Giro Day 8 News and Notes

Giro Stage 8 News and Notes:

• Konstantin Sitsou soloed to Columbia High Road’s second victory in a row and their third of the race. Danilo Di Luca stays in the maglia rosa.
• The race was marred by the crash of Rabobank’s Pedro Horillo into a ravine. The injuries were so serious that he was put into an artificial coma. Horrillo fell at the 70 km mark on the descent of the Culmine di San Pietro, and was transferred by helicopter to the hospital in Bergamo, where he was diagnosed with severe chest injuries and multiple fractures.
• Team Garmin-Slipstream’s Christian Vande Velde, who crashed out of the Giro d’Italia during stage three, continues to undergo examinations at home in Girona. The results so far have confirmed that he sustained one rib fracture, a severe contusion and sprain to his mid-back and a hairline fracture to his pelvis but team doctor Prentice Steffen cautions, “We need to continue to run tests, so it is still too soon to speculate on the extent of his injuries or how they will affect racing and training.”
• In case anyone has forgotten, Chris Horner broke his collarbone this spring, too. He’s sitting in 8th place, just 1’25″ off of Cunego.
• The maglia rosa will undergo a slight change going forward. A mark – “Aidons les Abruzzes” – for support for the victims of the recent earthquake is being added.
• Sunday’s stage is a 165 km circuit race around Milan.

Other Results:

• Portuguese sprinter Candido Barbosa (Palmeiras) repeated yesterday’s success and won the third stage of Gp Paredes Rota dos Moveis.
• Romain Feillu (Agritubel) won the sprint to the second stage of the Tour de Picardie.
• Kenny Van Hummel has sprinted to victory in today’s Dutch Food Valley Classic. This is his fourth win in two weeks.
• Columbia-Highroad’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won for the 13th time this season on Saturday, taking stage 1 and the overall lead at the Tour de L’Aude.

Other News:

• The Air Force Amica Chips team has traveled to Japan for the Tour of Japan, which runs Sunday to Sunday.
• Online gaming platform provider CyberArts has signed a deal with French lottery operator Francaise des Jeux to provide FDJ’s online poker offering.
• Alexandre Vinokourov did not appreciate the new “Astana” jerseys worn by the team at the Giro. He is still closely connected to the sponsors and hopes to return to the team in time for the Vuelta. [Once again, good luck with that, Alex. - Ed.]
• Tom Boonen will sue to participate in the Tour de France. His lawyer says that Boonen’s cocaine positive has nothing to do with responsible actions in the sport, and that cocaine use outside of competition is not doping. Boonen is awaiting an official notice of the ban from the ASO, and then plans to appeal to decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. [While there are other admitted cocaine users that are still out there racing, we think that Boonen should just stay home and let this all blow over. - Ed.]

Tags: alexandre vinokourov, ASO, astana, Chris Horner, christian vande velde, columbia high road, Court of Arbitration for Sport, danilo di luca, Francaise des Jeux, Giro d'Italia, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, Kenny Van Hummel, Rabobank, romain feillu, Tom Boonen