90 Reasons why you should always watch (and love) the Giro:

A funny Italian commercial shows a man who,in a shop,suddenly breaks into tears, causing other people to start to watch him.The shopkeeper immediately asks him what the problem is, and the man answers that “He’s just come back”.And that point,everyone becomes sympathetic and tries to cheer him up.In the end,you discover that the man has just come back from a cruise in the Mediterraneo.
Right now,miss Fede feels a bit like that man.As I mentioned in the last post in fact me went to see the last 3 stages of the Giro live,and now I can’t stop thinking about them.
After yesterday’s TT,me was thinking of publishing a post about every single rider that ended the Giro.But since I have a life outside blogging,and since it would take me a lot to write a post like that,I decided to abandon the idea (at least for now) and to publish a not very serious list of reasons why someone should watch (and love) the Giro.In particular,these ‘reasons why you should love the Giro’ are referred to this year edition of La Corsa Rosa.
While me keeps on feeling just like the man of the commercial (I’ve just come back and tomorrow I already have two school tests!),here is the list.Anyway don’t think that I’ve written it in just one day.Simply,I thought about during the long history hours at school,after that my best friend asked me the famous question,the one that goes “Why are you interested in cycling? And why do you spend your afternoons watching races rather than going out?” Well,here are 90 possible answers to her.If you have some others,feel free to add them.

YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE THE GIRO...
1) Because Italy,in spite of us Italians,is a wonderful country.
2) Because the Giro allows you to travel through Italy,without experiencing the riders' same pain.
3) Because after seeing the same 180 faces on tv every day for 3 weeks,you feel like they've become part of your family.
4) Because only true men can sport pink jersey while riding a bike.
5) Because only super true men can sport a pink jersey and pink shorts while riding a bike.
6) Because you must be very brave to sport pink gloves in a TT even if you don’t wear La Maglia Rosa (right Vino?)
7) Because Arroyo totally deserved the podium for the courage he showed by riding a pink bike during the whole last week of the race.
8) Because in the peloton there are 200 riders,everyone of them has a goal and everyone of them has a story.
9) Because,at least in cycling,there is nothing controlled by Berlusconi.
10) Because,while he was trying to find a good position for the Brescia sprint,poor Pozzato was hit by Sieberg,Brown and another rider I don't remember right now. If he was a footballer,he would have jumped off the saddle and started to cry like a baby. Therefore,respect to Pippo.
11) Because coming back home after school and finding a Gazzetta featuring 8 pages about cycling near to your overcooked pasta corresponds to pure happiness.
12) Because in cycling there are many winners,but also many losers.
13) Because Garzelli's 'Mickey Mouse' bandana is nice.
14) Because,if Garzelli wasn't bald,he'd be a hero for many Fangirls.
15) Because old people cheering for the riders on the climbs are cute.
16) Because old people cheering for the riders on the roof of their houses should be sent to a mental hospital.
17) Because Gigi Sgarbozza can't pronounce any foreign name.
18) Because studying Leopardi on the day of Recanati stage is priceless.
19) Because there are neo pros who manage to get the pink jersey.
20) Because there are neo pros who remain lanterne rouge (sorry,'maglia nera': we're in Italy) of the race for many many stages.
21) Because even the maglia nera can ride far faster than you.
22) Because Cassani's 'r' is hot.
23) Because Savoldelli's Bergamask accent is even worse than mine.
24) Because after hearing Savoldelli speaking you can't do nothing but scream "Pota,al'è de Berghem ol Saoldel!".
25) Because at the Giro there are guys who live 1 km far from your home.
26) Because at the Giro there are also guys who come from Argentina,from Tasmania,from Kazakhistan,from Japan and from Kenya.
27) Because there are guys like Belletti who win and cry on the podium.
28) Because there are guys like Monier who think they’re daydreaming when they win a stage.
29) Because there are memories on every corner of the road you face.
30) Because Fausto Coppi,Marco Pantani,Franco Ballerini,Valentino Fois and Fabio Casartelli are always here with us.
31) Because during the Giro young boys who can ride their bikes dream of becoming cyclists, while young girls who can speak English dream of becoming cycling journalists.
32) Because hearing Vinokourov speaking English makes you understand that,perhaps,your English accent isn't that bad.
33) Because Nibali's voice is the one of a boy who has a very bad cold.
34) Because Vinokourov is as charismatic as my Philosophy teacher.
35) Because Vinokourov is also as evil as my Philosphy teacher.
36) Because Petrov talking Russian to his wife after winning a stage was sweet.
37) Because Szmyd is the best helper of the world.
38) Because hearing your best friend telling you how hot Tyler Farrar is makes you understand that,after all,you're achieving results by preaching the 'cycling love' all around your classroom during the trigonometry lessons.
39) Because Saxo Bank's mechanic Pascal is a myth.
40) Because in order to watch a stage live,you find the courage to volunteer yourself for a bloody Italian test about Leopardi.
41) Because in front of the Giro you stop screaming 'Kant I Can't!!" and forget the Pilosophy examination that is waiting for you on the following day.
42) Because studying Kant at 11 pm the day before of the examination,as in the afternoon you were too busy watching the Giro,makes you feel like a cycling martyr.
43) Because cycling can cause your 'pre University vocational crisis' to get even worse.
44) Because starting from Holland is strange.
45) Because in this year Giro there was Chris Anker Sorensen.
46) Because Chris Anker Sorensen's grimacing face is the pure essence of cycling,together with Monier’s way of riding.
47) Because Chris Anker Sorensen updates his blog more often during the Giro.
48) Because now every time I say 'Chris Anker Sorensen' my relatives escape from the room where I am.
49) Because my grandfather is now convincted that Chris Anker Sorensen is my boyfriend (don’t worry,he isn’t).
50) Because if you want to win my father's everlasting respect you have to show him that you support Inter,and Chris Anker Sorensen did that on the morning of the Zoncolan stage.
51) Because spreading the love for Chris Anker Sorensen all around your family is not just nice. It's also easy.
52) Because I can't stop talking about Chris Anker Sorensen,although I know that by doing so I bore many people.
53) Because in the peloton there are some professors like Pinotti and Bookwalter.
54) Because in the peloton there are also guys like Matthew Lloyd,who studied Criminology at university for 4 years but then gave up everything in order to become a cyclist.
55) Because discussing tactics in the family is funny.
56) Because discussing tactics with your friends who don't understand anything about cycling is weird.
57) Because finding out that your schoolmate is a liar thanks to a conversation about cycling is nice.
58) Because,if your friends are true friends,they'll tolerate your cycling speeches even on the day of the English test.
59) Because trying to translate in Italian everything that the British chronists say is good training.
60) Because hearing Arroyo speaking Spanish,and misunderstanding everything he says,can really bring you down.
61) Because when your mother notices that Basso is hot it means that she's got good taste.
62) Because when your mother says that Nibali is handsome,you realise that she had a very tiring day.
63) Because when your mother says that Chris Sorensen is good-looking,you realise that in your genes there's a natural tendency for the Chris Anker's love.
64) Because,if you want to see a Giro stage live,you can make it without spending more than 10 euros.
65) Because some of the pros bycicles are art jewels.
66) Because Gianni Bugno drives Rai's helicopter.
67) Because the Italian spoken by some riders (Vinokourov and Sastre,for example) improves a lot in the third week.
68) Because hearing foreign riders say "Gratti,Grazzi,Grazi' rather than 'Grazie' makes you think that the Italian way of saying 'thank you' is the most complicated in the world.
69) Because Larsson,who won the last TT,is simply known as ''Veronica Andreasson's boyfriend''.
70) Because Gadret has a wife who knows Italian and makes her translate some pages of an Italian book about Pantani every day.
71) Because Marcel Wyss looks like a 17 year old boy,and instead is older than me.
72) Because I bet that you,like me,can’t imagine Vinokourov dressed in traditional Kazakhistani clothes.
73) Because Vinokourov always has the same expression,as long as he’s not freezing under the rain.And he smiles even less than Menchov.
74) Because when Pineau made that victory salute,me imagined the word “Roooock!!” coming out from his mouth.
75) Because the weather can suck even here in Italy.
76) Because Simoni,on the Tonale climb,wasn’t disappointed at all.Actually,he was as smiley as never before (believe me,I was there).
77) Because they played “Highway to Hell” as ‘podium song’.Too bad that Matthew Lloyd knows English.
78) Hey,the Aussies got 3 jerseys out of 4!
79) Because everyone would love to own a Girbecco.
80) Because Ivan the Charming won.
81) Kiserlovski,Mollema and Porte: young guns are coming!
82) Because Scarponi is hilarious (just look at his face).
83) Because Cameron Wurf doesn't believe he's raced a good Giro.

84) Because Montalcino's mud is unforgettable.

85) Because Savoldelli has found his heir (Nibali).

86) Because an Italian won.

87) Because Wiggins' nose is impressive.

88) Because Sastre and Evans finished the race in spite of some health problems.

89) Because L'Aquila stage will be remembered for a lot of time.

90) Because,after all,the Giro is always the Giro,aka the cycling race where there are the hardest climbs (sorry France,but Alpe d'Huez can't be compared to Zoncolan,Mortirolo,Plan de Corones or Gavia).

Pic by Ansa