Tour prologue: Fabian in yellow

Oh la la,the Tour has begun,with its 3 weeks of daily pain,excitement,drama and challenges. The challenge on which almost (I stress the 'almost' part) everyone is focused right now is the duel between Contador and Armstrong but,don't worry,me is not going to focus on that too much in my posts.
After 2009 Vuelta and the 2010 Giro,also the Tour this year started from Holland and,in particular,it started from Rotterdam (whose harbour gives job to 300 000 people,a thing that I've discovered today and that I've found pretty impressing).The parcours of the prologue was 8.9 kms long.
The race was influenced by the weather for a lot of time.Toni Martin (whose shape is really,really good) set the fastest time early in the afternoon.For a lot of time behind the German policeman there was the very promising Geraint Thomas of team Sky.The captain of this team,Bradley Wiggins, disappointed many people,although he might have decided to take it easy today and give his best in the following stages. The asphalt in fact was wet for a lot of time during the race and so many GC contenders (like Kreuziger) decided not to ride full gas and just focused on arriving safe to the finish-line.
Two riders,Manuel Cardoso and Mathias Frank,crashed during the race.On a Dutch website I could see the pictures of these riders after the crashes and,believe me,they didn't look good at all.Poor Frank,23 year-old (and one of my favourite young riders) broke a thumb,while I have no news about Cardoso yet.
While time kept on passing,the GC contenders began their race.Frank Schleck was one of the first 'big' to begin the race and his time immediately looked pretty high.Andy (with the jersey of Luxembourg TT champion on and with some bruises on his knee) did worse.

The last 3 riders to face the 8.9 kms long parcours were Armstrong,Cancellara and Contador.They all rode very well (the roads were a bit drier while they were riding) and Cancellara managed to win the race with a great time (10 minutes).

Armstrong came 4th,with a 22" delay from Cancellara and an advantage of 5" on Contador.Many have pointed out this thing and said that Armstrong has already given 'strong signals' and that his form is clearly incredible.Now,I'd like you to reflect on the following thought of mine for a few seconds: many say that Armstrong has the 'form of his life' right now and could even defeat Contador.And they base their thoughts on what they saw during Tour of Luxembourg and Tour de Suisse.Now,Frank Schleck went better than Lance in those races.Does this mean that he'll win the Tour without problems? Let's hope so then (and let's prepare the champagne)!

Anyway,back to more serious things: here's the GC as it is if we consider just the main contenders of the race (I apologise for the possible mathematic mistakes).

Lance Armstrong (USA)

Alberto Contador (Spa) 0:05
Levi Leipheimer (USA) 0:06
Janez Brajkovic (Slo) 0:13
Michael Rogers (Aus)
Andreas Klöden (Ger) 0:14
Roman Kreuziger (Cze) 0:16
Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) 0:17
Cadel Evans (Aus)
Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) 0:26
Robert Gesink (Ned) 0:29
Christopher Horner (USA) 0:30
Carlos Sastre (Spa) 0:32
Ivan Basso (Ita) 0:33
Denis Menchov (Rus) 0:34
Samuel Sanchez (Spa)
Bradley Wiggins (GBr)
Fränk Schleck (Lux) 0:35
Andy Schleck (Lux) 0:47

So,the numbers say: Andy lost 42" from Contador (his main rival as far as mountains are concerned) and Frank lost 30". "I admit I had a shit day",Andy has just tweeted and,looking at numbers,it seems that he's right.Actually,immediately after crossing the line Fangirl saw him nodding his head and looking disappointed.Anyway,I don't think we should get desperate about today's result.42" are nothing,after the first day.I mean,tomorrow's stage may be very tricky (there could be a lot of wind) and,if he pays attention,Andy could already gain some seconds on his adversaries.So,let's not be too pessimistic.And then: it's better to have a shit day in the prologue than in the 3rd week,right?

As far as Frank is concerned,he showed that he's improved a lot in TTs.I think that the brothers are 2 of the best climbers out there together with Contador,Gesink and Basso,and they didn't lose a lot of time from them (I mean,Frank almost got the same time as Wiggins,Menchov and Samu Sanchez!).After all,as a big skyscraper in Rotterdam reminded us this afternoon,there are more than 3000 kms between the Dutch city and Paris,so the chances of gaining seconds won't lack.
As said,tomorrow stage (which is totally flat) may become very tricky if there's a strong wind.And considering what happened during the Dutch stages of the Giro,well,I think we'll have some fun tomorrow.

One of today's surprises was Adriano Malori,excellent 12th.The winner,as said,was Fabian Cancellara,who got another yellow jersey to add to his collection.His victory was everything but a surprise,especially if we consider that Fabian won 3 Tour prologues in the last 4 years (London 2007,Monaco 2009,Rotterdam 2010).'Why didn't he win in 2008?',I hear you ask.Well,simple: in 2008 there was no prologue at the Tour.

GIRO D'ITALIA FEMMINILE:

As promised,in these days miss Fede will try to pay more attention to women's cycling.The occasion of talking about it is offered by the Giro d'Italia Donne,which this year presents an extremely tough parcours.

The first two stages were flat and they were won by Ina-Yoko Teutenberg,the German rider of Columbia.Yesterday a jounalist told her: "You're as strong as Cavendish".Ina's reply was: "No,I'm better than him".In fact,so far in 2010 Ina has won 18 (18!) races.Chapeau.

Second in today's stage (just like in yesterday's one) was Giorgia Bronzini.Yesterday's 3rd was Kristen Wild,while today's 3rd was Marianne Vos (who also wears the best young rider jersey).

As far as the GC is concerned,the leader is Ina Teutenberg (who else?).

With 1 km to go this afternoon there was a crash involving some strong athletes (Hausler and Pooley,for example),but the time gap between them and the stage winner wasn't considered in the new GC.Tomorrow's stage is a 16.9 kms long TT.

Tour de France: start list and a few random randomness about the team presentation

To your joy and happiness,after 2 weeks and a half spent on holiday,miss Fede is finally back. Unfortunately this period of holiday corresponded to a period of great cycling isolation,since I left before of the beginning of TdS and came back just yesterday.Therefore,I lost all the TdS stuff (yes,I know that Frank won),the national championships (Visconti won in Italy,the Schlecks won a title each,Marycz won in Poland and N.Sorensen won in Denmark) and the latest news about the new team of the Schleck brothers.In fact,it seems that the brothers are going to create their own Radioshack (or,better,Radio Schleck) and so they're leaving Riis. I'm obviously a bit disappointed by this,but I think that this is a common feeling between the Saxo Bank fans,especially those who,like me,support the Schleck brothers and also other guys on team SB.But since SB will keep on racing until the end of the year,well,I think it's better to forget about this for a while.
As you probably already know,at 6 pm this evening there was the presentation of the TdF teams.And what better occasion for talking about the start list of the race and write some bullshits,ehm,fangirlistic observations? Let's begin then!

