No doubt you know by now that the 2008 Vuelta a España ended on Sunday with it's native son, Alberto Contador (Astana), becoming only the 5th rider to win all three grand Tours. Contador came into this race as the heavy favorite, carrying all of the baggage that comes with being the marked man. Having sat out this year's Tour de France, he was fresh, feisty and ready to stamp his authority on the rest of the peloton. His team came packed with their big guns, ready to help their young team captain make even more history. The team included 2 other previous Tour de France podium finishers in German Andreas Klöden and American Levi Leipheimer. By far, they were the strongest team.

But Contador's win did not come easy. He narrowly beat his own teammate, Leipheimer, by less than one minute. It was thanks to the time bonuses (and probably some team tactics) that shifted the balance of power towards the Spaniard. If the Vuelta followed the route of this year's Tour de France and not have given out the bonuses, Contador and Leipheimer would have been tied. (Since they time to the decimal, Contador had a slight edge and would have won anyways.)

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Week 2 of the Vuelta ended the very same way as the first week. Italian Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) won the stage before the rest day while the GC favorites held out for a huge showdown on Saturday. Too bad none of this week's stages or results were the biggest news. Lance Armstrong's recent announcement that he will come out of retirement easily overshadowed anything the Vuelta could have produced. But as this week ends, the attention will return to the mountain goats as they tackle the final stretch of the last 3 week race of the 2008 season.

Stage 7 was the first big mountain stage of the the Tour. I wish I could comment on it but the entire broadcast was rained out. CyclingTV's coverage (and others as well since it was a problem with the feed) consisted of a recap of the early part of the stage and the final 1km run into the finish line. From what I've read, the stage was dominated by a day long break of which the winner, Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), broke away from to win the stage. The classics rider showed he can climb the big mountains as well. Behind him, the GC contenders revved it up in the final kilometer. Big favorite, Alberto Contador (Astana) attacked his challengers but was only able to gain 5 seconds for his hard work. Ballan ended up taking over the gold jersey as the new leader of the Tour.

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Week 1 of the 2008 Vuelta closed with a lot of action, many changes in leadership and a fine butt whipping by Astana. Mirroring the Giro, this year's Tour of Spain started out with a short team time trial. These exist purely for show as minimal time can be gained between the GC contenders. Nevertheless, it did produce a lot of suffering as most teams finished with well less than the 9 riders each team started with. Surprise winner, Liquigas finished 8 seconds ahead of Euskaltel - Euskadi and put leader Filippo Pozzato in the first gold leader's jersey.

The second stage was very similar to this year's stage 1 of the Tour de France and consisted of a sharp uphill just before the finish. And just like the Tour, Spanish champ Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), triumphed and ended the day with the leader's jersey. Proving to everyone that his form is good, Valverde still insisted he is here to win stages and not for a high placing on GC.

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Link: http://www.lavuelta.com

Note: This post was written on Friday but because of server problems, this didn't get posted until Sunday.

It's almost September, a full month after an exciting Tour de France and big time cycling is back! Yes, the 63rd running of the Vuelta a España, or the Tour of Spain, will commence this Saturday, August 30th and finish 3 weeks later on September 21st. The final grand tour of this season will see some big guns battling it out in a war that wasn't allowed to take place in July.

Spain's Alberto Contador and his Astana team are back with a vengeance to prove once again that they are both the best stage racing team in the world and that Contador is the best stage racer in the world. Joining Contador at the top of the favorites list are this year's Tour champ Carlos Sastre (Team CSC-Saxo Bank), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Igor Antón (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Contador's teammates Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden.

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Now that the race is over, you might be thinking to yourself, what have we learned from this year's Giro? Well, let's see!

Here's a list, but in no particular order.

1. ASO sucks.
2. The Giro is harder, at least on paper, than the Tour de France.
3. The mountain stages in the Giro = WOW!!!
4. Astana confirms they are the best stage racing team in the world.
5. Johan Bruyneel and his director sportifs are geniuses.
6. Alberto Contador is good.
7. Contador can beat the best the Giro has to offer at 80% (okay, maybe 90%).
8. Levi Leipheimer was the biggest disappointment here, but he'll win the Dauphiné.
9. Danilo Di Luca is angry like a "killer". But maybe that's not such a revelation.
10. Di Luca hates ear pieces.
11. Di Luca likes yo-yoing in the peloton.
12. Riccardo Riccò is immature and a whiner.
13. Riccò and Di Luca enjoy showing off for the camera.
14. Gilberto Simoni is old.
15. But Simoni can still ride (mountain bikes).
16. Emanuele Sella!
17. What else?

