Giro d'Italia

I'm following the Giro d'Italia, but not with any great enthusiasm. It's a Grand Tour that a British rider has never won. That is not so unusual, as we've never won any Grand Tour. But The Giro has been won by Italians 66 times. I put this down to Italians feeling comfortable wearing a Pink Jersey (Maglia Rosa), whereas this colour does not sit comfortably on one of our own. I may be wrong.

Mum has been incensed this year at the course chosen by 'the men in blazers'. 

"They've never ridden a bike" she exclaimed to me. But the Giro tends to do this more than Le Tour, sending the riders up ridiculous inclines, often on gravel tracks to a mountain peak. It's a cruel race.

But I was concerned when on Sunday the Giro decided to enter Sicily. Mark Cavendish Tweeted:
"En route to Sicily. Ah, the nostalgia of boarding a ferry to a place full of gangsters. Reminds me of my teenage years going to Liverpool."

 The route took the riders up Mt. Etna. Once from the North and once from the South. Odd really, as the volcano had erupted only 4 days previously. The men in blazers did not see this as a problem. Race Director Angelo Zomegnan admitted that there may be some rocks on the road and a layer of ash, but was hopeful that his teams could clear the road come Sunday. "We are 'tranquil'," he added. 

Hang on - rocks on the road and a layer of ash - what is this, Giro Extreme Challenge?

So just to recap here. It is considered dangerous for a Jet Engine to fly through an ash cloud, but it's OK for a racing cyclist. Bizarre.

Thankfully the stage passed without incident. Except that the inner sanctum of the Pro Cycling teams' luxurious coaches is rarely breached. It is impossible for a film crew, a journalist or a fan to be allowed onto the bus. So how 247 Africans were intercepted when the Team Coaches left Messina remains a mystery. You have to hand it to them.

Thankfully every team and rider is issued with a Route Map of the race, so they can study the route. I'd love to get that job, making those maps. I really must pursue that avenue.

Monday should have been a rest day. But that was not always the plan. The men in blazers deemed that a stage in Africa would be a good idea. And why not? The Giro started in Greece in 1996, and will start in Denmark in 2012. So why not take the Giro to Africa? It's not a long way, and given the colonial ties between Italy and North Africa it probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

The stage identified was Misratah to Tripoli. Perfect distance at 215km (135miles) and good transport links with regular ferries and good air links. As Paris-Nice is known as 'The Race to the Sun', this historic stage was to have been 'The Race to muˈʕamːaru lqaðˈðaːfiː'. Catchy, eh?

But the routes for these Grand Tours are planned a year in advance, so who was to know how things would turn out? I don't have the original route map for this stage, but it looks pretty much like this at the moment. Such a shame. Maybe next year.

So Monday became a rest day after all. On Tuesday the men in blazers had a day off, sending the peloton north after an air transfer. The route zapped up the coast, the steepest incline being a speed bump. Cav went apoplectic on Twitter

"Look! Look! Oh! Oh! Oh! Look! Look! A sprint! A real sprint! For sprinters!"

And he duly won the stage, but not without controversy. Adversaries accused him of taking a tow from cars up Mt. Etna on Sunday. Ashen faced, Cav denied any wrong doing.

I never expected Cav to win the Green Jersey on the Giro. Because that's the Mountains Jersey - Maglia Verde. The Points Jersey is the Rosso Passione. Confusing isn't it.

Pancake flat again tomorrow, and then I expect the sprinters will call it a day before the weekend. 

And who can blame them. There's the Grossglockner on Friday, then the big one.

To quote The Daily Peloton
"Stage 14 is the kind of stage of which cycling fans the world over dream about.. Today is why grand tours are the most exciting spectacles the sport offers. The sort of day when history is made, legends are written and heroes made. And it's a Saturday which means the entire cycling world will be glued to their TVs or hunched over their PCs, if they are not on the slopes of Monte Zoncolon itself. The stage starts in Austria, in Lienz, before crossing back into Italy for four classified climbs en route to the Monster itself...
…after the Crostis comes the climb that strikes fear into the peloton, the brutal Monte Zoncolon. The climb is 10 km and includes a 5 km stretch that averages a leg killing 15% and has stretches that max at 22%. It is going to be horrible for the riders, but glorious for everyone else".

Gruesome. Mother will be cursing the men in blazers, but glued to Eurosport all day. Such is sport.