TEAM HTC COLUMBIA: Cavendish, Eisel, Grabsch, Hansen, T.Martin, Monfort, Renshaw, Rogers, Siutsou.Team Columbia was the first team to be presented this afternoon and so me could notice once again that,when Cavendish speaks,I can't understand anything. How depressing.Btw,during TdS Cav eliminated 2 of his possible sprint adversaries (Boonen and Haussler) and so right now he's ready to win at least 3 TdF stage.However,considering that this time Petacchi is racing the Tour as well,I think that Cannon Ball will have more problems than usual during the sprints.On this team obviously there isn't just Cav,but there are also other good riders.Eisel,Hansen and Renshaw will surely form the leadout train of the Manx rider (and they'll surely be helped by the other guys in the team).Then there are also other strong riders like Siutsou (he won 2009 Bergamo stage in the Giro),Monfort (good climber),Grabsch (good time trialist) and Rogers,who will be the GC man together with Toni Martin.Apropos: Martin has got some excellent results lately,just like winning a TdS TT stage in front of a Swiss rider called Fabian Cancellara,so his shape is really excellent.
FEANCAISE DES JEUX: Le Mevel,Casar,Di Gregorio, Geslin, Ladagnous, Roux, Roy, Sulzberger,Vaugrenard.Sulzberger comes from Tasmania,and considering what his fellows did during the Giro,we'd better pay attention to him.FdJ is the usual French team: lots of good riders,but no big champions.Di Gregorio could surprise,while Roy,Casar,Le Mevel,Vaugrenard are good riders.'Breakaway' will probably be the team's key word for the next 3 weeks.And,hopefully,they'll have good luck.
FOOTON-SERVETTO: Capecchi, Benitez, Cardoso, Duran, Eibegger, Felline,Mayoz, Perez Arrieta, Valls.Capecchi is a very interesting rider,just like the young Fabio Felline.He was born in 1990 and,since there's a very small 'age gap' between him and me,Fangirl is going to support him a lot in the next 3 weeks.The Dutch man who presented the team in Rotterdam paid him a lot of attention,but Fabio reacted well.He's got future,believe me.Other interesting riders in this team are Mayoz (he rode a very good Giro) and the climber Cardoso.Unfortunately,Capelli won't be racing.
CAISSE D'EPARGNE: LL Sanchez, Da Costa, Erviti, Gutierrez, Kiryenka,Moreau, Perget, Molina, Rojas.The Spanish team lost his captain Valverde a few weeks before of the beginning of the Tour,so the GC man is going to be LL Sanchez,who in the last 2 years won 2 stages at la Grande Boucle.The team has some very good riders,as well as Sanchez.For example,Kiryenka always attacks and Moreau,although he isn't that young anymore,could get some good results.During the team presentation the interviewer terrified LL by asking him where the bar for the 'movida' is."No lo sé" was Luis' predictable answer.
LAMPRE: Cunego, Bole, Da Dalto, Gavazzi, Hondo, Lorenzetto, Malori,Petacchi,Spilak.
On his road to the Rotterdam stage where the teams were presented,Alessandro Petacchi was playing with his mobile phone.On the stage,the interviewer started to talk to him and concluded the interview with the following words: "Here in Holland it is prohibited to use your mobile phone while riding a bike".Everybody laughed and the interviewer managed to make Petacchi smile (and that's the first big news of 2010 TdF).Luckily Ale Jet will also smile for stage victories,and not just for the journalists' jokes.During the sprints Petacchi will be able to count on Bole,Da Dalto,Hondo and Lorenzetto,who could also enter a breakaway and win a stage.Other good team riders are Spilak and Malori,who are both very young.Adriano,in particular,is a neo pro and is the TT World Champion for the U23 category.Cunego,instead,will go for stage victories (or,at least,that's what Logic thinks).
AG2R LA MONDIALE: Roche, Bouet, Champion, Elmiger, Gadret,Le Lay, Mondory, Nocentini, Riblon.Nocentini has finally recovered from his bad injury (he broke 3 bones of his leg at the beginning of the year) and he's obviously dreaming of repeating last year's performance.Roche will go for stage victories,just like his teammates.I'm curious to see how Gadret will climb in his home country,since during the Giro he really surprised me.Little useless observation of mine: seeing the jersey of Swiss champion on someone who is not Cancellara is strange.
LIQUIGAS DOIMO: Basso,Bellotti, Koren, Kreuziger, Kuschinsky, Oss, Quinziato, Szmyd, Vandborg.Although a bit underestimated,Liquigas has a very good team.Basso and Kreuziger will be the captains (Basso trained very hard for the French race),while the other riders will help them as much as they can.Szmyd is the greatest helper of Cycledom right now,Koren is a young interesting rider, Oss,Quinziato and Kuschinsky know how to ride on cobblestones.Wonderful team.And,was it just my impression,or did Basso sound a bit moved on the Rotterdam stage?
KATIUSHA: Karpets, Brutt, Ivanov, Kolobnev, McEwen, Pliuschin, Joaquin Rodriguez, Vandenbergh,Vorganov.The Russian team,which in the next 3 weeks will be totally Pozzato free,is pretty good.Rodriguez is a very good climber,like Karpets,while Kolobnev (new Russian champion),Brutt,Ivanov and Vorganov will surely try to get a victory.And McEwen is as determined as always.His interview was funny,especially when he asked the interviewer: 'Why are you talking English and I am talking Dutch?' Hopefully Robbie will win a stage,since it's ages since he last got a very important victory.
OMEGA PHARMA LOTTO: Van Den Broeck, Aerts, De Greef, Delage, Lang, Lloyd, Moreno, Roelandts,Wegelius.Van Den Broeck will be the captain and will be helped by the whole team.Other good climbers are De Greef (yay!),Lloyd and Moreno,while Roelandts is a good sprinter.Wegelius,instead,is simply a myth (just check his Twitter if you don't believe me).Btw,look out for Van Den Broeck: he came 8th in his first Giro d'Italia (2008 ) and I think he's got much better since then.
BMC: Evans,Ballan,Bookwalter,Burghardt,Frank,Hincapie,Kroon,Morabito and Santambrogio. The TdF team looks much better than the Giro's one.In it there are riders who can ride well on the cobblestones (Hincapie,Burghardt and Ballan),although I don't know who will be able to help mr.Evans on the climbs.Burghardt has a great condition,Bookwalter rode a good Giro (look out for him on Saturday),Kroon could go for stage win.Frank already impressed me a lot last year,during TdS (if my memory doesn't fail me),so I'm curious to see what he'll do during this race.And then me's happy to see Santambrogio racing again.On the Rotterdam stage,when interviewed,Evans said that,if compared to that of last year,his race preparation is the same.Why do you win more than last year then? "I changed team",Evans explained with a smile.Did you get it,Lotto men?
QUICK STEP: Sylvain Chavanel,Barredo,De Weert, Devenyns, Pineau,Reda,Seeldrayers,Van De Walle,Wijnants.This team lives on Boonen's performances,but without Boonen (eliminated by Cav during TdS) the team doesn't look that strong.Seeldrayers is a very nteresting rider,so attention to him.The others instead will look for stage victories.
BBOX BOYGUES TELECOM: Voeckler, Arashiro, Charteau, Fedrigo, Gautier, Rolland, Sprick,Turgot,Vogondy.Voeckler is the new French champion and showed his jersey with a lot of pride this afternoon.In this team there are guys who have already won stages at the Tour (Voeckler,Vogondy,Fedrigo) and guys who could make it as well.Hopefully Arashiro will be luckier than in the Giro.And,hopefully,Fedrigo will get a victory also this year.
MILRAM: Gerdemann,Ciolek,Froehlinger,Kluge,Knees,Roberts,Rohregger,Terpstra,Wegmann.
Interviewer: "Let's stop talking about cycling.Let's talk soccer.Tomorrow there's Argentina-Germany".Gerdemann: "To be honest,it's on Saturday".A few seconds later,Gerdemann makes the public explode from happiness when he says "I hope that Holland will pass the turn as well".To be honest,dear Linus,I don't know if Podolski & Co.will be as happy as you,if they have to face Holland after England and Argentina! Btw,back to cycling: Gerdemann is the captain of this team,which has a good sprinter (Ciolek),a good time trialist (Wegmann) and a good all rounder (Terpstra).
EUSKALTEL: S.Sanchez,Isasi,Egoi Martinez,Oroz,Perez Lezaun,Perez Moreno, Txurruka, Velasco,Verdugo.The team captain is Samuel Sanchez,while the other riders will help him and try to get stage victories.Attention to Txurruka: in 2008 he was the most attacking rider of the race.
CERVELO: Sastre,Florencio,Gustov,Hunt,Hushovd,Klier,Konovalovas,Lancaster,D.Lloyd.
Sastre is the team captain and is riding this Tour in spite of a problem with his spine.Hushovd will try hard to win the green jersey also this year and Lancaster will surely help him.Gustov is an excellent helper,while me will be in a "Allez allez Konovalovas!" mood during every single TT.Poor Heinrich Haussler instead is still followed by bad luck.After missing the spring campaign for a problem in his knee and being found drunk while driving his car,HH was in fact eliminated by Cav during last TdS. Poor Heinrich.
GARMIN-TRANSITIONS: Vandevelde,Dean,Farrar,Hesjedal,Hunter,Maaskant,Millar,Van Summeren,Zabriskie.DZ was the only one who,during the presentation,sat on his bike in a very relaxed way.He's an excellent time trialist,so look out for him in the TTs.Van Summeren is a very strong 'cobblerider',just like Maaskant.Millar is another excellent time trialist,while Vandevelde and Hesjedal are good GC riders.Dean,Farrar and Hunter will try to shine during the sprints.This is a very good team and,after Vandevelde in 2008 and Wiggo last year, perhaps one of Garmin riders will surprise us again this year.
COFIDIS: Taaramae,Auge,Dumoulin,El Fares,Kern,Minard,Moinard,Monier,Pauriol.

