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GIRO TECH FEATURES: CANNONDALE AND THE GIRO: CELEBRATING THE PAST WHILE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Zap
May 7, 2009
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FROM ITALY WITH LOVE
The walls outside our hotel.
T'was the week leading up to the Giro d'Italia and where else would we possibly find ourselves except in Italy? Hunkered down in the magnificent Castel Brando in the Veneto foothills about 50 miles outside of Venice, Cannondale was throwing a little get together to not only celebrate their own history at the Giro, but to also unveil a brand new 2010 Super Six road bike.
No, you won't find an image of the 2010 Cannondale Super Six here - there is an embargo on showing the new bikes until next Tuesday. But, what we can show you now is quick look back at four of the Cannondales that have previously competed in the Giro as well as some beautiful new climbing wheels from Mavic.
The Cannondale roll-out consisted of riding for two days with lots of talking about bikes in-between. Besides Mavic, Sram was also in attendannce to offer technical support as well as introduce their their new Force groupset which was first shown at Sea Otter. Each day brought a choice of either a short and long distance ride. Not wanting to show-up the fast guys, I chose the former ride each day so I could hang with the slower and far less good looking American journos. Day one was a 30-miler and day two was a 50-miler, both through some awfully scenic Italian countryside. Like most historic castles in Europe, the Castel Brando was built on top of a big hill so as to be able to look down on the approaching marauders. And so it was that each ride started off with a wicked descent, but alas, also ended with a wicked climb that was a 14% grade. Ouch.
On day one we were joined by recent Tour of Romandy winner Roman Kreuziger from Team Liquigas. It was amazing to see him descend at speed, hands off the bars, deep in Italian style conversation, by which I mean lots of hand gesturing. As I rolled behind him in the big ring I kept telling myself that certainly he'd be grabbing the bars as we made a fast turn, or crash badly. He did neither. Wow! The comfort and familiarity that Pro riders have with their bikes is truly amazing.
Later that night we all piled in the numerous vans and headed off to Ristorante Da Gigetto and visited their vast wine cellar. This area of Italy is famous for it's sparkiling white wine - aka Prosecco - and this place delivered the goods in abundance. On the wall of the lobby were two photo boards with shots of the owners standing alongside everyone from Eddy Merckx and Pavarotti to F1 driver Michael Schumacher and 250 GP road racing star Marco Simoncelli. Funny, they didn't ask to take a photo with any of us!
Following the two days of riding, eating and not sleeping that much, we were to head off to the Lido in Venice to take in stage one of the 100th Giro d'Italia. Yeah, and if any of you are muttering under your breath right now that I don't deserve such a good life, you're right!
Look for more Giro coverage here daily as well as a first look at the the 2010 Cannondale Super Six on Tuesday, May 12.
QUOTE: "He probably figures that I'll crash him out and then you'll finish them off with the swine flu you brought from Mexico!" Cycling tech dawg James Huang playing off popular racial stereotypes (as we usually do) while we both surmised what Roman Kreuziger must've been thinking about as James and I rode close on fast descent.
QUOTE: " I think the unicorn is actually pretty good!" Cannondale's Michael DeLeon commenting on the mystery meat dinner at Da Gigetto that was best guessed to be unicorn.
QUOTE: "Can we live here?" An annonymous comment heard while the group was touring the abundantly well stocked wine cellar at Da Gigetto.
Yellow, schmellow, pink is what it's all about in Italy.
FOUR ALUMINUM BIKES THAT HAD A ROLE IN GIRO HISTORY
Ever since they became the first American bike brand to sponsor a Euro team (with Saeco in 1997), Cannondale has had a special relationship with the Giro d'Italia - wininng it four times. They have also come to rely heavily on their Pro teams for R&D feedback. When Cannondale entered the Euro peloton, aluminum bikes had yet to be accepted as steel bikes were still in the majority. A decade later and of course now it is aluminum that has become outdated having been replaced by carbon fiber.
One of the most beautiful race bikes ever was the one raced by Paolo Savoldelli in the 1998 Giro. The array of gorgeous angels meticulously air brushed on the frame make the bike a pure delight to look at. Despite the Cannondale engineers insistence that he was wrong, Paolo insisted that they run a smaller down tube than was standard to help alleviate potential back pain. And so they made a custom frame with a 45mm downtube versus the production 52mm size. The Spinergy wheels and Cinelli stem were icons of the day.
Mario Cipollini's Black Lightning bike from 1999 was the first Cannondale to use what would become the BB30 bottom bracket with the Hollowgram crank. The bike was a fashion statement not only due to Power Pyramid downtube with gold lightning bolts and accented components, but also with the risque photo of Pam Anderson that was pasted on the Cinelli stem (a one-piece welded unit with the handlebar).
To win the 2003 Giro, Gilberto Simoni insisted on having the lightest bike possible. The small frame used a new proprietary Alcoa aluminum that Cannondale called "Optimo" tubing and it was finished off without either paint or clear coat. This bike was the model for the CAAD 7 frame.
Daniel Diluca's 2007 Giro winner marked the beginning of a new era for Cannondale. The Liquigas bike was a pre-production System Six frame that used a molded carbon top and down tube mated to an aluminum seat tube and rear triangle. The day of the full aluminum frame from Cannondale would be no more.
HERE'S MORE FROM THE 2009 CANNONDALE PRESS CAMP... |
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