Yeah, the reason they taper the down tube like that is to get a really stiff BB. Its just something they like to do with their road frames for power transfer. My CAAD 9 is the same way...

I agree tho, they should just bring back the track model, and the build list on the Capo is bad... really bad. If they're using the same freewheel for '09 as '08, then it will have no sealing, so it'll be gone after one ride in the rain.