Pay attention to this list: Minard,Moinard,Monier.I'll never manage to remember 'who is who',although I should remember that one of them won a stage during the Giro.Anyway,El Fares is a very promising rider,while Taaramae will show interesting things on the climb.Btw: on his way to the stage,Dumoulin kept on taking photographs with his mobile phone.Which,to my horror,was covered by a pink protection.Hopefully,the mobile phone belonged to Samuel's wife/girlfriend/sister or mother,and not to him.
RABOBANK: Menchov, oom,Freire,Garate,Gesink,Moerenhout,Niermann,Tankink, Tjallingii. Hopefully Menchov will be as strong as in 2009 Giro and will even attack on some stages.Gesink is one of the best climbers of the peloton and will probably share the leadership with Denis.Freire and Boom instead will be ready to win the sprinters' stages.
SKY: Wiggins,Barry,Cummings,Flecha,Gerrans,Boasson Hagen,Lovkvist,Pauwels,Thomas. Yes,I was shocked as well when I saw Wiggo's new haircut.For a moment,he even reminded me of Noel Gallagher.Brrrrr.Anyway,this team is strong.Wiggo is an excellent time trialist and can climb well.Barry,Pauwels and Cummings are very good all rounders,Flecha is a 'cobblerider',Boasson Hagen is fast,Lovkvist is the favourite rider of every fangirl,Gerrans is the best climbing sprinter of the peloton and Thomas is a very promising rider (look out for him on Saturday).Nice team.
RADIOSHACK: Armstrong,Brajkovic,Horner,Kloden, Leipheimer, Murayev, Paulinho, Popovych,Rast.Ok,ok: Radioshack is strong.Very strong.Just read those names: Brajkovic,Horner,Kloden,Leipheimer and Popovych.I mean,those guys could be team captain in every single team of Cycledom! Brajkovic,especially,is a very promising rider.But,if you read the names more carefully,well,I think that this team has good members,but also other riders who actually areb't that strong.And, especially,this team doesn't have any 'cobblerider'.If Armstrong had problems on the Arenberg stage,no one could help him.I know that he's one of the most intelligent riders of Cycledom,but also intelligent guys can puncture,can't they? Therefore,dudes,Radioshack is strong,but not impossible to beat.
TEAM SAXO BANK: Andy Schleck,Breschel,Cancellara,Fuglsang,O'Grady,Frank Schleck, Chris Anker Sorensen,Nicki Sorensen,Voigt.This,imo,is the strongest team of TdF.It's the last TdF that these riders will race together (Fangirl is desperate about this),so I think that everyone will give their best in order to make this Tour become unforgettable.Andy Schleck had a bad crash the other day,but hopefully he'll be ok soon.Frank won a stage at TdS and also won the final GC (and raced good TTs).Breschel is fast,and he's a cobblerider like Cancellara and O'Grady.As well as that,he can also work as a super helper.Fuglsang is a very good climber,just like Chris Sorensen.On his blog,Chris said that his form is very good,so we can expect good performances from him.Voigt is one of the best (and most experienced) riders of the world and Nicki Sorensen is a great all rounder.Are you still sure that Radioshack is the strongest team of the Tour?
ASTANA: Contador,De La Fuente, Grivko, Hernandez, M.Iglinskiy, Navarro, Noval, Tiralongo,Vinokourov.Contador talking English is probably one of the cutest things ever, although now his accent isn't as noisy as before.He's clearly the big favourite of this Tour and there's a lot of stress on him.His team is good,especially for the climbs.Vinokourov is an intelligent rider and,since he's unpredictable,he could organise some surprises for Alberto's adversaries.Tiralongo is a very good climber and helper,while Navarro and Noval are riders that Contador totally trusts.And Iglinskiy is a very strong rider as well (and is probably the best 'cobblerider' of the team). So,attention also to this team.

So,these are the riders of this uyear Tour de France.I wish everyone a lot of luck and hope that the race will be thrilling and correct.And,hopefully,it will end with a Luxembourgish victory.Allez Schlecks!

PS1: No,Vacansoleil and Skill Shimano weren't invited to the Tour.
PS2:The women Giro d'Italia begins tomorrow.Me will try to talk a bit about that as well.

A Fangirl at the Giro,part 3: Verona-Verona

PS (which,in this case,stands for Pre-Scriptum): Miss Fede hasn’t been able to write anything new on this blog lately because of reasons not depending on her will.Or,at least,yesterday’s big party depended on her will,but the 3 tests she had to face in the last 2 days of school didn’t. Anyway,as you may have noticed,I,aka miss Fede,didn’t wish a happy birthday to Andy Schleck on Thursday.Not that I forgot about it,mind you: simply,I was too busy to find a decent pic of him and write ‘Happy birthday’ (it takes years to do these kind of things with my computer).

However,back to today,this is my last post for the month of June.In fact tomorrow morning I’m leaving to go on holiday. I wish you all a good month of June and wish the boys a good preparation for Le Grande Boucle.In the meanwhile,I’ll be laying on a beach,have another birthday party and keep my fingers crossed for Chris Anker’s possible inclusion in Saxo Bank squad for the TdF.

Verona: the city of L’Arena,the city of Romeo and Juliet,the city where it’s illegal to eat in the squares and the city where 2010 Giro d’Italia ended.

On 30th of May 2010 my family and I arrived there after a 2 hours travel,at about 11.30 am.We parked our car near the stadium,got on a bus and arrived to the center of the town in a few minutes.When we arrived there we noticed that some famous people were trying the TT parcours.Amongst them I could recognise Cipollini,Fondriest and the former gymnast Iuri Chechi.I could also spot an unidentified Cofidis rider trying the parcours and the whole team Sky getting ready for the reconaissance of the parcours. Unfortunately,I couldn’t tell ‘which-rider-was-who’ and so,although I know that I saw the whole team Sky,I can’t remember the face of any rider.Well,things that happen.
On the notes of “More than a feeling” (the song of the Mtv series ‘Scrubs’),we arrived to L’Arena.It was about midday and so we had more than 2 hours before of the start of the race. ”Let’s go to the team buses!”,said Fangirl.”Some riders are trying the parcours,so the buses must be near us!”.Logic approved Fangirl’s idea and asked a policeman whether he knew where the buses were.”Sorry,I don’t know”,he answered.I got the same answer from another policeman,from a man of the organisation and from other 2 policemen.Then a person said “The buses are behind the Arena”.We went there and,as Logic had predicted (“They can’t put 20 buses in the little streets behind L’Arena!”),the buses weren’t there.At that point my father got fed up and so we abandoned the research of the bus.We found a quiet place near L’Adige (the main river of Verona) and there we sat down.It was almost 2 o’clock,so we were pretty surprised when we saw Samoilau arriving towards us while trying the parcours.Corti (the first rider to start the TT) was going to start in about 30 minutes time,and at that point we were more close to the beginning of the parcours rather than to its finish.However,we soon realised that Samoilau wasn’t the only one on the parcours.A few minutes after him in fact we saw De Greef (surprisingly,Fangirl didn’t try to jump on him),Matthew Lloyd (who looked thoughtful,was wearing his green jersey,and wasn’t riding full gas at all) and Linus Gerdeman.Also Gerdemann was riding quietly and looked thoughtful.
At about 2.40 pm,Corti arrived.He had fought hard to be the 'maglia nera' of 2010 Giro d'Italia and so he was now getting his well-deserved applause.On the stage of Recanati,when his main rival Frapporti was just 3 minutes faster than him,Corti even chose to abandon the main group and crossed the finish-line with 5 minutes of delay.That’s class,baby.
After Frapporti,it was Cameron Meyer’s turn to ride in front of us.When my father read the name of the Australian TT Champion on the sheet of paper on which we had printed the TT start list,he asked me whether Cameron was a track rider.In Italy track isn’t very followed,but during the last World Championship my dad had the chance of watching some events and, between the ones he watched,there was also the points race,which was won by Meyer. Therefore,when he arrived,dad cheered for him and looked very happy.
After Gaudin,Flens,Rabon,Ignatiev,Andriotto and Sutton,it was Graeme Brown’s turn to arrive. He was one of the few sprinters that had faced all the climbs of this Giro without retiring,so me was ready to cheer for him.Little problem,the one who arrived wasn’t Brown,but a Saxo Bank rider,Michael Morkov. “It’s Michael!!”,Fangirl stated as soon as she saw him.”Logic,please,can I scream something?”. ”I’m sorry dear,but it’s better if you avoid it”,Logic answered.In fact Logic hates the name Michael because it has a different pronunciation depending on the country where the person called ‘Michael’ was born.I mean,in England it is pronounced in a way,in Germany in another and in France in another one.Since I don’t know Danish,I couldn’t be sure of the exact pronounciation of the name,so I decided not to scream it.And,when I thought “Let’s scream Morkov!”,Michael had already ridden past me.What an anger.

