Svein and I had a pretty quick trip to Italy this past weekend. We travelled there the day of the event, so as you can imagine, we were both tired from the travel once we got there.

Upon arriving from the airport, Svein took a nap and I went out to get our shoes shined and take a walk of Como. Svein ended up waking up just in time to watch the end of the Tour of Lombardy on TV.

The UCI Gala was held at the Chateau Erba, a beautiful palace just 5 minutes walk from our hotel. We arrived a bit early and hung around, but we didn't recognize anyone at first. We had a drink and waited - Chris Horner showed up and we chatted with him awhile. The continental awards were given out first - and Svein was called to the stage to speak about his year, his highlights, and so on. I took a video of that and you can see it here:

It was a pretty great moment when he was handed the UCI America Tour award by UCI President Pat McQuaid.

Afterward, we were all seated for the gala, and at our table were:

• Veronique Sauge from the UCI - our host and event co-ordinator
• Phillipe Chevalier - the co-ordinator of the continental circuits in the UCI
• Phillipe Marien - a UCI Commissaire and the chief commissaire for the Tour di Lombardy that finished today in Como.
• Giovanni Savio - Director Sportif of Selle Italia Venezuala a continental pro team. (He was there with Allesandro Ballan)
• Allesandro Ballan, the winner of the European Tour, accompanied by his wife and a friend.
• The president of the Tunisian Cycling Federation accepting the award for his rider who could not attend due to Visa problems.

The gala began with Pat McQuaid made an opening speech, citing some shortcomings of the Protour - indicating those failings were mainly due to bickering organizers who's short cited vision was holding cycling back. He made a dig about them protecting their interests - which are purely commercial, he said. He concluded by saying the Protour would get better and stronger and develop cycling globally.

After the continental circuit winners were awarded, we had the main meal. It was here when more awards were given out:

• CSC was awarded as the top team.
• Spain was recognized as the top nation.
• The three overall leaders of the pro tour were awarded: Alberto Contador, Davide Rebellin and Cadel Evans.
• The Tour of Flanders organizer was recognized as top organizer.

At the close of the ceremony the Tour Down Under was recognized as the newest event entering the ProTour.

It was a great trip for us and I was proud to accompany Svein in this historic feat for the S-Team, and Canada.