Category VII Cycling

Despite the change in the calendar, it seems the Championship of Zurich is still a place to settle grudges. When it was in August, it was a last chance for the protagonists of the Tour to gain a consolation prize before they saw their shadows and went into the early retirement you can take when the race calendar is condensed down into just three weeks in July. But now in October, the little cricket Paolo Bettini went out and won the race in impressive fashion, though with a clear view toward the World Championship road race in Madrid a week ago. Indeed, in his post-race comments, Bettini was emphatic that his Zurich performance was just a taste of what might have been had he received more support from the Squadra Azurri.

Bettini left the World’s course quickly and without comment – other than to say he was disappointed. But over the course of the week not only did the ever present grumblings about Bettini being the clearly strongest man in Madrid (though try telling that to the Belgians, and anyway, as noted before, racing isn’t just about being the strongest). A major point of his complaint was that Pettachi waited too long to tell anyone he wasn’t up to full form, and in any event, Italian team manager Franco Ballerini had put all his eggs in the Ale-Jet basket.

Though he may have been wishing upon a star for another chance at the rainbow jersey, the cricket turned his focus to showing what he could do with a modicum of support. Though “modicum” is an understatement for the combined effort of QuickStep. Quite simply, their support was incredible – including convincing him to continue riding after he mulled pulling out of the cold rain soaked race at the half-way point. They then put three men in the final break, and another teammate accompanied Bettini up to join them. From that point on, it was just a matter of inflicting damage, then going away to win on his own.

Bettini afterward called it his greatest win ever. Given the number of his great wins over the years (not least of which his Olympic victory in Athens), such a sentiment is a certain register of how deeply he felt his ambitions were undercut by the Squadra Azurri. Then At the same time, it also ends an important dry spell – his first classics win in two seasons, and only his third victory this year.

So one story seemingly comes to end, but then again Zurich may also turn out to be prologue for a season finale to rival that of baseball’s today, namely the match-up of Bettini, Damiano Cunego, and Danilo DiLuca, your newly-crowned inaugural ProTour champion (the official website bestows ecclesiastical powers through its description of the “sacred winner of the ProTour). All three showed good form today, and certainly all three Italian riders will want to go into the off season after having won the final Italian Monument.