Anyway,I must say that I was really happy for Michael's Giro.He’s another rider who comes from the track world,but he faced all the tough Giro climbs in a very good way. Therefore,chapeau to him and to all the other track riders who finished this super hard Giro.
After Haedo (Fangirl screamed “Go Go Lucas!”),Brown and Engels,the Canadian champion Tuft arrived.Then,after Roberts,it was Albasini’s turn.He still had his face injured and covered by a white medicament,but at least this time he wasn’t bleeding.
After Facci,Kaisen and the young (and brave) Pirazzi,Flouchard (who had been outsprinted by Pineau in Novi Ligure) arrived.The following riders to arrive were Spezialetti,Van Emden, Reynes,Bertolini and King (who looks really young and who,after the stage,had to go to Bergamo to take his flight).Then Lastras,Fischer,Elijzen,Le Floch,Stamsnijder (great surname), Marangoni and Konovalovas arrived.Ignatas was welcomed by the screams of the girls of my family,since last year in Milan he was very nice with us.He looked very focused on the race and was riding very fast.After his top 10 placement,I think we can nickname him ‘The man of the last TT’.

Then Velo,Sijmens,Hayman,Fothen,Daniel Lloyd ('‘Wasn’t he wearing the green jersey?”,someone asked),Sabatini and Hinault arrived.Sabatini was the first Liquigas rider to arrive (and one of the few sprinters that finished the Giro),while the arrival of Hinault caused someone to begin to talk about the other Hinault,Bernard.
The following rider to arrive should have been Kalle Kriit from Estonia,but in his place another rider,BMC’s Schaer,arrived.Also Danilo Wyss arrived and,when he we had just stopped asking ourselves where Kalle ‘Not Blomkvist’ Kriit could have ended up,there came the Cofidis rider.He wasn’t followed by his team car (it arrived alone after some time),looked pretty tired and nervous and was the only one,until that moment,that wasn’t wearing his glasses.We thought that,probably,he had started the race too late,although it’s more probable that he punctured (or crashed) somewhere during the first part of the TT.Actually,it wouldn’t have been a surprise.In fact I was in a point between two curves and the way some riders faced these curves really scared me (after all,there's a reason why they are pro riders...).
After Forster (another of the sprinters who survived),Bookwalter (one of the few BMC riders that ended the race),Klimov,Arashiro,Stangelj (first Astana rider to arrive),Dall’Antonia and Brandle,Monier arrived.His reaction after his victory in Pejo Terme had been very moving and sweet,so I cheered for him pretty loudly.He was followed by Henderson (another sprinter),Russ,Kireyev and by the 41 year old Inigo Cuesta.I believe that Cuesta is an exceptional rider,since he’s also the oldest of the peloton.Therefore,respect to him,that managed to finish the Giro in spite of his not so young (at least from the cyclistic point of view) age.
After Krivstov,Bono,Cusin and Stalder,the very promising Craig Lewis arrived.He was followed by Marzano and by another interesting athlete,the Tasmanian Cameron Wurf,who before of discovering cycling took part in Athens Olympic Games.At the time,his sport was rowing.
After Mazzanti,Vanotti arrived and was welcomed with some loud screams and applauses.He was followed by Bisolti,Stortoni (two good young riders),Lang,Nicki Sorensen (yay!), Grivko, Moncoutié and Simoni.Actually,we realised that Gibo was arriving not because we saw his team car or things like that,but because the tifosi started to scream as never before.After all,it was the last occasion to cheer for him during a race.
Simoni was followed by Turpin,Bertogliati,Lund (allez!),Failli,Duque,Zandio,Gustov and Szmyd.The following rider was Gustav Larsson.He looked focused and fast,and in that moment I understood he could win the stage.After all his podiums,he really deserved a stage victory in a GT! And btw: Gustav looks much better live than in tv.
He was followed by Pineau,Dan Martin (who rode a good Giro),Tosatto,Cummings,Horrach Rippoll,Losada,Ochoa,Jackson Rodriguez,Matthew Lloyd,Righi,Eibegger,Caruso and by the small (and promising) Sarmiento.Then Pozzato arrived,followed by Barry, Codol, Jufre, Amador and Wiggins.Once again,I found myself making comparisons between Fedrigo and Wiggo (and not because of their TT abilities...).
The English TT champion was followed by 25 year-old Samoilau,who was very active during the last days of this Giro.He was followed by the young Marcel Wyss (my mother has a weakness for him,because ‘he looks so young and cute!!’),Kiryenka and Uran.A few minutes after Kiryenka had arrived,an old man asked us whether Vasili had already ridden past us.Unfortunately,the answer was ‘yes’ and the man looked pretty disappointed.
Then Bakelandts and Tschopp arrived,followed by Laurent Didier.Also Laurent rode very well during this Giro,since he worked for the team and showed he has talent.He was followed by Agnoli (another good young rider),Petrov,Serpa,Wegelius,Trofimov and Chris Sorensen.Chris looked very focused,with his violet glasses on,and for the 3rd time in 3 days Fangirl went bananas as soon as she saw him.”What a handsome man!”,she thought for the following minutes.Actually,Fangirl went so bananas that,if you see the vid that I made with CA,you realise that he disappears from the screen after 0.1 seconds.After all,I’m not a good photographer in normal conditions,let alone when I see my favourite riders.Talking about Chris,I must say that he raced a wonderful Giro.He won a stage,helped Porte on the mountains and managed to finish the race in spite of a flu.Chapeau.
Sorensen was followed by Moreno,Weening,Miholjevic,Voeckler,Mayoz,De Greef and Dupont. Last year De Greef ended in the race top 20 and so did he this year.Considering that he’s still young,I think he’ll soon become a good GT rider.
Dupont was followed by Alexander Efimkin,by Kruijswijk (you’ve gotta love these complicated Dutch surnames),Cioni,Gerdemann,Ardila Cano,Karpets and Gadret.Gadret was probably one of the biggest surprises of this Giro.After all,he’s been a mtb and cyclocross rider for a lot of years and therefore this Giro really suited him.
The Frenchman was followed by the very promising Mollema and by Cunego.You won’t believe it but,when Damiano arrived,my photocamera’s batteries died.In terror,I told that to my sister and failed in my attempt of changing batteries in 3 seconds time.After that,my sister didn’t talk to me for some minutes.
It was now Pinottis’ turn to arrive.Now the riders had to arrive with 3 minutes between one another,but we had to wait a lot before that Pinotti arrived in front of us.Marco was followed by Kiserlovski.Robert is just 23 and I think that,if he didn’t have to sacrifice himself for the team,he could have been dangerous also for the highest part of the GC.After all,he was in L’Aquila breakaway as well.
Then Sastre arrived (his helmet completely covered half of his face),followed by Vinokourov. That famous part of me who likes charismatic men watched him carefully and noticed that he was wearing pink gloves.Imo,you have to be a true man to do that.Or,more probably,your usual gloves must have abandoned you.
After Vino,Richie Porte arrived.He was fighting with the Kazakhistani for the 7th place and looked very fast.A thing that surprised me a lot that day was that a lot of riders looked completely still on their saddles and didn’t even move their spines while pedalling fast!
After screaming for Richie (a man from SB car watched me,causing Logic to scold Fangirl off because she was making me look ridiculous),I applauded Evans and Scarponi.Scarponi was fighting with Nibali for the podium and,in this fight,I supported Michele.After all,Nibali is young and can have plenty of other chances in his career,while Michele is already 31.And then,Michele is such a funny guy.For example,when a journalist told him "Hey,you gained a second on Basso and the other GC contenders today!",he replied: "Well,by gaining one second pro day,I'll probably win the Giro,even if I'll have to wait about 180 stages for that".
The "thirdultimate" rider to arrive was Nibali,followed by the super Arroyo (no pink bike for him) and by Basso.The support for him was incredible and he looked terribly concentrated.
After Basso arrived,we went to L’Arena.While going there,we came across Sylvester Szmyd and Valerio Agnoli,who both looked very relaxed.Agnoli was joking with 2 girls,while Szmyd was in front of him,next to his wife (or girlfriend,I don’t know).To his surprise,a familiar asked for his autograph (“I can’t believe i! Someone has asked me an autograph!”).
Then,while walking to L’Arena,my mother gave me a poke in the ribs.”Who’s that?”,she asked me.I watched and,to my surprise,realised that Vinokourov was there,riding slowly back and forth,probably looking for a policeman that could tell him where his team bus was.He was really sweated and,when he found the policeman,probably asked him where he had to go.I was too afraid to get nearer to him,so I let him go.Soon,a group of about 5 men with Kazakhistani flags appeared.They were true Kazakhistani from Kazakhistan and some of them were even dressed in traditional blue clothes. They even had a traditional hat and,when I imagined Vino wearing that,I was shocked for some seconds.
When we arrived to l’Arena,however,we saw that it was too crowded and too noisy.So,we went behind it and from it we could see (and hear) Basso’s arrival.But,especially,from there we could see everything was going on behind the scenes and so we could watch Larsson chatting quietly to a man behind the podium.
After some minutes,Scarponi came out from L'Arena.He had just lost a Top 3 placement for less than 20 seconds and therefore everyone was sorry for him.However he smiled before of getting onto the anti-doping bus.
While wandering ‘round the Arena,then,we saw a sign.”Team Buses”,it said. And, obviously, Fangirl went bananas when she saw it.We followed the signs,got lost,asked a policeman for help,came back to L’Arena,tried another way,got lost again,imagined Vinokourov wandering around like we were doing in that moment,and finally found the Liquigas bus.No one was there (everyone was at the podium ceremony),while other buses (BMC and Lampre) were almost ready to leave. Eventually,I found a SB trunk.But where was the bus? Outside the trunk there were two men who looked pretty busy.I didn’t know what to do.”Ask them for help”,Fangirl suggested to Logic.”Well,why don’t you ask them for help?”,she replied. “Excuse me”,I said with a very low voice,getting nearer to one of the men.”Could you tell me please where the team bus is?”.”Well,it’s probably over there”,he told me (I couldn’t understand clearly because Fangirl always takes control of me when she is near team buses) .”Thank you very much!” I said.The man was extremely kind with me,because ‘over there’ was actually behind the street corner.Just a blind couldn’t have seen the bus.But me in that moment was blinded by Fangirl,so I can be excused.

