Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of the year again - that time of the year when the Giro finally starts and miss Fede follows the suggestion that 'Queen' included in their song 'Bicycle Race'. Yes, I mean exactly that suggestion, the one that goes 'bicycle races are coming your way, so forget all your duties oh yeah!' - the very same suggestion that will probably cause me to fail my Linguistics exam on the 16th of May. Still, the important thing is that the 2012 Giro is about to start. Finally, after months of random talks, it's time to let the legs do the talking. Still, before the beginning of the true race, let's enjoy this little post full of facts related to the Giro riders, divided by team. Have fun!
Lampre: the two main riders on the team are Cunego and Scarponi. According to some rumours, Stortoni (Lampre rider who's not riding the Giro) told a newspaper that Scarponi isn't actually that happy about Cunego's presence in the Corsa Rosa, which has been Michele's main target since last year.
Talking about Cunego, he said that he announced his decision to ride the Giro at the very last moment, because he wanted to keep it hidden as long as possible. One of Damiano's teammates is Spezialetti, who this year is taking part in the 14th Giro of his career. He first raced the Giro in 1997 and he was on Cunego' side when Damiano won the pink jersey in 2004.
Back to Scarponi, yesterday he received the trophy and the pink jersey of the 2011 edition of the race. After receiving them, he said: 'Alright, I have the trophy and the pink jersey, now I can go home'. Still talking about Scarponi, there's an important news about him: in August he'll become father of two boy twins. And, of course, he'd love to give them a great present by dedicating them the victory of this Giro.
AG2R: although underestimated, Gadret is one of the best climbers out there. Look out for this Frenchman who adores Italy, has an Italian wife and was a big supporter of Pantani!
ANDRONI: Rujano is ready to get on the podium of this race. Felline, on the other hand, is looking for a great international victory. This boy is very promising and very young and in the sprints he'll have to fight against champions like Cavendish, Hushovd and Farrar. Good luck Fabio!
ASTANA: As well as thinking about getting married, Roman Kreuziger is also thinking about winning the Giro. He's 26 year-old and, as he reminded some journalists, 'he still has plenty of time to improve'. The Czech will actually celebrate his birthday on Sunday, right during the Giro, and therefore he won't be able to fight for the white jersey classification. When a journalist told him about this, Roman went: 'Well, I'm getting old!' Instead, when a RAI chronist told him that he was considered one of the main contenders for the final victory, Roman pulled a perplexed face and went: 'I've heard those rumours, but...' and stopped the sentence there.
One of Roman's key teammates will be Gasparotto, who is very good at understanding how the race will unfold. As for the team's ds, Martinelli, Kreuziger has stated that he's always very nervous at the start of a GT, but then 'he calms down once the race begins'.
The final Astana line-up includes also Russian talent Egor Silin, Zeits, Kangert and Ponzi, who is a very strong Italian rider.
BMC: Ballan is a debutant in the Giro, Pinotti instead is a veteran of the pink race. Oh, and talking about Marco: on his flight from Orio al Serio (Bergamo) to Denmark, he read a book in English about phisiology. Amazing.
As for the other guys on the team, this afternoon Phinney showed everyone his skills in speaking the dialect spoken in Veneto. In fact, when asked, he said something about the fact that he would have liked to eat a pizza, but that he couldn't because he was racing the Giro. Still talking about Taylor, he's worked hard in order to win tomorrow's prologue - just think that yesterday he trained on the TT parcours at 7 pm, because tomorrow he'll be at the start-line at that hour. Oh, and when you see Taylor racing, check out his 'football style' shoes - they're faboulous!
As for the other guys on the team, this afternoon Phinney showed everyone his skills in speaking the dialect spoken in Veneto. In fact, when asked, he said something about the fact that he would have liked to eat a pizza, but that he couldn't because he was racing the Giro. Still talking about Taylor, he's worked hard in order to win tomorrow's prologue - just think that yesterday he trained on the TT parcours at 7 pm, because tomorrow he'll be at the start-line at that hour. Oh, and when you see Taylor racing, check out his 'football style' shoes - they're faboulous!
