Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

Go the green and gold! With Matt Goss and Brett Lancaster winning stages in the Giro and Tour of California yesterday, it was a good day for Australian cyclists. It means Australians have taken three stage wins in the Giro so far… compared to zero for the Italians.

It was also a day for Aussie lead out men to take their chance thanks to German misfortunes . Goss would normally lead out AndrĂ© Greipel in the Giro but “the Gorilla” is struggling for form, and Lancaster was planning to lead out Heinrich Haussler but he had a mechanical and so it was left to Lancaster to hold off the irrepressible Peter Sagan.

Lead out riders are not ignored. They can command big salaries and share plenty of the spoils of victory but they rarely get to lift their arms in the air on the finish line. Maybe some want to see champions win but cycling is a sport where the lesser riders can have their say, at least when fate consents.

Photo: cyclingnews.com