Krushing the Giro: The Final Krush

This image pretty much sums up this year's Giro. Nibali, awesome stage finishes, horrible weather.

I know this post is about 3 days too late, but for what it's worth, here's my final thoughts on an excellent and very exciting 2013 Giro d'Italia.


The Good

Vincenzo Nibali
"Of course!" you are thinking right now, "He won the race!" Well, yeah, but the way he won it was pure, 100% class. Nibali has emerged, not only as a real Italian contender for Grand Tours (unlike Basso, Scarponi, Di Luca, Cunego, etc), but he has shown that he can attack, that he can lead a team, and that when he's in good form no one can beat him. He won the Pink Jersey and he got a truckload of confidence for himself, his team and for the Italian tifiosi.

Italy
Not only did Italy host of the best Grand Tours in recent history, but an Italian won it. To top it off there were seven Italian stage winners (only four last year), four Italians in the top ten and and Italian KOM. Besides that, Italians should be very happy with the future of the sport. A lot of talented young riders showed themselves during the three weeks; Francesco Bongiorno, Fabio Felline, Diego Rosa, Fabio Aru, and Stefano Pirazzi, just name a few. Add to that Gianluca Brambilla, Diego Ulissi, and Damiano Caruso and you have a whole lot of young talent coming our way.

I wonder if the RAI graphics dudes had to order more Italian and Colombian flags 'cuz they ran out half way through

Colombia
I don't want to come off as a super-patriot (again), or bore you with the details of how amazing this Giro has been for Colombia. I'll just say that I saw more Colombian flags on the RAI graphics this Giro than I had in the last five Grand Tours combined. In the end, there were two Colombians in the GC top 10, two in the Points, four in the KOM, and three in the Young Riders classification. There was one stage win, plenty of seconds and thirds. I'm more than satisfied.

The Wild Card Teams
I mentioned them in a post a few days back. Team Colombia, Bardiani Valvole, Vini Fantini and Androni Giocattoli all played key roles throughout the race. Bardiani and Vini Fantini shined especially bright with stage wins by Enrico Battaglin and Mauro Santambrogio.

Mark Cavendish and Omega Pharma-Quick Step
No one can argue that Mark Cavendish is the best sprinter in the world. Five stages in a Grand Tour is an amazing feat. Now, add to that the fact that, before the Giro started no one thought that OPQS were up to the challenge of getting Cav to the finish line. Well, they came through. Great team effort.

Sky
The team had to reinvent itself after Sir Wigg-a-lot left the race, but they did just that and they turned out to be a very strong team, even winning the Team Classification.

Movistar
Four stage wins and Beñat Intxausti a solid eighth in the final GC. I doubt they were expecting anything like this, but I'm sure Unzue is a happy, happy camper.

Carlos "Bananito*" Betancur
I know I had a whole dilly about the Colombians up there, but Betancur's Giro was so amazing, he deserves to be called out. Wow, this kid has balls... and legs. I said it before, this kid is Colombia's best chance for a rainbow jersey.
__________
* Thanks to Natalia for bringing up to my attention that Betancur prefers the nick name "La Ronca."



The Bad

FDJ
Wait, were they even in the race? I thought I saw Nacer Bouhanni there for like two minutes and then he was gone. Weird.

Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder started the Giro with style by attacking the first chance he got, but ran out of gas quickly and the defending champ left me wanting more. At least Ramūnas Navardauskas saved the Giro for Garmin-Sharp. He celebrated twice, but only won once.

Sir Wigg-a-Lot
After all the talk and all he did was nothing. At least Hesjedal tried, dude.

The Weather
Of course I love racing in bad weather, but when it's so bad, that they have to re-route stages and even cancel them? Screw that.

Declan Quigley's Attempt at Pronouncing Names
Where was Robert Hatch, dammit!?



The Ugly

Danilo Di Luca
Seriously, dude? Go fuck yourself.

The Plastic Barbie Throne
WTF was that? Seriously, Italy, WTF was that??