COLNAGO: Pozzovivo would like to get a good result in the mountains. Apropos: Domenico is the only rider in this all-Italian team that won't be able to fight for the white jersey - aka, 8 riders out of 9 in this team are under 26. Amazing, isn't it?
FDJ: This team features Demare, the sprinter I'll be supporting in the next 3 weeks. The U23 World Champion was born in August 1991 and is therefore the youngest rider of the entire ProTour. Allez Arnaud!
GARMIN: Stetina had a collision with a car this afternoon, but luckily he wasn't injured by it. The accident took place on the TT parcours, which Garmin tried when the roads were still open to the traffic. The ds got very angry about it and said that Peter is still in a state of shock. Let's hope he'll recover soon from this frightening experience!
LIQUIGAS: Basso filmed the prologue with a videocamera placed on his handlebar, so that he'll be able to re-watch it this evening. He's ready to win his 3rd Giro and, for those who love numbers, here's a fact: the 2 Giros already won by Ivan both began outside Italy - and this Giro starts from Denmark. Funny, isn't it?
As for other Basso-related facts, Ivan went to the hairdresser right before leaving for Denmark, because even before winning those other 2 Giri he had had his hair cut just before the start of the race.
On to another Liquigas rider, Sabatini became father for the first time yesteday. Congratulations to Fabio and to his whole family!
MOVISTAR: Can I just say that I don't like Visconti's new haircut?
RADIOSHACK: On today's Gazzetta there was a huge article about Frank Schleck. In it the Luxembourgian said that, when Bruyneel called him to tell him about his partecipation in the Giro, he was at the park with his daughter. After Liége Frankie took 7 days off, but he thinks this could be an advantage for the 3rd week of race rather than a disadvantage. Moreover, for those who like coincidences, let's not forget that in 2008 Contador was on holiday in Cadiz when he received the order of going to the Giro, whereas in 2010 Nibali was on holiday in Sicily when he received that same order - and, in spite of this, Conti managed to win the 2008 Giro, whereas Vincenzo was 3rd and won the Monte Grappa stage in 2010.
Talking about the first part of his career, Frank said that he used to live in Veneto, in a flat in a village near Conegliano which had a kitchen, a bathroom and some bedrooms. He shared that flat ('in front of a church and next to the bank', he recalled) with other cyclists, but didn't really like that experience. 'I could say just 'ciao' and 'pizza' and I missed my family, so I stayed there for just 3/4 months. I came back the following year and things went much better on that second occasion. Still, my first period in Italy taught me how to be a man: I learned how to understand other people, I learned a new language, I learned how to take care of myself. In our flat we cooked, we went buying food, we did the houseworks'. Eventually, when a journalist told Frank that 'this Giro has very few TT kms and many climbs', Schleck replied by saying: 'Then I'll win it'. Let's hope so!
SKY: This Giro didn't start well for team Sky. Swift in fact crashed yesterday and broke his shoulder. Also Flecha was involved in the crash, but he luckily didn't break anything. Cavendish, however, looks very motivated: he's stated he'd like to win every sprint in this Giro and he's also said that, since the birth of his daughter, he tries to optimise the time he spends away from his family. Talking about the Giro, Mark also said that 'the Tour de France is job, the Giro is passion'.
Still talking about Cav, it must be said that his Italian has improved a lot lately - and this leads us to the 'riders and languages' topic: this afternoon Frank Schleck surprised everyone with a very good Italian, just like J. Rodriguez. As for Phinney and Kreuziger, their Italian is extremely good, but that's not a surprise :)
So, after briefly mentioning these funny facts about some of the Giro riders, let's nowmake some random predictions. As for tomorrow's prologue, I think the winner could be a rider chosen between Phinney, Bobridge, Boaro, Bos, Larsson, Christensen, Pinotti, Thomas, Hushovd, Farrar (now that I've said this, get ready to celebrate the victory of the only time trialist I didn't mention in this list ;)
Tomorow's prologue is very complicated, since it features 9 kms and 17 curves - let's hope Frank Schleck and Basso won't crash!
