Giro d’Italia

Contador’s jersey giveaway

Trofeo Senza Fine

It might sound strange at first but right now Alberto Contador is desperate to unload the Giro’s pink jersey and try as he might, it’s not happening. During today’s stage he was seen on TV talking to Garmin-Cervélo riders Murilo Fischer and David Millar whilst Christophe Le Mevel was up the road in the breakaway, presumably saying he’d be perfectly happy to see Le Mevel stay away if the Frenchman could only take the lead on the GC. This isn’t a secret either, much of the media are reporting this, for example cyclingnews.com.

Why?
Well the jersey comes with prize money and publicity each day but Contador and his team have eyes on the bigger prize: the overall win and the Trofeo Senza Fine, the “trophy without end” pictured above that goes to the winner in Milan.

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A helping hand?

Romandie help

Mark Cavendish won in the Giro today but the post-race TV debate on the RAI coverage saw even Eddy Merckx get sucked into a debate over riders getting help to finish a climb. The TV show is called the Processo alla Tappa which translates several ways, including the “trial of the stage”.

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Safety nets on Monte Crostis descent

The video above is the descent of Monte Crostis, planned for stage 14 of the Giro, the one that finishes on the infamous Zoncolan. I found the video via Italian journalist Alberto Celani.

Molto tecnica
The climb is hard enough, averaging over 10% for 14km, with an 18% section. Now that’s hard enough but then comes the descent, labelled as “discesa molto tecnica stretta intervallata da numerosi tornati” by the organisers. In plain English that’s a “very technical descent with with numerous bends”.

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Giro Competition: The (Inner) Key Ring

I’ve been doing the Inner Ring for over a year now and have landed my first freebie. Mick and Andy from British bike shop Prendas Ciclismo emailed to say they were readers of the site and generously sent a couple of tasteful retro cycling calendars as well as some Giro d’Italia themed keyrings and matching “socks” to store your keys when you go for a ride so they don’t make a hole in your jersey.

They’re quite fun… but “easy come, easy go”. I’m hoarding a couple but now’s your chance to get something for free in a small competition.

Prendas Giro Key ring

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On your marks, jetset, go

Szymdcopter

If you polled riders on the worst thing in the Giro d’Italia, chances are they’d ignore the mountains, roads that suddenly narrow and the offroad sections. It’s the long transfers before and after every stage that get annoying.

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The Giro resumes

Normally I’d be very excited about today’s stage of the Giro. Stage 5 from Piombino to Orvieto is a moderate 191km long but includes the sterrato or unpaved sections. The race leaves the Mediterranean, heading inland to use the strade bianche, white roads, of Tuscany as well as some climbs. But it’s impossible to forget Wouter Weylandt, any battles on dusty roads today just won’t have the same urgency or importance as they might normally get.

With Wouter Weylandt in mind, note the Leopard-Trek team have left the race. Yesterday’s stage must have been impossibly hard to ride for them. They’ll be back. The same for Tyler Farrar, he was very close to Weylandt and has returned home. If you’ve ever watched a Sporza internet stream and discovered Farrar speaking excellent Flemish in a post-race interview then a lot of this is because of time spent hanging out with Weylandt and others in the Ghent area.

The Leopard team have set up a way to donate money to Weylandt’s family. You’ll find full details for donations here and they’re working on adding a PayPal facility soon.

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Giro Stage 2 preview

I won’t be doing a preview every day but today’s stage is on roads I know and two regions that I appreciate.

The riders will have pockets stuffed with energy bars and gels because today is the longest stage of the Giro at 244km. But the route passes through some great places for food and whether by design or accident is a tribute to the giants of Italian agribusiness.

Giro stage 2

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Nibali interview

A short thing, no big deal but I missed Eugenio Capodacqua’s interview with Vincenzo Nibali in La Repubblica from last September. The journalist brings up the subject of doping and Nibali explains the influence of his family. His father would drive him around Italy to take part in races, often sleeping overnight in their small car … Read more

What if the Giro disappoints?

Giro crowds

I feel like a bit of a party-pooper but for all that the Giro promises, what if it doesn’t deliver? There are two main concerns for me: first that 2010 was so good it’ll be hard to beat. The random, ever changing race was thrilling. Second, and maybe it’s my problem and not yours, is the presence of Alberto Contador. He could dominate the race… and there’s also the possibility of the results being rewritten by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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