Giro Ken sits on his Barbie Throne

Fabio Baldato
As ugly as ever.

Turns out Fabio Baldato has a doppelganger, too: Actor Tom Savini

Baseball Hate Galore
Horrible. Tasteless. Lame.

Everyone in this picture (and their suppliers) should be ashamed of themselves

Krushing the Giro: Stage 17

"My cojones are THIS BIG"

I'm making today's post shorter than usual because I'd rather you spend the time downloading and listening to the new episode of the podcast.

A few years ago when Giovanni Visconti first came into my radar while riding with ISD-Neri I could see the dude had balls, but I didn't think they were this big. Only a few days after winning the unbelievably trying stage to the Galibier, Visconti makes it three in a row for Movistar. After a difficult year the Italian comes back swinging. Simply Amazing.

And speaking of amazing, my infatuation with the left side podium girl and her wide array of hair-dos has hit the cyber-web with full force. Everyone is talking about it. (No one is).

Left Side Podium Girl sporting a bun

Nothing to do with this Giro, but plenty to do with the Colombian Conspiracy are rumors that Uran is headed to Omega Pharma-Quick Step for 2014. I'd heard some murmurs here and there, but this morning L'Equipe joined the other media outlets making noise. Some of the bigger Colombian cycling journalists have already said it's a done deal, but until the team, or in fact Uran make an statement, I won't believe it. For a while Movistar were the team a lot of folks were talking about for Uran. It made sense. Valverde isn't as young as he used to be and Uran already knows the team, from his three years with Caisse d'Epargne. Also, it's a team built for GC contention, while OPQS is not. The Belgian team's main objectives are the classics and during stage races they work 100% for Cavendish. Did we not learn anything from the Wiggo / Cav soap opera last year? I guess we will have to wait and see.


Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 5
- Helmet talk counter: 17
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing
     Cycling cap: 1 (Uran)
     Baseball hat: 12
     No hat: 1
     Visor: 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 16

Beñat Intxausti dedicated today's to the memories of Xavi Tondo and his grandfather

Today's stage reminded me of an old school Welterweight fight. It was scrappy, messy and unpredictable with lots of attacking and sudden bursts of speed. Of note Pirazzi's apparent complete lack of restraint. And thank God for that. I absolutely love tough, head-strong, stubborn riders like that. Reminds me of Ludo Dierckxsens in the Classics of the 90s. A guy who'd look dead one minute and would be out the front the next, just to get dropped again, only to attack again 10 kilometers after. That type of passion is what attracted me to cycling in the 80s and I'm glad it's still out there.

At the end, only one acceleration mattered, and that was Beñat Intxausti's. The Basque outsmarted Kangert and Niemiec to take his first stage in a Grand Tour and climb one step in the GC to ninth, leaping over a struggling Pozzovivo.

The big loser today was Santambrogio. As I write this, I still don't know if he lost time because he had an off day or because he had some sort of a mechanical. Either way, he fell down to sixth in the general classification.

Santambrogio and his doppelgänger, wrestler Matt Stricker

Uran, who did a good job of following wheels today, was a guest on RAI's post stage show along with teammate Dario Cataldo. Alessandra de Stefano took the opportunity to make fun of Rigo's awesome mane, which looked especially amazing exploding out of his Rapha winter cap. When asked how the mood in the team had changed since Sir Wigg-a-lot's departure Uran said that the first thing that changed was the language of conversation within the team. I'm sure Hey-now was happy, since I've heard his English is terrible. Cataldo added that the team is much more relaxed and that riding for Uran is easier, since he doesn't require Sky making tempo the way Wiggins did. Besides, he pointed out, Uran is a bit of a jokester in the bus. I don't see Wiggo cracking any jokes on the way to the start line.

Uran, his hair and Cataldo laugh it up during RAI's post stage show

Speaking of cycling caps, Cavendish was wearing one before the stage, when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. Happy birthday, Mark, and thank you for not wearing a baseball hat. Now, if we can just get you to do the same after stage wins...