Out of the bus there were two suitcases (Larsson and Porte’s ones,I think) and the bus driver,Danny,was there together with other men.I knew that it was highly improbable for my favourite rider,Chris Sorensen,to be still on the bus 3 hours after the end of his Giro,but I asked anyway.”Chris has already gone”,a man told me.”Oh,thank you.Sorry if I disturbed you.Thank you again!”,I said. And,to my amazement,I realised that I wasn’t too depressed.I mean,after all it was obvious.If I were an ill rider with a house in Luxembourg and a family in Denmark,and I had finished a GT at 4 pm of a Sunday,I would get to the closest airport as soon as I could.
On the way back to our car,dad found a magazine all about Rabobank.Someone had thrown it away,but it was still in good condition so we took it.And,thanks to it,I realised that I can understand a bit of Dutch.
When we arrived in front of Diquigiovanni’s bus,we saw Scarponi there.I congratulated him on his Giro while he gave me his signature,and he had a bitter smile before of telling a joke about his bad luck to the person next to him.
Also Cameron Wurf was there and I congratulated him on his Giro as well.He laughed and said something like “Phfew”.”You finished it”,I said.”That’s already something!”.He smiled and then got in the team car,ready for travel towards his home.
The last rider we met was Pinotti.He had just came back on his team bus and,as soon as he got there,he laid on a sofa.The door of the bus was open,so one of my familiars said “Bravo Pinotti!” with a smile.Marco smiled at us and said “Grazie”.After all,there's a reason why Pinotti is one of the greatest riders of the peloton.
On the way back to Bergamo,on the highway,we saw many different cars belonging to the Giro. Actually,there were even some of the infamous merchandise cars.Finally,at 10 pm,we arrived home.And,of course,Fangirl was already depressed because the Giro had just ended.

