It's the Gelato

What a weekend. It all started on Friday as the temperatures continued to rise here in the Veneto. Time to head to the pool ! Dominic, Juan, Gene and I raced down the water slide eight times with Gene and Dom splitting up the wins and Juan and I filling the minor placings. Then is was time for a little swimming competition between Dom and I followed by some observation of the local population. Boy was it nice to be cool for awhile. July is typically the warmest month of the year here and we've finally got the heat.

On Saturday we raced in Sandon near Padova. I must say that Padova is not our favorite part of this region. No mountains....and too much heat!

Lupo was 5th from a break in the Gentlemen's race, and Alex was 9th. Dom, Juan and Gene rode well in the sweltering conditions, meaning near 100 degrees.

Today, Sunday was the big one though. We travelled north of Belluno into the Dolomites for a race in Longorone. The course was a 7+km lap with about 90m of elevation gained per lap. It was basically a big chain ring climb, but the winning break came on the flats after the decent. Our Man .... Paolo Lupo (aka Paul Wolfe) was victorious after soloing to a 2 min win with 4 laps to go. The field gave him an inch and he took almost a mile !!! Alex was 8th and I was 10th for a banner day for the Velo Veneto gentlemens's group. Gene got things started with a massive attack the second time up the climb and after that was brought back and the pack hesitated down in the valley, Lupo was gone.

Lupo loves riding in Italy....but he wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the awsome gelato.....and that is a direct quote ! And now he's earned is usual two day break from training. We'll see him on Wednesday for his favorite ride on the climb from Valstagna to Foza. "World class" he says.

Enjoy your rest Lupo...you earned it ... il Campione !

On a fun side note, while Dom and Juan were racing we started chatting with a young boy, age 12 named Filippo. He mother said, "speak english Pippo". Many Italians speak more English than they let on to but are shy to try. We found out that Pippo's padre was in the breakawy group so we asked his name and said we'd cheer for his dad Fabio. With a lap to go we told Pippo and his mom that because the Americani cheered for his dad, that he would win....and Fabio came through! It was fun to chat with them all afterwards.