The snow and rain might have stopped for Stage Sixteen of the Giro d'Italia, but they still started in winter. When the peloton rolled out of Valloire for their 238km (148km) jaunt to Ivrea, the roads were clear, but the Col du Mount Cenis, their entry point to France on Sunday, was still covered in snow as they returned to Italy on the same road. The race started by climbing a mountain, traversed flatter roads before hitting a stiff 6.4km long climb shortly before the finish.

The pack took an hour to warm up, so no attacking as the riders shook out their legs. The slower the start, the better it is for sprinters like Cannondale Pro Cycling's Elia Viviani and Omega Pharma-Quickstep's Mark Cavendish. But the race sprung to life 46km (28.5mi) in, well before they hit the lower slopes of the Cenis.

22 riders got away, including the contenders for the blue King of the Mountains jersey. It was a big group, the kind that had most teams represented, and in it, a chance to stay away all day. A fact not lost on Cannondale Pro Cycling's Damiano Caruso, starting the day in eighteenth overall. While it had offensive possibilities, as he was the best-placed rider on the general classification, it was also necessary as Team Blanco's Wilco Kelderman, a rider placed just below Caruso was also in the split.

Despite their size, the Astana team of race leader Vincenzo Nibali kept the break close, never letting their lead get past six minutes.

As the lead started to drop, the Katusha and RadioShack teams went to the front to finish off the break for good. Both teams had riders whom Caruso could leap over if the break held an advantage all the way to Ivrea.

As the race hit 40km (25mi) to go, the lead was down to 90 seconds. Some of the escapees decided that wasn't enough of a cushion, and the break started attacking itself, picking up the pace and sending riders off the back. After mixing in with several of the attacks, and putting in a few of his own, Caruso decided to call it a day and faded to the pack.

Caruso's return to the field wasn't enough for Katusha and RadioShack. Kelderman was still out there, in a smaller, but more determined move. Stefano Pirazzi, the holder of the Maglia Azzura was in there as well.

As they hit the final climb of the day, the break was blowing apart as the favorites started attacking the climb and blowing apart the peloton. Pirazzi yo-yoed between getting dropped and attacking, and put in one last attack as the field started catching up to him. He looked like he might get those final points after all, but then White Jersey Carlos Betancur of AG2R attacked out of the field, past Pirazzi, and over the top first.

As Betancur started careening down the sinuous descent, Euskatel's Samuel Sanchez few out of the pack to join him. Then Maglia Rosa Nibali crossed to them, and everyone had to take amazing risks just to get down the mountain with the leaders.

On the flats before the finish, the lead group took turns attacking, all in hopes of dislodging Nibali for a few seconds and winning the stage. With everyone so aggressive, the attacks largely neutralized themselves.

But with just over 2km (1.2mi) remaining, Movistar's Benat Intxausti, Astana's Tamel Kangert, and Lampre's Prezemyslaw Niemiec got a small gap. As both Kangerd and Niemiec had teammates behind, the chase was muted.

Niemiec lead out the sprint, he was chased by Kangert, and Intxausti countered off of Kangert to win the day. Fourteen seconds behind, the Nibali group came in, none making any time on the leader.

Caruso, his ambition checked by the reality of the chasing peloton, found himself in diffculty on the final climb of the day and lost seventeeen minutes, dropping from 18th to 24th overall.

Caruso's escape was the team plan for the stage. Directeur Sportif Stefano Zanatta explained, "We thought was the good day for a break today. A huge group was the ideal situation, thus the escape was the right thing was to try. Caruso was our best chance, but the peloton didn't allow them the gap they needed. We knew that was a risk but we have to try to win. This is the leitmotif of our Giro. We're disappointed in the result and for Damiano's new position in the GC, but for sure he has the potential to achieve more than top 15." Caruso reiterated his boss' sentiment. "I tried to do my best but the result was not what we expected. There was the chance, and I did all that I could to be with the protagonists. Don't need to highlight how much I'm disappointed."

