Mark Cavendish (R) is intent on making it to the finish of the Giro d'Italia in Milan (AAP Images)

What exactly are the future plans of World Road Champion Mark Cavendish as he struggles through the mountains to complete the Giro d'Italia?

The question among commentators is this; why exactly is Cavendish so determined to make it to Milan? And how does that determination affect his plans for the Tour de France and later on at the Olympic road race, where he is a burning hot home ground favourite for the gold?

And lets not forget that with every passing day in the Giro d'Italia grupetto, Cavendish spends a few valuable chips that could be useful at the Tour de France.

Earlier this year when Cavendish first signed on with Team Sky it was said by team directors they would approach the Tour de France with the difficult goal of winning both the Yellow and Green jerseys, a task last completed in 1997 by Team Telekom's Jan Ullrich and Eric Zabel.

Peter Sagan won five stages of this year's Amgen Tour of California. It could've been six, but for Sylvain Georges.

Too hard, or not hard enough? Depending on who you talk to about the Amgen Tour of California the answers vary.

One thing's for sure, the race was far from easy. This was the toughest course and the most competitive field we've had, and the riders all rose to the occasion. It was a race right to the finish for every stage this year.Any suggestion that tougher is necessarily equivalent to better however should be tempered. We saw at the 2011 Giro d'Italia that sprinkling in mountain top finishes like hundreds and thousands, doesn't add to the spectacle of the race. Anthony Tan put it best in a blog earlier this year when he said:

"La Corsa Rosa turned into a freak show, as the race took on an increasingly farcical nature to meet the megalomaniacal standards of Zomegnan."

Harder is fine, but it shouldn't be relied upon to make a race more interesting or entertaining; lets leave the Dr Zomegnan freak shows to the circus.

Gesink looks forward to his next catch, as Horner hopes to avoid getting caught by more riders. (Getty Images)

Robert Gesink ripped the legs off his competition on the queen stage of the Amgen Tour of California, but his comeback story was only one of many that unfolded on the agonisingly tough Mount Baldy climb.

The winner, the comeback
Robert Gesink (Rabobank), 1st, 1st overall
But first, the guy who came first, Robert Gesink. The Dutchman was in disbelief at the finish, and considering the setbacks he's had in the last six months it's understandable as to why. A broken femur in the European autumn has meant the Dutchman has had to rebuild himself mentally and physically to even be at the start line in California. He's had an anonymous spring, but the result today is confirmation of his immense talent, and a reminder of what he can, and has done on the past if in top form. Honestly I can't believe it really. After I've all I've been through to do something like this. This is really incredible. In January I was still learning how to walk again, and now I'm here beating some of the best guys in the world.The revelations
Darwin Atapuma (Colombia-Coldeportes), 2nd, 16th overall & Fabio Duarte (Colombia-Coldeportes), 3rd, 5th overall
I was lucky enough to meet both Atapuma and former under 23 world champion Duarte in Decemeber of last year at a Colombia-Coldeportes training camp, and it was clear then that the team was going to be making waves come 2012. With a philosophy "inspired by climbing", a motto that harks back to the days of Lucho Herrera in the 1980s, the team is essentially built to animate the mountains, and animate they did in California.

Darwin Atapuma took the team's first win at the Giro del Trentino when he finished ahead of the likes of Ivan Basso, Domenico Pozzovio and Damiano Cunego and he showed again today what he rare talent he is. He was probably slightly unlucky to be riding on the same day as a rampaging Robert Gesink, but along with his team-mate Duarte is one to watch for the future.The stage win was so close, but second place in such an important stage at such an important race is a very good result.Special mentions: Joseph Dombrowski and Wilco Kelderman who are both only 21 years of age, and finished inside the top 10. Kelderman donned the best young rider's after helping to setup Gesink for the win. Big futures ahead for both riders.

