hard times

Italian speedster takes Vuelta victory number 18 after tough summer

Yeah, real tough summer! He has more wins in an "off" year than most pro riders would rack up in several LIFETIMES, he makes gobs of money, has a team built around him and he will probably get free espressos for the rest of his freaking life . . . sounds like he's pretty hard up.

And considering that CONI and the UCI are nailing his compatriots left and right for all sorts of stuff, a month or two out of action is nothing. Basso got two years and he (allegedly) didn't even use any of the blood he said he withdrew! If the UCI needed to see the paperwork for my inhaler and the penalty for not producing it was the loss of a year's salary and the potential decimation of my career, you can be damn sure that I would immediately drop whatever I was doing, hop on the back of the nearest pegasus and fly directly to Aigle so I could hand-deliver that shit ASAP. Any athlete that is as famous as Petacchi certainly has enough money to hire someone to make sure their paperwork is in order (and if you are that famous and rich and need someone to do that for you, call me).

Playing dumb is SO pre-millenial Grand Tour.