Tomorrow's Stage 17, the 214km (133mi) ride from Caravaggio to Vicenza is known to stagers as a "transition day." It takes you from one objective to the next. The guys going for the overall probably won't be looking for a way to gain time. But with a largely flat run until one hill just before the finish, the sprinters who feel good enough to climb for a few minutes might want this one. It will be hard into the climb, and depending on how that goes, the finish will be either a full-on bunch gallop or a small escape. Cannondale Pro Cycling's Viviani has been riding carefully the past few days and he could be ready for another chance to show the field a clean set of wheels.

Giro d'Itala 2013
Stage 16
Valloire to Ivrea 238km

Stage Results
1. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team   in 5:52:48  
2. Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team          at same time
3. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida  same time
4. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp  0:00:14  
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team     same time

Stage Results Cannondale Pro Cycling

57. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)     0:06:31 
65. Alan Marangoni (Ita)     same time
110. Fabio Sabatini (Ita)      0:10:53
116. Cameron Wurf (Aus)     same time
129. Elia Viviani (Ita)       0:16:16
134. Cristiano Salerno (Ita)     same time
144. Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)    same time
162. Damiano Caruso (Ita)      0:17:17
165. Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col)  same time 

General Classification

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team   67:55:36  
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team   0:01:26  
3. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling  0:02:46  
4. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida   0:03:53  
5. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida  0:04:13 

General Classification Cannondale Pro Cycling

24. Damiano Caruso (Ita)      0:27:00 
69. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)    1:45:51 
84. Cristiano Salerno (Ita)      2:03:19 
87. Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col)  2:06:22 
104. Fabio Sabatini (Ita)      2:22:03 
114. Alan Marangoni (Ita)      2:34:45 
117. Elia Viviani (Ita)       2:36:13 
120. Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)    2:36:39 
126. Cameron Wurf (Aus)      2:41:44 

What a crazy atmosphere for the 1st Enduro World Series in Punta Ala this week-end. All the top riders were attending the race (pro DH and enduro racers). I am happy to be part of the game because of the high level of the race.

5 stages were planned : 1 prologue on saturday and 4 stages on sunday. We started with the prologue : a short 39 secondes downhill in the city center of Castiglione della pescaia to make the show : crazy atmosphere and perfect warm up..

On sunday morning we go for a hard day of pedalling: the liaisons were very physical and long but we had fun in the stages. The 1st stage was extremely wet and slippery. I managed it well because I won it. Then we went to stage 2 where I finished 2nd behind Fabien Barel.

After the lunch we had 2 more stages : the soil starts to dry and I would like to keep my ranking (2nd). The last 2 stages were physical and not so much technical that's why to make the difference it was not easy.

I was very happy to finish 2nd behind Fabien Barel and in front of Jared Graves : the level was high within this 500 riders! Good start for this 1st World Series...

My teammate Ben Cruz took the 6th place, and Pauline Dieffenthaler finished 6th in the women category too.

Pictures by www.reuiller.com

Stage Six of the Tour of California presented the racers with the sweet agony of a 31.6km (19.75mi) individual time trial around San Jose.  For the race favorites, they must throw down to win. For the tired,they must give everything to survive.  For Cannondale Pro Cycling presented by Sho-Air, they were decidely in the middle.  Ted King and Brian Vandborg needed good rides to hold their sixteenth and eighteenth places overall, or even move up.  Peter Sagan and the rest of the team needed to go only fast enough to beat the time cut while resting enough for the final two days of the race.

The individual time trial, the race of truth, is a seemingly simple task.  Go all-out for the distance and collapse a few meters after crossing the finish line.  Simple isn't always easy, and riding a good time trial never is.  Different courses have to be ridden differently and play to different strengths.  Typical American time trials are out-and-back courses on straight roads.  Typical European time trials take in circuits with turns, towns, hills, road furniture, and more.  This stage was in the middle.  Straight, flat roads, mixed in with curvy, hilly sections, and finishing atop a stiff climb.  Good for those who need constant changes in order to keep focus, bad for those who can't give 100% when they have to think.

