TonkovPavel Tonkov has returned to his apartment in Seriate, in the province of Bergamo, with the green jersey from Romandie, which he placed close to the pink one from the Giro d'Italia '96. At the The collection begins to look interesting. The Russian Veysonnaz stage (Romandie) he has frightened his adversaries and also impressed positively with his time trial performance. Then there is another point in his favor: the team. Mapei-GB seems more solid than Panaria-Vinavil, his team last year. The team will be lead by sport director Pietro Algeri and a team composed of Gianni Bugno, Giuseppe Di Grande, Luca Pianegonda, Paul Lanfranchi and more.But Pavel Tonkov is a man of few words, he hides his emotions under the same look, which always shows the same intensity. It is dfficult to make him smile and almost impossible see him laugh. "I'm calm because I have been able to find the form that I wished -he says-. I am not able to compare with last year, but I surely won't go less strong and I surely have the advantage of experience". Tonkov has also matured. Pietro Algeri, the technician who has followed him now for 5 years, says that he finally is becoming a team captain and that his words have more and more weight in the team. Pavel has also changed because his life has changed. A year ago Tonkov was little more than an expert in placing at the major stage races. With two white jerseys of best young rider from the Giri of 1992 and 1993 which were about to be forgotten and a gold one from the Tour of Switzerland '95 which threatened to be lost in time. "This last year, everything has happened to me - I won the Giro, I'm wearing the jersey of (Mapei) the number one team in the world, I will have a child and I will get married at the end of the year with Daria, a girl from Madrid". In the days leading to the Giro, Tonkov has been concerned by small health problems. Yesterday he went from the dentist in the morning to the chiropractor Gert Meersseman in the afternoon, to work on the back muscles which have been affected by his anomalous posture because of the fracture of the left hand. And this morning, he will go to the Hospital Buono di Bergamo for some x-rays of the hand that he fractured twice: January 4th, the metacarp while in a training ride and on April 7th, the scaphoid on a fall at the Pais Vasco. "I thik that there is still a small fracture, but the pain is less and less intense -says Tonkov-. At Romandie, I didn't wear the brace all the time and I believe that I haven't gotten worst". Yesterday Tonkov found the time for a bike ride also. "Two hours on the bike with my teammates Bramati and Missaglia, but not too hard because we found rain". Giro NewsThe Giro d'Italia, which will begin on Saturday at the Lido circuit in Venice and will finish on June 8th in Milano, will be more than ever a matter among the Italian teams. With the majority of the cycling's best thinking about the Tour de France, the giro will be saved by the massive presence by the Italian teams, sixteen in total, since some of the most powerful foreign teams won't attend. The technical data shows the Giro as having twenty two stages, with 3,885 kms. (2,408.7 miles), 48 of them in time trials, plus four mountain top finishes, which will give the climbers an advantage.The four mountain top finishes will be in San Marino (ITT), Terminillo, Cervinia in the 14th stage and Passo del Tonale on the 20th. The two great mountain stages of this Giro will be stages 19 and 20. In 19 they will climb seven mountain passes over 220 kms.: Costalunga, Pinei, Sella, Pordoi, Campolongo, Furcia and Riomolino. Two of them have more than two thousand meters of altitude. A day before reaching Milano, at stage 21, they will ride over Campo Carlo Magno, Crocedomini, Aprica and the Mortirolo. The race will have a fast start, with a time trial and the finish at Terminillo on the fifth stage, to then enter a tranquil phase, until stage 12, which is when they will really have to face the mountains. In addition to the mountain top finishes, there are quite a few stages, with climbs situated close to the finish line, which will allow spectacular finishes. Even considering the absence of riders like Riis, Ullrich, Olano..., among the eighteen teams of ten riders that will be in Italy there are important riders that can make the race interesting. Starting with the last winner of the Giro, Russian Pavel Tonkov, who comes from winning at the Tour of Romandie and becomes the favorite; Frenchman Luc Leblanc (Polti), winner of the Giro del Trentino, who has clearly stated that the Giro is his objective and specially, Italian Marco Pantani, the only Italian who seems to be in shape to win the race, even after his one and a half year stop. |