Happy birthday, Mark

Finally, my dear brother and podcast co-host, The Almighty Klaus is landing in Italy later today. He will be there for the rest of the Giro working on a few assignments. I wish him the best of luck and hopefully he can send me some images I can use in the blog.


Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 5
- Helmet talk counter: 16
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing
     Cycling cap: 1 (Uran)
     Baseball hat: 11
     No hat: 1
     Visor: 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 15

Betancur takes over the White Jersey

I'm feeling pretty lazy this morning. I went to see Ghost live last night, so I'm tired and a little hung over. Therefore, I don't feel like searching through stats to see if Betancur finishing second AGAIN is some sort of record. It must be. This kid was second on stage 9, stage 10, third on stage 14 and again second today. He took over the White Jersey, too. Bananito is making moves. Also of note, Fabio Duarte finally showing his face coming in fifth.

I've made it perfectly clear before that I hate it when riders neutralize a race. I understand if it's done out of respect, like the stage after Wouter Weylandt's death in 2011, but when it's done in the name of "safety," that's just silly. A race is a race and if you feel that the conditions are unsafe, then YOU slow down and let the guys with bigger balls than you beat you. These guys are professionals and are being paid to RACE. If some sort of deal is struck between some of the teams and they decide not to race, fine, BUT insulting a rider who decides to do what all of them are there to do, is unacceptable and it hurts our sport.

Ballsy performance by the three-time Italian champion

What can I say about Visconti's ride today? Snow, cold, Galibier, tears... Dare I say "epic"?

I sent a special thanks to Rapha for supplying Sky with real cycling caps, today I wanna thank the organizers of the race for making the stage happen.


Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 5
- Helmet talk counter: 14
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing
     Cycling cap: 1 (Uran)
     Baseball hat: 10
     No hat: 1
     Visor: 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 14

Tomorrow's stage will finish at the Marco Pantani memorial that marks the spot where he attacked in the '98 Tour

I delayed today's post in hopes that we'd get some sort of official word on tomorrow's stage. Well, RCS has now announced that tomorrow's stage will in fact take place and that it will climb the Col du Mont Cenis, but that it will not go all the way to the summit of the Col du Galibier. Instead the stage will finish at the Marco Pantani memorial about 4 kilometers from the original finish line. There were rumors that the stage might be scrapped altogether, so this is better than nothing.


It's really too bad that we had such limited live pictures of today's stage. Sounds like the last 5k were pretty exciting. Henao attacked at some point as did Pellizotti, and Rosa, but all attacks were neutralized by Nibali. The Italian, along with Santambrogio and Betancur, dropped Evans and Uran. Santambrogio took the stage and the bonus seconds, while Nibali took second. He continues to show great form and at this point it's hard to bet against him. The battle for the other two podium positions, however is still very much alive. Santambrogio had a great day, and is now a real contender. Uran, Evans, Santambrogio: Three riders, two places on either side of Nibali.

Absolute shit weather didn't stop Betancur from finishing an impressive third

Yesterday I had predicted that Carlos Betancur would win the stage, and I wasn't far off. He continues to have an amazing Giro. The Colombian came in third and moved to 9th in the GC. He is now only three seconds behind Majka in the race for the Maglia Bianca. The potentially bad news for him, and Pozzovivo, is that AG2R may be pulling out of the Dauphine because of all this doping nonsense. The Dauphine was race that Betancur was targeting.

Oh, something else... Vini Fantini has all their guys wearing visors. People: NOT BASEBALL, NOT TENNIS, NOT GOLF! IT'S CYCLING!

Phew... Anyway, I'm relieved that we will have a stage tomorrow, now I just hope we'll get some sort of live pictures of it.

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 5
- Helmet talk counter: 13
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter:  1 / 10 / 1 - Santambrogio had a visor! WTF?

