Karpets flames out Vladimir Karpets, the angular Russian who won the best young rider's competition last year and finished 13th overall, is nowhere near those lofty heights this year. Karpets, 24, faded in the first mountain stages and has been moving backward ever since. He started Friday's stage 50th at 1:40:40 off the winning pace. "He never recovered from the Giro," said Illes Balears sport director Eusebio Unzue. "His wife gave birth two days after the Giro and he's never been able to get strong again." Karpets chose to race the Giro d'Italia rather than take a more traditional Tour buildup that might have gone through Romandie and Dauphine Libere. The tall, lanky Russian - who seems to be taking over for the peloton's mullet-man from veteran Laurent Brochard - simply prefers to race. "He went to the Giro strictly for preparation, but then he started to figure in the GC and went deep to go as hard as he could to make a result," Unzue said referring to Karpet's eventual top 10 at the Giro. "He's only 24, it was too much for him," he said. Unzue said the team is confident their Russian flier will be back to his best at next year's Tour. What's sure is that Italy won't be seeing him come May.