BRECKENRIDGE — Fans know Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck and Cadel Evans, Levi Leip- heimer, Ivan Basso and George Hincapie.
Who in the world is Elia Viviani?
He’s the 22-year-old Italian who for the last two days has stolen the headlines from the big stars at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. He sprinted past the field in Saturday’s stage from Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge just as he did Friday from Avon to Steamboat Springs.
In only his second year as a road race professional, Viviani made his international mark on the track. He won junior European track championships in 2006 and 2007, the U-23 European championships in 2008 and 2009 and the national omnium championship in 2010.
From Isola della Scala, about 55 miles west of Venice, Viviani already won the Tour of Mumbai and a stage in the Tour of Slovenia this year. But this week has been his best.
“In the final it was a perfect situation for my team because (Liquigas-Cannondale teammate) Ivan (Basso) was in the front and I was ready for the sprint,” Viviani said. “He make perfect work for me.”
Bonus points.
With an 11-second deficit behind Leipheimer, second-place Christian VandeVelde must hope to win today’s stage from Golden to Denver and get the 10-second bonus for first place. He also must hope Leipheimer is more than a second behind the peloton and doesn’t finish second, good for six points, or third, good for four.
“I don’t want to think about that,” Leipheimer said. “Just think positive and do what we’re doing. We’re doing a great job so far, and we just have to carry that momentum one more day.”
No worry.
One concern the race will have next year is the effect the Summer Olympics in London will have on this field. Tour de France winner Evans hinted Friday that he doubts he will come to America after the Olympics.
The Olympic time trial is July 28 and the road race is Aug. 1. “It’s not a concern,” race CEO Shawn Hunter said. “We love our position on the calendar and think the best riders will always go to the Tour, and we think we’ll be the most important stop between the Tour and the world championships.”
Rep impressed.
Durango is one of more than a dozen Colorado towns observing the race for a possible stage bid in 2012. Mary Monroe, a member of the Durango organizing committee, went to Aspen for Wednesday’s stage, had representatives in Salida and will have one in Golden.
“We discovered the race is highly positive,” Monroe said. “The publicity is outstanding. The fans are crazy for the race.”
She said her committee won’t know the true financial impact for a couple of years and isn’t sure if they will bid until after a recap meeting this week. The race committee is expected to send out RSVPs to various cities the first week in October.