Riders go off in the opposite order of their general classification position.  The last is first, and the first last.  As the riders counted down, Cannondale's Kristijan Koren put in a great ride that left him near the top of the leaderboard.  He, like all the other early finishers, had to wait to see how their efforts stacked up.  Later on, Peter Sagan, not giving his all, put in a fast time, with Brian Vandborg hoping to improve his position on the leaderboard going a few seconds faster.  Ted King, hoping for a great day, didn't have it, as he lost two minutes to Vandborg. 

Koren, who finished eleventh, didn't know about his ride, even after he finished. "I didn't realize that I had done so well. I got back to the hotel and got an SMS from a journalist congratulating me. 'For what' I said. He replied that I got eleventh, which surprised me since I didn't know the course and rode it with no stress to do well. I even was braking in the curves on the descent but I guess I was going well. On the first climb I felt well and caught my minute man. I got another one before the straight into the wind. Going into the final climb, I realized that I have a climb just like this at home, so I rode it at fifteen to seventeen km/hr like I would at home. Overall, the course was good for me, with changes in rhythm and the climbs like this. I'm happy for sure, but we still need to think about working for Peter, as there is another chance for him."

The rides also moved Cannondale's Vandborg up to seventeeth, and King down to twentieth.  With no points on the line, Sagan remains in the Green Jersey of sprint leader, with a one-point lead over Garmin-Sharp's Tyler Farrar.

Tomorrow's Stage Seven, 147.1km (92mi) from Livermore to Mt. Diablo, should be the final general classification shake-out.  The race begins with a 100km (62.5mi) loop over two climbs, and finishing off with an intermediate sprint in Livermore behor heading out for a 29km (18mi) approach to Diablo. Once there, the climb comes in two parts.  The first 10km (6.25mi)  is relatively easy.  But then the final eight kilometers (5mi) will  feature an average gradient of seven per cent and then pitch up to a brutally steep seventeen percent for the final half kilomter.  Cannondale Pro Cycling's Ted King and Brian Vandborg will need to put in great rides to move further up in the overall standings.

Amgen Tour of California 2013
Stage 6
San Jose (ITT) 31.6km

Stage Results

1. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team        in 0:48:52  
2. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team    at 0:00:23  
3. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin-Sharp     0:00:28  
4. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff    0:01:05  
5. Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team     0:01:08 

Stage Results Cannondale Pro Cycling presented by Sho-Air

11. Kristijan Koren (Slo)        0:02:06 
35. Brian Vandborg (Den)        0:04:11 
36. Peter Sagan (Svk)         0:04:14 
72. Edward King (USA)        0:06:35 
85. Guillaume Boivin (Can)        0:07:20
94. Maciej Bodnar (Pol)        0:07:58 
97. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg)       0:08:06 

General Classification

1. Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team    22:44:24  
2. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff    0:01:47  
3. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge     0:02:57  
4. Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team     0:03:21  
5. Janier Alexis Acevedo Colle (Col) Jamis-Hagens Berman   0:03:31 

General Classification Cannondale Pro Cycling presented by Sho-Air

17. Brian Vandborg (Den)        0:10:08 
20. Edward King (USA)        0:11:42 
37. Peter Sagan (Svk)         0:23:37 
65. Kristijan Koren (Slo)        0:31:49 
78. Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg)       0:38:56 
83. Maciej Bodnar (Pol)        0:41:16 
88. Guillaume Boivin (Can)        0:46:32 

The winter weather visiting this year's Giro d'Italia took a powder long enough to allow Stage Fifteen to proceed, with all but four kilometers (2.5mi) of its original 148km (92.5mi) route intact. Those clicks were excised at the top of the Col du Galibier, the fearsome French mountain where the stage finished. Fittingly, the shortened finish came alongside the memorial for Marco Pantani, the Italian Giro-Tour double champion, the last man to win both in a single year. Pantani rode into yellow on a cold wet day in the Alps.

For Cannondale Pro Cycling, any success in the stage would come at the end. Damiano Caruso's strong showing yesterday meant he could have the legs to win atop the Galibier.

The race crossed into France, in a tribute to the hundredth Tour de France, coming this summer, on the slopes of the Col du Mount Cenis, where the field was still together most of the way up. Summer was far from everyone's minds as the climb was snow-lined all the way to the summit.