As for the Giro itself, I launch myself in a random podium prediction - and that prediction is: Basso, Scarponi, Rodriguez. Other podium-like riders are Kreuziger, Nieve, Gadret and, of course, Schleck.
So, that's all for now. Good night and happy Giro everyone - and good luck to the riders!
As for other Basso-related facts, Ivan went to the hairdresser right before leaving for Denmark, because even before winning those other 2 Giri he had had his hair cut just before the start of the race.
On to another Liquigas rider, Sabatini became father for the first time yesteday. Congratulations to Fabio and to his whole family!
MOVISTAR: Can I just say that I don't like Visconti's new haircut?
RADIOSHACK: On today's Gazzetta there was a huge article about Frank Schleck. In it the Luxembourgian said that, when Bruyneel called him to tell him about his partecipation in the Giro, he was at the park with his daughter. After Liége Frankie took 7 days off, but he thinks this could be an advantage for the 3rd week of race rather than a disadvantage. Moreover, for those who like coincidences, let's not forget that in 2008 Contador was on holiday in Cadiz when he received the order of going to the Giro, whereas in 2010 Nibali was on holiday in Sicily when he received that same order - and, in spite of this, Conti managed to win the 2008 Giro, whereas Vincenzo was 3rd and won the Monte Grappa stage in 2010.
Talking about the first part of his career, Frank said that he used to live in Veneto, in a flat in a village near Conegliano which had a kitchen, a bathroom and some bedrooms. He shared that flat ('in front of a church and next to the bank', he recalled) with other cyclists, but didn't really like that experience. 'I could say just 'ciao' and 'pizza' and I missed my family, so I stayed there for just 3/4 months. I came back the following year and things went much better on that second occasion. Still, my first period in Italy taught me how to be a man: I learned how to understand other people, I learned a new language, I learned how to take care of myself. In our flat we cooked, we went buying food, we did the houseworks'. Eventually, when a journalist told Frank that 'this Giro has very few TT kms and many climbs', Schleck replied by saying: 'Then I'll win it'. Let's hope so!
SKY: This Giro didn't start well for team Sky. Swift in fact crashed yesterday and broke his shoulder. Also Flecha was involved in the crash, but he luckily didn't break anything. Cavendish, however, looks very motivated: he's stated he'd like to win every sprint in this Giro and he's also said that, since the birth of his daughter, he tries to optimise the time he spends away from his family. Talking about the Giro, Mark also said that 'the Tour de France is job, the Giro is passion'.
Still talking about Cav, it must be said that his Italian has improved a lot lately - and this leads us to the 'riders and languages' topic: this afternoon Frank Schleck surprised everyone with a very good Italian, just like J. Rodriguez. As for Phinney and Kreuziger, their Italian is extremely good, but that's not a surprise :)
So, after briefly mentioning these funny facts about some of the Giro riders, let's nowmake some random predictions. As for tomorrow's prologue, I think the winner could be a rider chosen between Phinney, Bobridge, Boaro, Bos, Larsson, Christensen, Pinotti, Thomas, Hushovd, Farrar (now that I've said this, get ready to celebrate the victory of the only time trialist I didn't mention in this list ;)
Tomorow's prologue is very complicated, since it features 9 kms and 17 curves - let's hope Frank Schleck and Basso won't crash!
As for the Giro itself, I launch myself in a random podium prediction - and that prediction is: Basso, Scarponi, Rodriguez. Other podium-like riders are Kreuziger, Nieve, Gadret and, of course, Schleck.
So, that's all for now. Good night and happy Giro everyone - and good luck to the riders!
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