A Fangirl at the Giro part 2: Passo del Tonale

Getting up every day at 6.20 am for more than 200 days pro year has at least one advantage.In fact, when you go to a hotel where they serve breakfast pretty early, getting up at 7.30 makes you feel less sleepier (and more lively) than the other members of your family.If then you know that on that day you’re going to watch a Giro stage live,you may even jump off your bed singing and dancing as happy (and as mad) as never before,while your familiars walk around the room looking like zombies.
On Saturday 29th,month of May,year 2010,me was a happy girl.The weather was good,the Giro atmosphere was all around,and breakfast was waiting for me.What a happiness.However,at breakfast I had a little surprise.In fact during it I realised that the number of guests at the hotel had increased after that a big group of old people had arrived on the previous night.They looked like a group of schoolmates on a school trip and they were as hungry as a wolves.It was a breakfast ‘a buffet’,so you had to get up from your own table and get the food from the plates that the waiters put in the middle of the dining room every 5 minutes.And,unfortunately for my family and me,the other (older) hotel guests were probably the 2010 world champions in the “Eat everything you can before the other guests can get near to the food!” sport event. In a few words,they finished up every plate before you could even get up from your chair and say ‘I go and see what has arrived’. Therefore,if you wanted to eat something,you had to keep an eye on the waiter and,as soon as he brought something,you had to get up in a big hurry and run to the center of the room before the other people could notice the arrival of the food.Unfortunately this wasn’t a great plan,since you often ran to the middle of the dining room just to find out that,on the plate that the waiter had just brought,there were some boiled eggs and some ham.And,since boiled eggs and ham aren’t actually my perfect breakfast food,my sprints in the dining room often turned out to be totally useless.Anyway,it was a good way to wake up.
At 8.45,my family and I started to wander on the Tonale top. The main thing we wanted to do in the morning was finding a good spot to park our car in order to avoid the post stage traffic queue. Our research was over when we arrived in front of the ‘1,7 kms to go’ indication.There in fact my family and I found big and almost empty parking lot.Since it wasn’t too close to the top of the climb (where almost all the vehicles were parked),we decided to park there.The funny thing was that in that same parking lot there was a bus belonging to a Bergamask agency,and those who had rented it were Bergamasks. We understood that from the accent,from the screams,and from the fact that they were cooking costine and cotechini already at 9.30 am.After all,there’s a reason why everyone, thinking of Bergamo, imagines the Upper City surrounded by mountains,mountaineers and cows.
After coming back to the top of the climb,and after many other things,my familiars and I eventually decided to go back to the hotel.And,on our way towards it,we saw a little pink sheet of paper attached to a wall.And,on the sheet of paper,there was a direction arrow right under the writ ”Team Buses”. Obviously,as soon as she saw that indication,Fangirl became the happiest creature on Earth.“ Yeeeeessss! I’m going to see the Saxo Bank riders after the stage! Yes yes yes! Oh Gosh,I can’t believe it! I didn’t think they were coming here with the buses and instead...Oh,I’m so happy! And perhaps I may even be able to talk to Chris Sorensen! Oh,it’s the best day of my life! Gosh,I’m meeelting!!!”,she screamed.Logic tried to bring her back to Earth in a very kind way.”Darling”,she said.”Listen,we have parked our car 1,7 kms away from here...” “I’m going to meet the guys! I’m going to meet the guys! Oh,it will be wonderful!”,Fangirl kept on screaming.”Darling,have you heard me?”,Logic tried again.”Listen dear,have you heard what I said?”.”I’m going to meet the boys! I’m going to meet the boys!” Fangirl screamed.Then,she paused for a few seconds.”Oh,come on,Logic,why do you care about our car in this moment of happiness? Why aren’t you melting like me?”,Fangirl asked. Then,the truth dawned on her.We had parked the car 1,7 kms away from the finish-line in order to avoid the post stage traffic queue.That meant that my parents’ priority was avoiding the queue,not permitting their daughter to spend time with the Saxo Bank boys.”It’s understandable”,Logic told Fangirl.“They’ve said that perhaps we’re going to Verona tomorrow and,if we really want to go there,we have to be home before 10 pm. Otherwise, tomorow the family driver will be too tired to drive to Verona.After all,you can always meet the guys there”. “Verona is the last stage”,Fangirl replied.”And it’s a TT. I want to see every single rider racing,so we’ll arrive at the buses at about 6 pm.And,by that time,all the riders will have already left Verona.Or they’ll be with their families,and I don’t want to disturb them”. “Well,I’m sorry but today we can’t go to the buses”,Logic stated in a more decided way.“It takes 2 hours and a half to drive from here to our town,and I don’t want to arrive home too late. Remember that you also have to study this evening,since you’ve forgotten your philosophy book at home ‘by accident’”. Eventually,Fangirl obeyed to Logic and her morale,that had been very high for 30 seconds,came back to Earth in 3 seconds time.”Well,it will be for another time...”,she whispered.
At lunch,everything went well,although Fangirl was still a bit shocked by being unable to meet the riders after the stage.Anyway,after all,she knew that she was already going to see them on the climb,so she quickly got over the disappointment that had followed Logic’s words.
After we had paid the hotel owner,my family and I sat in the bar’s hotel,looking for a channel where they broadcasted the race. Soon also the other hotel guests (the ones whose nickname was ‘the grandparents’) joined us in the research.To my horror,we couldn’t find the race broadcast anywhere, so we had to await until Rai 3 started the broadcast.After the national news,the regional news,the news for deaf and mute people and the news for Technology addicted,the sport news began.And they said they were going to show the famous Inter-Bayern match. “Are you kidding me?!?”,I screamed.Some old guests didn’t approve my shout,and said ‘Sssst.’ After a quarter of a hour (it was already 3 pm),I took the tv control and tried to find the broadcast of the race on another channel.A storm of protests followed my decision.”Hey,leave that channel on!”,someone told me.”I’m just doing a quick try to see whether I can find a broadcast of the Giro or not!”. “You can’t,so stop changing channels” “Well,I think everyone knows how Inter-Bayern went,and we’re here to watch the Giro,right? So,let me do just one more try!”. “No,because you can’t find the channel”.Angry,I stopped changing channels and came back to Rai 3. “You’re more intelligent tthan them,dear”,Logic told me in order to calm me down. ”After all,you’re not the one who says that Di Pietro is a criminal”,she added referring to a conversation that the grandparents had just had about politics.
When the broadcast finally began,we found out that no images from Passo Gavia were available.Saint Paolo Savoldelli from Rovetta,however,was on the phone (he followed the Giro from a Rai’s motorbike) and could comment what was going on.With 1 kms to the Gavia’s top,we left the bar and started to walk quickly towards our car.
During your afternoons spent watching the Giro on tv,probably you’ve often asked yourself this question: ‘Why do some dickheads never stay behind the barriers and go to disturb the riders when they’re facing a tough climb?’ If you ever did,here’s a news that will change your world.In fact,I’ve understood why they do these things.After leaving behind the arrive village (and the Processo alla Tappa stage,where I could see Gianni Mura),in fact,I suddenly found myself trapped between the barriers and the road’s guard rails.There were just 10 centimeters between those two things and in some places there were also some obstacles that forced you to hop behind the guard rails if you wanted to go on walking. After spending about 15 minutes of my life hopping from inside the guard rails to outside the guard rails,often risking to end up in a ravine (I‘m joking) and going very slowly because of the ‘hop in’ and ‘hop out’ process,I got fed up.Therefore I hopped outside the barriers and,thanks to that final hop,I could find myself at the right place (in front of the '1.7 km to go' mark) in the right moment,aka when Johann Tschopp was arriving on the climb.
Everyone cheered on him because,well,I suppose that everyone loves guys who break away from the peloton on tough mountain stages. The Evil part of me then suggested some word plays about Tschopp and the famous squirrels “Cip and Ciop” (don't worry,Logic disapproved). There were lots of Simoni’s supporters on the climb,but they all cheered for the Swiss rider (and eventual stage winner) although he had just ‘stolen’ the passage on Gavia's GPM from Gibo.After all, Gibo himself didn’t complain about it after the stage (even if I'm sure that,if a thing like that had happened 2 years ago,he would have behaved differently...).
After Tschopp it was Evans’ time to arrive.He looked really strong and fast and I almost feared that Tschopp could lose the stage because of him.
Basso arrived with Scarponi,Nibali and Righi,spreading joy between the tifosi.Righi risked to be exchange with Cunego by many supporters,but my sister didn’t fail.”That isn’t Damiano!”, she said.And,strange but true,she was right.
Then another group of riders,including Gadret and Vinokourov,arrived.That group was followed by another one,pulled by Richie Porte.This gave Fangirl the opportunity to scream happily and behave like a fool. ”Go Richie,go go goooo!”,she screamed.Together with Porte there were Mollema,Kiserlovski and Pinotti (“Go Marco!!”,Fangirl screamed at the Professor).
The second Saxo Bank rider to arrive was Anders Lund,who raced in a great way that day. Actually,I was too slow to recognise him and couldn’t scream anything (sigh).
One of the following riders to arrive was Karpets,with his strange hair and his earring.Sastre followed him together with Jufre,causing a ‘tenderness attack’ to my sister.”He’s so cute!”,she said.To excuse her I tell you that,when Carlito won on L’Alpe d’Huez in 2008,my sister hadn't started following cycling yet.

Then Miholjevic arrived all alone.He was followed by Ardila Cano,who I recognised because he doesn't look as Dutch as the other Rabobank riders (and,in fact,he isn't dutch).
The riders were now arriving one by one and that gave me the chance of seeing each of them very well.Cioni was welcomed by warm screams,and so was De Greef.When he arrived I had just moved on the road (I had been on a little hill previously) and so I’m afraid that he might have heard my hysterical screams (‘Vai Francis,dài,dài!”).Hopefully,he forgot them quickly.
Before of De Greef,btw,a great rider had arrived.Don’t worry,I’m not talking about Chris Sorensen: I’m talking about Simoni. In 2004 I didn’t like him that much because he looked very arrogant.But on that Sturday of May 2010 he was facing his last Giro mountain stage and so I was obliged to cheer for him.He had been with Tschopp until the Gavia and then,I believe,he had let him go not just because he was weaker than the Swiss rider,but also because he probably wanted to feel the tifosi’s support for the penultimate time in his career.In fact,when he arrived everyone started to clap their hands and scream and Simoni rode past us with a big smile on his face.After such a great career,he deserved that moment.
After de Greef,Iban Mayoz arrived.He was followed by Codol and by,surprise surprise,Chris Anker Sorensen.

