I will check out the courses of the last week of this year’s Giro d’Italia.  A close friend of mine, Brendan Quirk, will be joining me in the Dolomites for a great week of training.  Then it is the Giro itself.  My first Grand Tour, I am not sure what else you can say about that!  As always in life, there is much to look forward to.

I can’t think of any other race throughout the year that could motivate me so much so late in the season other than the Giro di Lombardia.  Last year I had the best result of my short career at this race and I was hoping to go even better than that in this edition.  I was better prepared both mentally and physically and was more confident than ever before.  The day just didn’t go that well.  I felt good, I just lacked that extra gear and was unable to follow the accelerations.  I have noticed that I have been lacking that extra something since Ireland really.  Maybe it just comes with the long season of racing I have done.

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If I accomplished anything during the race today it was that I came to the realization that I want to live in the Piemonte region at some point during my life.  From the start to the finish we were surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery that you could possibly ask for. 

The days prior to the race Thomas Lovkvist and I rode on quiet one lane roads and up and over countless hills, some gradual and some way over 20% grades!  We past vineyard after vineyard and village after village and hardly ever came across any traffic, something that I thought would never be possible in northern Italy.  I am not sure if it is the food, wine, culture, sights or scenery, but I am always excited to be in Italy and to race through one of my favorite regions, Piemonte, was even more special.

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The GP Beghelli is the final race in a series of the same name.  Starting with Coppi Bartali in the spring, a few one day races in the late summer and finishing with the Giro dell’ Emilia and GP Beghelli this weekend.  We actually started at the Beghelli factory today just outside of Bologna.  From what I could piece together they make security systems.  Regardless, they are obviously big fans of the cycling world so I support whatever they are making.

The race started in the loading zone area of the factory, yet just ten feet across the other side of the road were rows and rows of grapevines.  I always find it surprising in Europe to see how they somehow blend industrial areas with farmland, using every piece of land to its fullest.

As with every other Italian race I have done, once the flag dropped for the race to begin the attacks started left to right and we constantly hovered in the 50-60kph range.  Today was a little strange in that we never really came out of that range.  A small group did mange to get away, but we kept them on a short leash and that made the race quite difficult in the end.

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We woke up today with some threatening clouds, and that seemed to lower the morale within the team. After all, who really wants to be racing in the rain at this point in the year? I even have my doubts that it would be possible to make it up the San Luca in the rain. We struggle as it is in the dry, throwing our bikes side to side, trying to squeez every once of power we have into the bike. If you take away some traction with the wet roads then we would have some problems.

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