Closer to the summit, the climbers looking for King of the Mountain points started attacking. KoM leader Stefano Pirazzi of Bardiani led over the top, followed by five riders, including rivals third-placed Robinson Chalapud of Colombia and seventh-placed Giovanni Visconti of Movistar.

The peloton, led by Maglia Rosa Vincenzo Nibali's Astana team, led the peloton, and allowed the gap to creep up to a bit over four minutes with 66km (41.25mi) remaining. Astana then picked up the pace to bring the gap down to a two-minute gap at the foot of the Col du Telegraphe with 30km remaining(19mi). The attacks began as soon as the road started to get steep.

In the breakaway, Visconti was feeling good and dispatched his companions with a seated acceleration. Behind, those seeking to make up time were riding away from the Astana-led peloton. Astana was steady as the attackers would try to get a gap.

Visconti won the Telegraphe climb, descended quickly to Valloire, and started up the 13.9km (8.68mi) ascent to the Pantani memorial.

Behind, there were more testing attacks. As nobody making a move was a threat to Nibali's lead, Astana kept their pace steady. Visconti was losing his advantage with every stroke.  It started to rain. And then the rain started turning to snow.

With five kilometers (3.1mi) remaining Euskaltel's Samuel Sanchez attacked the Pink Jersey group and Caruso joined him. As neither posed a threat to Nibali, there was no reason for Astana to chase. However, several threats to Nibali, including Lampre's Michele Scarponi started throwing down, which increased the pace and brought both Caruso and Sanchez back.

Into the final kilometer with his lead quickly fading, Visconti kept going. Behind, three riders looking for an edge in the best young rider competition attacked in search of seconds. They didn't catch Visconti, who rolled across the line alone. But they did put sixteen seconds on the Nibali group, which had Caruso tucked in at the back.

Caruso was happy with his result. "Today I found the opportunity and the right conditions to try an attack. The feeling was good and when I saw Sanchez move in front of the peloton I decided to follow his weel. It was good to try, also because I had nothing to lose. It was useful also to test my condition. For this, I'm happy. I have to face the last hard stage of the Giro in several days, and I feel ready. I'll race as I did through today, step by step. I don't want to lose any chances."

Tomorrow is a much-needed rest day. The riders will sleep late, ride easy, and catch up on life and laundry. Racing will return Tuesday with Stage Sixteen. They'll ride out of Valloire, back over the Col du Mount Cenis, back into Italy, en route to Ivrea 238km (149mi) away. It's the kind of finish that could favor Cannondale's Elia Viviani, as there's a short, stiff climb shortly before the flat finale. A win would be great, so, too, would be points in the sprint competition; thanks to the past few days, he has dropped from second to sixth in this race.

Giro d'Italia 2013
Stage 15
Cesana Torinese to Col du Galibier - 144.7km

1. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team          in 4:40:48  
2. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:00:42  
3. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida     same time
4. Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo-Tinkoff       same time
5. Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia   0:00:47  
 

Stage Results Cannondale Pro Cycling

12. Damiano Caruso (Ita)     0:00:58
72. Cameron Wurf (Ita)     0:13:37
79. Cristiano Salerno (Ita)     0:16:08
89. Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col)  0:20:26
93. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)    same time
112. Fabio Sabatini (Ita)     0:27:54
116. Alan Marangoni (Ita)     same time
143. Elia Viviani (Ita)      same time
168. Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)    same time

General classification

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team    62:02:34  
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team    0:01:26  
3. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling   0:02:46  
4. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia   0:02:47  
5. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-Merida    0:03:53 

General Classification Cannondale Pro Cycling

18. Damiano Caruso (Ita)     0:09:57
69. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)      1:39:34 
81. Cristiano Salerno (Ita)       1:47:17 
84. Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col)   1:49:19 
104. Fabio Sabatini (Ita)       2:11:24 
114. Elia Viviani (Ita)        2:20:11 
116. Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)      2:20:37 
122. Alan Marangoni (Ita)       2:28:28 
130. Cameron Wurf (Aus)       2:31:05