As said,me was in front of the 1.7 km mark and near me there was a writ on the asphalt. ”Sorensen”,it said.When Chris arrived,me started to scream and,probably thinking that me was the same person who had written his name on the road,Chris watched me.It was a quick look,but I'm 99,9% sure that I didn't imagine it. ”Dài Chris,dài,dài,dài Chris!”,I screamed,sounding like a stupid.After he looked at me,my screams got lower.He was riding with his usual style,had a very tanned face and really looked tired.In that moment,I felt really good and really happy.I mean,he had watched me! Unfortunately that great moment soon ended and Chris rode past me. Btw,Fangirl obviously was extremely happy,although she still hasn’t understood whether she had imagined that look between me and Chris or not.Anyway I’m almost sure that,if he has seen me,he probably approved my screams more than those of the kid who ran next to him for about 50 meters.
After Chris it was Stortoni’s time to arrive.Stortoni arrived after Chris also in the Terminillo stage,so that was pretty funny. The following rider to arrive was Uran,followed by Gerdemann (“Go Leenooos!”) and Marcel Wyss (“Go Marcel!”).They were followed by Szmyd (I didn’t scream anything ‘cause Polish names terrify me),by the former break-awayer Pirazzi and by Didier. Laurent looked really tired and while he rode past me I could notice that,well,Luxembourg guys seem to have very nice eyes (yes,Fangirl was controling me a lot at that point).He was followed by the magic couple Arashiro-Monier and by other riders.I cheered for Larsson (“Go Gustav!”) and shocked my mum by telling her that '‘The nice Katiusha rider’',Petrov,was already married.Between the guys who arrived later that was Albasini,who had a very big medicament on his face.While he rode past me I could see the blood still coming out from a cut on his cheek,and that was rather impressing.
Vanotti’s arrival was welcomed with great screams by me and the other Bergamasks.He was followed by a group of athletes including the incredibly small Cayetano Sarmiento,a very promising Colombian rider.
The last group of riders,the gruppetto,was pulled by Pozzato and included guys like Brown,Nicki Sorensen (yay!),Haedo,Morkov and Wiggins.
After that the last Giro car had arrived,my familiars and I got on our car and started our descent towards our town.
Two hours and a half later,we arrived home.We were tired,sweated,speechless,incredibly happy and,last but not least,finally aware of why Pinotti always complains about the bus travels after Giro stages.

Random Monday Link to Chris Sorensen's blog:

Frank Schleck lost Tour de Luxembourg for just one second and this was very annoying. Especially if you consider that he's not new to losing races (or yellow jerseys) for just one second.Oh,anger.

Luckily Carrara (a rider who comes from my same area) won.I like him and his team (it's a shame they haven't been invited to the Tour),so I wasn't that desperate about the final GC rstandings.After all,it could have gone worse (read: "Lance Armstrong could have won").

To cheer you up in spite of Frank's final result in TdL GC,here's the link to Chris Sorensen's new blog entry.Yes,I know that right now you're insulting me because,well,you are a Schleck supporter and you're tired of my attempts of spreading the Chris Anker love all around the Blogosphere,but believe me,that post is good (link: http://blog.tv2.dk/chris.anker.ol/entry373095.html ).

For example,in it Chris says that the atmosphere on the bus during the Giro was really good and also the musical taste of the Saxo Bank guys who were racing was,in his opinion,very good. "We always listen to music on the bus before of the start of the races",writes Chris. "And, normally,we listen to DJ Tiesto and things like that,which I don't actually consider good music. The guys on the Giro team all agreed with me about that,so we played a lot of Dire Straits,a little bit of Eagles,a little bit of Black Sabbath and so on.Only our bus driver missed Dj Tiesto, so we made an agreement: when it was time to leave the bus before of the start, he would have been able to put on Black Eyed Peas' 'Tonight's gonna be a good night' ".

I have to thank Chris for this part of his entry,because he really reassured me that,in team SB, not everyone listens to DJ Tiesto & Co. I can understand the love for that kind of music,but really,Eagles are slightly better than dance music guys.Or,at least,that's my opinion (listen to 'Hotel California' or 'Desperado' if you don't agree).

Back to the Giro,anyway,Chris has a thought for a category of men who,although they are always ignored by everyone,probably have the hardest job in the Corsa Rosa.These men are the poor human beings who have to drive the Giro's merchandise cars.

"I think that many other people,as well as me,are happy that the Giro is over",he writes. "However I'm sure that the happiest are those who drove in the merchandise cars for 3 weeks. They sit (or stand) inside these little cars for 2 hours before of the start of every stage and 1 hour after the end of the stage.(ndr; Considering that they drive around also during the stage),this makes 8 hours pro day.In all these hours,every minute, they listen to an Italian commercial that goes: "Buy the Giro d'Italia rucksack for only 10 euros.Incredible,for only 10 euros you can get the Giro d'Italia official T-Shirt, the rucksack,the hat,the book and many other incredible gadgets!" (ndr; I wrote the advertisement in my own words because I know it as well...).One day one of these cars parked outside our bus for half an hour",Chris continues,"and we were going to have mental problems.So I don't know what these cars can do to a man who has to drive them around for 3 weeks.Surely,they're not very healthy".

Considering that these merchandise cars are everywhere during the Giro stages (and they say their commercial even when they're moving),I can't do nothing but share Chris' opinion.Poor men in the merchandise cars.
At the end of the post then Chris says that,although many websites have stressed the fact that he's not going to race Dauphine Libére and Tour de Suisse,this was already in his plans at the beginning of May.Therefore,people,don't get worried: this lack of important races in his June calendar isn't due to the flu he had over the last days.

Victory for Frank in Tour de Luxembourg! :)

Finally,the first Schleck victory of the year has arrived.Yesterday, in fact, Frank Schleck won the Schifflange-Differdange stage of TdL by outsprinting (!) Bergamask Matteo Carrara,who took the leader jersey.Little thing to notice: last year the Differdange stage of TdL was won by the other Schleck,Andy.It seems that this village brings good luck to the boys...A nice pic of Frank by Paul Raats can be seen on Frank's Twitter page.Schleck and Carrara broke away from the peloton with 20 kms to go and opened a 35" gap on the rest of the group.3rd was Flecha,4th was Ivanov and 5th was Leukemans.Frank now wears the points jersey and is just 1" down in the GC.
On Twitter sweet daddy Frank dedicated the victory to his daughter Leea :)
Good article on: http://lequotidien.editpress.lu/index.php/les-sports/12244-Differdange-devient-terre-des-Schleck.html

(Pic 1 by Ispa,pic 2 by Bettini)

A Fangirl at the Giro part 1: Brescia-Aprica

Photocamera.A set of batteries.My mobile phone.Taken.
Some money,an umbrella,a handkerchief.Taken.
The map of Brescia,the list of the riders,and the newspaper page with Sorensen's picture on it.Taken.
Everything was perfect for Fangirl on a busy Wednesday evening.Finally,after many months spent daydreaming,the Giro had entered its last week.And,after many months spent daydreaming,the Brescia stage was finally near.
When the parcours of 2010 Giro d’Italia had been revealed,Fangirl had immediately noticed that,for the first time in many years,both Bergamo and Milan weren’t going to host any stage.Therefore,she had decided to go to watch Brescia stage.
On the day before said stage,Fangirl was totally excited and thrilled about the big day that was coming towards her.She had also found an agreement with Logic: she would have gone to Brescia,by train,”as long as the weather was sunny” .”Phfew”,Fangirl had thought.”It’s been sunny for almost a week now and the weather forecast for tomorrow are good.And then,my computer blew up on Monday,so I believe that for this week I am done with bad luck”.Then she went to bed and had some dreams about cycling.
The following morning,it was raining cats and dogs.

What prevented Fangirl from killing Logic on Thursday 27th,month of May,year 2010,was the hotel room that I had managed to book for my family and I the previous week.In fact,according to the family plan (which was created in December,and ended up with me booking a room in May...),we would have watched the Tonale stage of the Giro.Since it takes about 2 hours and a half to get to Tonale from my village,we eventually agreed that booking a hotel room on the climb would have been the perfect thing to do (otherwise we would have had to wake up at 4.30 am to get there before 8 am the day of the stage). Therefore,on my personal virtual calendar,May the 28th was marked as ‘the day of the big departure’.
As you can imagine,on the morning of the big day me was really thrilled and was already daydreaming about very particular ways of meeting my favourite riders and talking to them. Anyway I tried my best to focus on school and I even managed to,even if not for a very long time.