Giro organizer's RCS should be applauding themselves today for making the correct decision to invite Astana. It would not have been as exciting of a race without them. Though it's almost sad to say, even right now, we can probably assume that Contador will not return next year to defend his title as he sets his sights towards a run at a second Tour de France title. But something tells me RCS will not be upset about that. This year, they have brought the Giro to another level and single handedly shown ASO what racing fair means. We know that ASO will not change their minds but we do hope that they have started to hear whispers behind their backs and begin to wonder whether they did the best thing for the sport. So with all due respect to Cadel, Alejandro and Damiano, it won't be until July 2009 before we know who the best cyclist in the world is.

Alberto Contador (Astana) sealed the deal by winning the 2008 Giro d'Italia, finishing 11th on today's final time trial stage into Milan. Confirming that the best man won, he was by far the fastest of the top GC contenders in today's stage and increased his overall lead over Italian prima donna Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) to 1 minute 57 seconds. Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) held onto his 3rd place by a scant 2 seconds over fellow Italian Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas), who is clearly setting a tone before Ivan Basso joins the team after his suspension.

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Alberto Contador (Astana) successfully defended his maglia rosa on the last mountain stage of this year's Giro. In what was a brilliant display of tactics by Johan Bruyneel and Sean Yates in the team car, Astana was able to manipulate the outcome of the stage so that Contador could have an arm chair ride to the finish.

Two massive climbs including the Passo Gavia and the Mortirolo weren't enough for public enemy number one, Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott), to take 4 seconds from Contador. Although the fireworks didn't start on the Gavia, the climb still lived up to expectations as it was still littered with snow at the top and, coupled with the unexpected rain, it was almost 1988 again. In it's first genius move, Astana was able to insert Antonio Colom into a break on the Gavia effectively giving them the edge over the other contenders. This then forced Danilo Di Luca's team (Team LPR Brakes) and Gilberto Simoni's team (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni)) to chase on the descent and in the valley so that Colom wouldn't have such a huge advantage over the Mortirolo. If he went over the climb ahead, Contador would have a teammate ready to help if he was in trouble. This is what the other teams did not want to happen.

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Italian Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) finally put his legs where his mouth was by setting off on a dramatic escape 50 km from the finish during the descent of the 3rd to last climb. With the help of his teammate, Il Falco Paolo Savoldelli, the two quickly built a lead of over 2 minutes. There was no panic back in the chase group containing leader Alberto Contador (Astana) and all of the other favorites. Most, including me, thought Di Luca's attack was suicide and too far from the finish.

Contador's teammates Antonio Colom and Andreas Klöden bravely brought him to the final climb before the rest of the action commenced. Contador accelerated but couldn't distance anyone. Finally, Italy's Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) put in a full forced effort that no one could respond to. Remember, he was only 41 seconds behind at the start of this stage. Di Luca powered on to finish 2nd on this stage after Belarussian Vasili Kiryienka (Tinkoff Credit Systems), who was the lone survivor of an earlier breakaway. Riccò followed shortly after gasping for each breath. Then the countdown began.

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Italian Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) pulled a coup by taking the win on one of the hardest time trials any cyclist will ever face. Pellizotti won by 6 seconds over, who seems to be the Italian hero of this year's Giro, Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare) and moved up to 5th overall. Spanish Tour champ Alberto Contador (Astana) consolidated his lead by finishing a solid 4th, just behind old man Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni).

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Alberto Contador (Astana) finally did what most expected of him in this year's Giro. He took over as leader of the race but it wasn't easy and it definitely is not final. Italian Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare) won his second straight stage by going into an early breakaway on what proved to be a tough day for Team Astana.

