Savoldelli: Cycling's sage

"I won this Giro because I knew I could lose it," the 32-year-old Discovery Channel rider said in Confucius-says code before expounding:

"My goal was to stay as calm as possible. I never let myself give in to panic. In another time, I might have cracked, but the past two years have taught me everything."

Savoldelli's reference to the past two years of his cycling career was apropos, the Italian disappearing into a 24-month tunnel of illness and injury, including a face-first collision with a motorcycle in 2003 that left him with a crushed jaw and nose.

Result: The pummelling Salvodelli endured at the 2005 Giro (the Italian was relentlessly accosted by the general-classification ambitions of Gilberto Simoni, Danilo Di Luca and Jose Rujano) was a cool mint compared to the life lessons sent Savoldelli's way.

"After all my problems in the last two years, I've realised that going fast or slow on a bike isn't the most important thing in life," he said.

Savoldelli's sound bytes sometimes come across as blasé, reducing the ecstasy of winning one of the season's three major tours to a take-it-or-leave-it pleasantry.

But Savoldelli's point is that there are more ways than one to skin a bike race. His way and then, ironically, that of his Discovery Channel team leader Lance Armstrong.

"I'm not a champion cyclist like Lance," Savoldelli said.

"When he trains hard he just gets better and better. He wins because he knows he's the strongest. I'm different. I know my limits. I rode intelligently at the Giro and I won because I kept my nerve."

That Savoldelli succeeded in keeping his nerves from fraying at the 2005 Giro d'Italia was true testament to the Italian's sage-like approach to cycling.

After three weeks, 20 stages and 3,435 km of racing, Savoldelli's winning margin at the 88th edition of the race boiled down to a slim 28 seconds over Lampre leader Gilberto Simoni.

Third on the podium was Venezuelan Jose Rujano, himself just 45 seconds adrift of the pink jersey.

It was the narrowest winning gap at the Giro since 1976, when Felice Gimondi edged out Johan De Muynck for 19 seconds.

1948: Fiorenzo Magni (ITA) 11 sec over Ezio Cecchi (ITA)
1955: Fiorezo Magni (ITA) 12 sec over Fausto Coppi (ITA)
1974: Eddy Merckx (BEL) 12 sec over Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)
1957: Gastone Nencini (ITA) 19 sec over Louison Bobet (FRA)
1976: Felice Gimondi (ITA) 19 sec over Johan De Muynck (BEL)
1960: Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 28 sec over Gastone Nencini (ITA)
2005: Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) 28 sec over Gilberto Simoni (ITA)