At long last, Paolo Bettini has finally updated his online diary, giving the husband something to do while he’s at work - translate Italian into English! Thanks, Paolo! Thanks, husband!

May 2, 2007

Hi everyone!

At last this year’s Northern campaign has finished. I must confess to you that I am a little sorry for not having attained an important result. In my own way I raced a great Flanders this year, as in the past I appeared at the start with generally good condition. However this type of course has a thousand unknowns. I raced in support of Tom the entire race, until the Muur da Grammont. It was so even. Tom is a great champion and he had the chance to win his third Flanders in a row. It didn’t go well after the Muur; whenever I tried an attack, everyone came to catch me.

It was a small price that one needs to pay when one races with a prestigious jersey such as the World Champion. It is hard to find someone willing to cooperate.

Filing away Flanders, fifteen days later I took the start of the Amstel Gold Race, a race in which I harvested less than I sowed. There were seven of us, me, Rebellin, Schumacher, Valverde, Di Luca, Boogerd, Kessler. A real escape, with great riders.

The Gerolsteiner riders used excellent teamwork and Schumacher won deservingly. When he escaped, everyone turned and looked at me. For a while I decided to not close the gap right away, to leave the work to the others. To win, one needs also to risk losing. Sometimes it goes well, at other times less so… Too bad.

Wednesday at Fleche I was stuck in a bad day. In the race I felt really bad because of something I ate or drank. The cause was probably a little tart with pastry cream that my teammate Barredo also ate. The result? Sadly, I retired.

It didn’t stay with me for Liege-Bastogne-Liege. I raced well and was supported by a great team, but I found in my way two athletes such as Schleck and Di Luca who were at a level to make a real difference in the finale. There are moments in which one who knows how to pick the moment and has a little good luck can jump away to win the race. In a race that showed an equal level among the best, these instances are able to turn out to be decisive.

So I returned home without any successes but with the conviction of being at the level of the best riders. In hours I am leaving for the Giro d’Italia hunting for a little success. We will see. It is clear that if I had to cover this splendid jersey, I would like to do it with a maglia rosa. To dream is free, right?

Ciao!
Paolo