The Americans
Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda), 5th, 3rd overall
The Colorado native was one of the big movers on Baldy, given carte blanche by Garmin-Barracuda while overnight leader Dave Zabriskie rode his own rhythm behind. Though he came close to the overall win, dehydration cost him when Gesink made his move, and once dropped could only minimise his losses. The Tour de France remains the bigger goal for Danielson, but if he is to better last year's result, he'll still need to improve against the clock. I just did a huge month and a half block of training for the Tour [de France], so I expected to come here with good form. I felt strong all week and I felt strong today. I wanted to win, but Gesink was simply stronger.Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan), 6th, 8th overall
The defending champion went out swinging, but though gutsy, it wasn't quite enough. RadioShack-Nissan placed four riders in the early break including Horner, but ultimately were unable to keep the American with enough of an advantage to stave off the chase. Like Danielson, a better time trial would have been nice, but with the climbing he showed he'll be an asset or even a potential co-captain for the Schlecks come Tour time.I was happy to gamble everything for the GC. Even with all the work I did today, you just can't make up that kind of time against guys like there are here. I made a mistake in the time trial (losing time) and it we couldn't make it up today. We had a good advantage, and I would've liked to see the Colombian guy (Atapuma) do more work. I get he wants to win the stage, but we can't win if we don't start the bottom of the Baldy climb with a two minute advantage.Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), 9th, 6th overall
The three-time former winner was lying on the side of a road six weeks ago, and to even be in California was an incredible feat. The ride he did today however showed just how much grit the near-40-year-old still has, and it's encouraging for Omega Pharma-Quickstep which will no doubt be relying on the American, along with Peter Velits and Tony Martin to step up in July.I haven't been playing games. The injury I had was the biggest I've had in my career and I've had to use all my experience, and knowledge to be here today. I've got to keep on top of the rehabilitation and just be as good as I can now (for the Tour de France).Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), 10th, 4th overall
Another year, and another example of almost but not quite for the young American. Van Garderen brought his full BMC team to the front late in the race, and looked to be the most comfortable of the favourites before the field reached Baldy. But when Gesink jumped, Van Garderen was immediately in trouble. Of course, it's easy to forget that he's still only 23, and his potential is scary. He finished fifth overall last year, and his fourth place this year is an improvement. Patience is the key for the American.You get to a certain level really quickly. As a first year pro, I was third at the Criterium du Dauphine and thought I was going to start winning everything the year after. But the thing is, it doesn't work that way. You have to be patient. You have to keep working hard. One of these times, it's all going to come together and I'm going to win. It's just too bad it didn't happen here.The Aussies
Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE), 15th, 11th overall
A top-10 performance at Tirreno-Adriatico combied with a track points world championship behind him, Meyer's season has already been superb considering the juggling act he's had to put on. California was the first real test of his return to the road, and to finish just outside the top-10 is impressive. Meyer is only going to get stronger this season now that his focus in 100 per cent on the road.I'm still trying to adapt to big climbs like that. I was going well, but at about 5k to go I had to tail off a bit and ride my own rhythm. It's another confidence booster to what I want to achieve in my career.Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare), 17th, 13th overall
Like Tejay Van Garderen, Rory Sutherland was very self-critical after the stage, his 17th position on Mount Baldy the best he could muster. After two previous years of top-10 performances at Cali, Sutherland came to the race this year on what he felt to be career-best form. His win at the SRAM Tour of the Gila was the best possible lead-up, but Sutherland says that while the race still has climbs like Baldy, his dream of getting on the podium, may just be out of reach. It's really difficult for guys like myself and George (Hincapie) to do a climb like Mount Baldy. That's the second year I've done it and the second year I haven't been able to go with the lighter guys. I went as hard as I could and that's all you can do... It's slightly frustrating when you do all the right things, and you don't quite have it at the end of the day. You can only work with the body you have and maybe that means you need to start reassessing what you can do at races like this.
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Heinrich Haussler was consistently beaten by Peter Sagan at the Amgen Tour of California (Getty Images)

While the rest of us have been going about our business this week, perhaps browsing fruitlessly for suitable podium sunglasses, poor old Heinrich Haussler has been caught in a time vortex, not unlike the one that sucked in Bill Murray in that one film.

Four times this week Haussler contested a sprint at the Tour of California. Four times Haussler came up narrowly short, and four times the man raising his arms at the line was Peter Sagan.

Asked ahead of stage two what it would take to stop him winning, Sagan replied: "I don't know, maybe it takes a natural disaster," which is not a line the Broom Wagon would be using within earshot of the San Andreas Fault, but to each their own.

Haussler, for his part, says he remains motivated to take the final opportunity for a sprint win and will keep on fighting. Going by this evidence, he will also keep on washing his own shoes, which is a stark a reminder of the chasm which can sometimes divide life's winners from the narrowly beaten. Sagan, meanwhile, is free to enjoy the spoils of victory: the podium champagne, the Tour de France speculation, the comedy wig.

Cyclists shadowed (Getty Images)

If you've been around the traps for a while observing the to-ing and fro-ing of cycling discourse you'll find two kinds of stories that never seem to die.

One is the hard to take seriously big media blowhard banging on about Lycra louts on either the AM airwaves or in the pages of one of the big city tabloids.

Stepping into the breach yesterday for one of those yarns was failed shock jock Steve Price, who threw the entire bag of hammers in his head at, wait for it, “Cycle Nazis”.

Now Internet lore has it that "given enough time, in any online discussion, regardless of topic or scope, someone inevitably criticises some point made in the discussion by comparing it to beliefs held by Hitler and the Nazis”.

Peter Sagan won the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California (Reuters Images)

For Anthony Tan, Peter Sagan’s incredible, come-back-from-nowhere victory on the opening stage the Amgen Tour of California brought back memories of a vintage Robbie McEwen, circa July 2007.