At 12.30,after having escaped the Philosophy examination about Kant,me was a happy girl.Just,I hadn’t considered the Trigonometry lesson.In fact,on Friday the teacher suddenly remembered that I exist and called me to the blackboard.In that very same moment,I thought:
1) Fuck,I don’t know anything.
2) Trigonometry= stupid,useless and difficult subject that has been created just to make you waste your time studying it.
3) The chalk is white and I’m wearing black trousers.
4) Gosh,my hair really do suck today!
As the outsanding superficiality of the 2 last thoughts may show,at 12.55 pm of Friday I was already controlled by Fangirl.Anyway don’t worry: I survived the Maths lesson and,when the bell rang,I was finally free.Surprisingly,I started to sing a song that goes “Happy,sha la la,it’s time to be happy,sha la la” without even realising it.With no doubts,Fangirl had already taken over.
I got at home at 1.45 pm and twenty minutes later I was already in the family car,ready for the travel towards Tonale.
After more than a hour and a half of travel (and after failing in my attempt of finding a radio that talked about the Giro),I saw an indication on the road.Said indication had the name ’Edolo’ on it and, as soon as we saw it,my sister and I went out of control. ”Siamo ad Edolooooo!” (“We’re in Edoloooo!”),we started to scream in front of our astonished parents. The reason of this behaviour was that,on the previous day,we had seen the reconaissance of the Mortirolo stage,starring Bugno,Cunego and Cassani.In Edolo,Cunego (my sister’s new cyclistic love) had started to scream “Siamo ad Edolooooo!” in a very funny way,so my sister and I absolutely had to behave like him as soon as we saw that indication (yes,there’s a big tendency to the ‘Fangirl madness’ in our genes).
After about 30 minutes,we eventually arrived in Edolo.As the screams and the laughs got louder,we suddenly found out that the road towards the Tonale was closed ‘causa Giro’. Aka,the Giro was going to ride through Edolo.

Obviously,the person who had to check the riders' parcours (the same one that had this role during Lombardy Tour) hadn't noticed that the Giro was riding through Edolo,so we were all very surprised by this fact.Anyway we got off the car in a big hurry (we didn’t know where the riders were) and ran to the main road of the village,that was all covered in pink.After risking to die for an asthma attack,we discovered that the riders hadn’t finished to climb the Mortirolo yet,so we prepared ourselves to a long await. During it I saw an eagle flying high in the sky. ”Hey,Orel,which is Menchov’s birthplace,means ‘eagle’ in Russian!”,said Fangirl.”And who cares?”,Logic replied.”Perhaps it’s a sign that is telling us that he’ll win a stage”,Fangirl stated. ”Sweeetheart,you’re getting confused: Menchov’s not racing the Giro this year,he’s going to the Tour to try and win it". “I know that”, Fangirl replied to Logic.”I just wanted to see whether you were prepared for the race or not.By the way,Bahamontes was called ‘Toledo’s eagle’,and Arroyo lives near Toledo.Perhaps that eagle means that he’s going to win the Giro!!”. ”No he’s not.He’s not as strong as Basso,Nibali or Scarponi.He can just arrive second”,Logic said in her 'superiority mood'.At that point,an angry Fangirl screamed: “If he wins,I want you to run through the school corridors singing ‘Poker face’ with a dress like Lady Gaga’s blue one on,ok?”. Logic didn’t answer the provokation (“I don’t want to argue with that childish, brainless thing that you call Fangirl”,she told me later) and just tried to focus on the race.Eventually,we found out that the eagle probably was a good sign for Scarponi,whose nickname is "Filottrano's eagle".

The first race car arrived at about 5 pm and while it was driving in front of us its radio said that at the front of the race there were Nibali and Scarponi,followed by Arroyo and Vinokourov. ”Where’s Basso?”,both Logic and Fangirl asked.The answer came a few seconds later,when we realised that the radio had given the wrong information.In fact together with Nibali and Scarponi there was Ivan.The Liquigas duo was pulling hard,while Scarponi looked very serious (and that's unbelievable,if you know what Scarponi looks like).

After these 3 riders rode past me,my father and I both started to calculate the gap they had on Arroyo.After about 40 seconds the Spaniard arrived together with Vinokourov.The part of me that has a weakness for charismatic men looked at the Kazakhistani with a particular attention (and tried to imagine him wearing Kazakhistani traditional clothes,but didn't manage to).After this duo a group formed by Evans,Sastre,Gadret and Pinotti arrived (and I had the time of screaming ‘Go Marco!’).Gadret was one of the surprises of this Giro,since he rode incredibly well (and he also seems a nice boy).

The following riders to arrive were Samoilau (who arrived all alone), Kruijswijk, Mollema, Richie Porte and some others.Kruijswijk was pulling a little group of riders and everyone in it looked very concentrated. Unfortunately I could notice Richie Porte just too late and so Fangirl couldn't scream anything at him.

Then it was Cioni's time to arrive (and I must congratulate team Sky on their jerseys,which have the rider's name on) and he was followed by the magic couple Cunego/Gerdemann.

I can't actually remember the exact order in which all the riders arrived,but I can tell you that between the guys that I saw very well there were Wegelius,De Greef (Fangirl went bananas), Pozzato and Szmyd.I could also spot Garzelli and Matthew Lloyd.

As you may have understood,after that a lot of riders had already ridden past me,I hadn't seen Chris Sorensen yet."Where is he?!?",cried a worried Fangirl."Don't worry.If he isn't at the front with Richie,he'll surely be in one of the last groups with Nicki". "And what if he has retired?",Fangirl asked."You always have to make me get worried,don't you?",an annoyed Logic replied.

Eventually,we found out that Logic was right.In a big group of riders in fact me could recognise Didier,Nicki Sorensen and,a few meters behind him,Chris Sorensen.Me could recognise the two Sorensens just because of their looking glasses (orange for Nicki and violet for Chris),so I didn't see them very well and I couldn't scream anything.What a nervous.

In the gruppetto then I could see other two Saxo Bank riders,Morkov and Haedo.Once again, Fangirl wasn't fast enough and didn't scream anything at them."Don't worry,tomorrow you'll have another chance of screaming like a fool",Logic told her.

After the stage finish,the news of Scarponi's victory came together with the news of Basso's Maglia Rosa."Well,it looks as if I won't have to run through the school corridors singing 'Poker face' with a blue dress on",Logic told Fangirl."Well,it looks as if someone is behaving in a very childish way-and that someone isn't me!",Fangirl replied.

After the last rider had arrived,the roads were opened again and we found ourselves trapped in a big traffic jam.And,of course,we weren't the only ones.Actually,between the cars blocked in the queue there was also an Omega Pharma Lotto's team car.Poor Lotto guys.

Luckily the traffic situation got better after we arrived at the beginning of Tonale.There we saw a helicopter and,joking,my father told me to check whether Bugno (the former rider who now drives Rai's helicopters) was there next to it.You won't believe it,but he actually was there,with his wild hair and wild beard.

On the top of the Tonale we could see that the snow was still there,on the mountain in front of us.We got to our hotel (check it out on http://www.hotelresidencedahu.it/ :it is in a nice position,has excellent rooms,a great restaurant and also a cute waiter) and during dinner we started to talk with a young man who comes from Basso's same village.We talked a bit and then my family and I went out to take a walk in the little village on the climb.

The sky was full of stars,there wasn't any cloud and it wasn't too cold.The snow was clearly visible in the night and the houses were nice.We had just had a great dinner and so everything was perfect.The only sound we could hear was the noise of the cars and the trunks that were arriving on the climb.We saw Rai's cars and also a big Katiusha's bus.Some men were already working on the finish zone and watching them we could think about how hard it must be for them to work like that for 3 weeks in a row.Nobody ever mentions these people,but without their work the Giro would be very different.Therefore,I say a big 'thank you' to each of them (yes,Logic knows that they will never actually receive this 'thank you',but it doesn't matter).

On the way back to our hotel,then,we had a last nice moment.While walking in fact we noticed a man talking on the phone.He had 2 suitcases with him and he was wearing a dark jacket.I looked to him in a fast way and noticed that I knew him.Or,better,that I had already seen him before. I watched more carefully,received a poke in the ribs by my mother,and realised that it was Davide Cassani,former pro rider and Rai chronist.We all stopped behind him in a pretty astonished way and then we watched him entering his hotel.Then we continued to walk to the hotel,smiling,laughing,and feeling part of the Giro.Without any doubts,the following day was going to be great.

PS: This post is totally picfree for reasons not depending on my will (read: the former working computer has blown up).Sorry for that,and hope you enjoyed the post anyway.Pics will probably be added over the next weeks,months or years (don't worry,I'll warn you when the moment comes).