American Levi Leipheimer and German Andreas Klöden were all dropped on the penultimate climb and lost a huge amount of time today. Even Contador got distanced briefly on that same climb but was able to fight back to join the rest of the contenders on the descent just before the final push up to the summit of the Passo Fedaia. Once on that climb, it was mostly tempo until the final 5k when Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) jumped clear. Contador and Denis Menchov (Rabobank) took up the chase and for a moment distanced both Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR Brakes) and Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni). In the end, it was a game of yo-yo amongst the GC contenders and Contador proved to not have enough and lost some seconds to the others. We hope that he can gain some ground in tomorrow's uphill time trial to the summit of Plan de Corones. The two remaining time trials mean his rivals would have to put some minutes into him to have a chance, so the pressure is all on them.

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We found out today that defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Astana) has a slight fracture in his elbow. This diagnosis was made during today's rest day following his crash on Saturday's stage.

Contador promises to continue but admitted that this condition may affect his aerodynamic time trialing position tomorrow. VAI CONTADOR!

Speaking of the time trial stage, Astana's Andreas Klöden will be under more pressure to perform following the announcement of Contador's injury. He has shown he has good form and we hope he'll be able to show his class by outdistancing everyone (except for Levi Leipheimer, of course). Stay tuned...

Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott) showed today that perhaps he is the leading candidate for this year's Giro. He stormed out of the peloton to claim today's 8th Stage, his second this year. He outkicked compatriot Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) to gain the valuable 20 second time bonus given to the winner of each stage.

While this day ended with another sharp climb, some of the action happened mid-race when Alberto Contador (Astana) went down in a crash that claimed his teammate Steve Morabito. Contador was able to chase back but didn't contest the finish as he was just content on not losing any time. All of the other favorites arrived safely with the same time as Riccò ready for the next big test on Monday.

One has to think whether Riccò will be good enough in the high mountains fully a week from now. If he is this good, will he be able to keep his form? We can assume he will lose valuable minutes to some of the other GC contenders on Astana so his 20 seconds may go a long way.

Tomorrow's stage should be one for the sprinters as everyone would want to save energy for Tuesday's time trial. Monday is a rest day.

Top 10 results for Stage 8
1 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott.............................4.41.05
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
5 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) LPR Brakes
6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes
7 Emanuele Sella (Ita) CSF Group Navigare
8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) CSF Group Navigare
9 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) LPR Brakes
10 Félix Rafael Cardenas Ravalo (Col) Barloworld

See the complete results here.

RCS recently announced the official start list of this year's Giro. Arguably the hardest Grand Tour on paper will be off to a rock'n start just based on who will be lining up on May 10th. You can view the start list here.

As you can see, Astana is bringing everyone including the kitchen sink in order to prove they are the strongest stage race team. What will make it hard is the fact that these such riders have not had any formal preparation for this competition. Typically, riders train for months in advance of a 3 week tour so a lot will be unknown. Some good signs include Kloden's recent win at the Tour de Romandie and the early season successes of both Contador and Leipheimer. I'll be watching closely on cycling.tv.

I personally would be interested in seeing how 36 year old Gilberto Simoni does. I've always been impressed with the way he rides in the Giro. Despite his growing age, he always seems to shine in his home tour. Other top picks of course, include defending champ Danilo Di Luca but I personally think he's a one hit wonder in grand tours. Speaking of one hit wonders, you can add Jose Rujano to that list too. Apparently, having pressure is not his cup of tea as he hasn't done sh*t since the '05 Giro.

As I continue to browse up and down the start list, no team really stands out other than Astana. Di Luca's team is untested but they do have 2-time winner Paolo Savoldelli waiting in the wings if DiLuca falters. Saunier Duval-Scott will bring a stacked team including Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli but they can't seem to challenge for the GC so it will be stage wins only. Too bad CSC won't bring Andy Schleck as he would have added another dynamic to the race. But I'll be rooting for the 2 US based teams, High Road and Slipstream Chipotle to do good things. They won't be GC contenders but stage wins are more than possible.

So we have it. A stacked field for the Giro in terms of individual cyclists but no one team seemingly strong enough to control things except for Astana. For most people, this makes for an exciting race. Stay tuned as I follow the race and provide my personal highlights and opinions to all.

Ciao!