Did Peter Sagan’s come-back-from-nowhere win at the Tour of California remind you a little of the opening road stage of the Tour de France five years ago?

It was July 8, 2007. As part of a three-day British sojourn, the second day entailed a 203-kilometre stage from London Greenwich to Canterbury in the east. As per usual in the opening week of the Tour it was a jittery peloton, who, with 20 kilometres remaining and just having crested the third and final climb of the day, the 1.1km long Cote de Farthing Common, were nervous as a clutter of cats on a hot tin roof.

A high-speed crash found pre-stage favourite Robbie McEwen in the thick of the melee, landing heavily on his knee and wrist. And with the bunch inexorably approaching top speed he was not expected to return to the fold.

Tight unit... Garmin-Barracuda has made the the team trial its own. (Getty Images)

You do not have to be a team of winners to be a winning team, writes Anthony Tan.

It’s our thing. It’s part a question of motivation. We take it so seriously; we train really hard for it. And we really think through every little detail… and I think that makes the difference in the end.Let me ask you a simple question. When you look at the Garmin-Barracuda band of nine riding this year’s Giro d’Italia (Jack Bauer, Robert Hunter, Tyler Farrar, Ryder Hesjedal, Ramūnas Navardauskas, Alex Rasmussen, Sébastien Rosseler, Peter Stetina, Christian Vande Velde), which name/s stands out from the crowd?

That’s right: they don’t. No one exhibits a preternatural level of ability or talent above anyone else. No one man is what you would call a prolific winner or superstar in their own right, nor would they describe or perceive themselves that way.

Save for the very odd occasion, none of these guys would finish in the top three in the individual time trial at world championship level. But combine their strength and it’s a different story.

Ramunas Navardauskas enjoys the spoils that come with holding the Giro d'Italia race lead (Sirotti Images)

No two ways about it, it has been a big 12 months in Lithuanian cycling. First the mayor of Vilnius proved a point about obstructed bike lanes by driving over parked cars in a tank. Then on Wednesday, Ramunas Navardauskas became the country's first ever leader of the Giro d'Italia.

After Navardauskas clung on to Garmin-Barracuda's last wheel in the team time trial, much of the subsequent press conference was dedicated to a) establishing how to pronounce his name (Listen here, and then practice rolling your Rs), and b) finding out something, anything, about the new maglia rosa.

A farmboy who is 1.9m tall, Navardauskas found his way into cycling after growing up in one of the few areas of the country where basketball was unpopular.

Suitably exotic stuff, although it should also be noted that at 24 Navardauskas is hardly a newcomer and neither are Lithuanians an endangered species in cycling. Lithuania has three riders on the Pro Tou, more than there are, say, Colombians. Orica-GreenEDGE alone has two Lithuanians on its roster, former national champion Tomas Vaitkus, and Aidis Kruopis, who outsprinted the likes of Mark Renshaw and Tyler Farrar in stage three of this year's Tour of Qatar.

2011 Tour de France winner, Cadel Evans (Reuters Images)

Speculation has started as to which athlete should carry the Australian flag at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Cadel Evans is listed as the hot favourite.

Does it come as a surprise that Australia's only Tour de France winner may be the athlete who continues a tradition dating back to 1908?

According to bookmakers who have opened the betting market we shouldn't be, check out these odds.

$2.90 Cadel Evans $3.75 Leisel Jones $5.00 Jamie Dwyer $8.00 Sally Pearson $9.00 Michael Diamond, Russell Mark $15 Anna Meares $26 Steve Hooker $34 James Magnussen, Stephanie Rice
But after listening to ABC Radio last weekend when the topic was raised between a small group of female sports journalists, Cadel didn't seem to get a look-in among the so-called "experts."

Frank Schleck (Getty Images)

It appears that with the brothers Schleck, the more things change, the more they stay the same, writes Anthony Tan.

I was seven days off the bike, so I don’t know… I never experienced this ‘preparation’. I might be good, though. So I need seven days; seven to eight days to get in the rhythm.You can extract a lot of from this quote from the elder of ‘the Schleckies’, as Stuart O’Grady affectionately calls them. Saturday in Herning, Denmark, Fränk languished in 108th place (out of 198 finishers) after the opening time trial of the 2012 Giro d’Italia, 59 seconds behind Taylor Phinney of BMC in a technical, wind-exposed time test.

The result from 21-year-old Phinney was of little surprise. Specialist he may be, but the American phenom rode the 8.7-kilometre corner-laden circuit “about 10 times” with a final recon the day of his ride that, before sunset, earned him the maglia rosa. “It was important to get on the course today because of the way they set up the barriers,” Phinney said afterwards, who became only the third US rider to be pimped in pink. “It was a little bit different than the way they were [positioned] the other days.”

Stay with me here, but the American’s post-race comments made me think about a stage of the 2008 Herald Sun Tour, four years ago.