Krushing the Giro: Stage 13

Cav assures RAI he won't pull a Bouhanni and will finish the Giro

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday for stage 12. You see, I have a life outside of cycling. Not an exciting and glamorous life, mind you, but sometimes I got shit to do. Anyway, here's what I would have posted yesterday:

It rained. There was a breakaway. OPQS chased. Cavendish won. The end.

Wet Cav

Today? Well, it didn't rain. There was a breakaway. OPQS chased. Cavendish won. The end.

I know, I know. There was a bit more than that. It seemed that every team tried to attack at some point, and there was a bit of cross winds that could have caused a lot of problems, but at the end OPQS delivered and helped Cav get his 101st pro victory.


Still, I think we can agree that the big news today was Wiggins leaving the 2013 Giro. So many questions to be answered: Can Uran, who tends to fade toward the end of three week races, keep it up? Will Sky ride for Uran with the same obedience and dedication that they would have for Wiggins? What does this mean for Sky and Froome in the Tour? Will Wiggins want to ride the Vuelta now screwing Porter over? Some of the answers we'll know this weekend, some we won't. My prediction? Well, I have a horrible track record with these, so feel free to dismiss the next few sentences. I think Uran will have a strong showing over the weekend, but not enough to shake Evans or Nibali off his tail. Gesink may lose his spot to Scarponi and even to Niemiek. Lampre haven't really used much energy and I think tomorrow and Sunday will be big days for them. Betancur will win the stage Saturday.

One thing is for sure, the Giro continues to be exciting and, as always, making the Tour look as dull as a roller coaster with no loops.

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 5
- Helmet talk counter: 12
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 1 / 10 / 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 11

No doubt that RCS Sport has chosen four great wild card teams

Right off the bat, let me say that I'm not going to address the doping stories. Who really cares?

Not to take away from Navardauskas and Oss' efforts, today's stage was a pretty predictable affair. The breakaway succeeded and other than Intxausti's dig, getting him into the top 10, the favorites were happy to sit back and let the legs rest for a day.

I'm gonna take this "slow day" to talk about the great job the wild card teams are doing in this Giro so far. Let's take the KOM classification as an example. Right now the top three riders are all from wild card teams.
- Bardiani Valvole are having a great race. Enrico Battaglin got the team to a great start by winning stage 4. He almost made it two in stage 7, where he came in second. Pirazzi has also looked very strong all week fighting for the Blue Jersey.
- Vini Fantini, meanwhile, came in a respectable 5th in the TTT. They have Mauro Santambrogio, in the top 10 and DiLuca has shown good form and has been a definite protagonist throughout.
- Androni have also been mixing it up in the breakaways and attacks with Rodriguez, Rubiano, Sella, Gavazzi and Italian Champion Pellizotti. And let's not forget that Felline was second in stage 4.
- Understandably, Acquarone wants Italian teams in their home race, so these three Italian squads were pretty much guaranteed an invite. But the fourth wild card went to Team Colombia. Sure, having an Italian manager (Claudio Corti) and being headquartered in Italy helped them get into the Giro, but this team didn't bring a single Italian in its ranks, so their spot was far from certain.. Still, they have earned the invite. Duque, Chalapud and Quintero have shown their faces quite a bit on TV. Pantano had a great stage 9 finishing third. Duarte and Atapuma seem to be talking it easy, but will most likely let lose in the last week.

If you compare what these four teams have shown and compare it to Vacansoleil, Euskaltel, Orica or FDJ I think you'll agree that they have plenty to celebrate so far. Bravo!

Vini Fantini have shown what they can do

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter: 11
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 1 / 9 / 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 10

Uran proudly wearing the Colombian flag and a cycling cap

Wow. I don't know where to start. Another great day for Colombian cycling. Uran and Betancur had amazing performances. Team Colombia and the other Colombians didn't do too well, but I'll happily take the one-two.

Final results of stage 10. The Colombian tricolor way up there, twice

Sky took over the pace-setting pretty early in the stage on the climb to the Passo Cason di Lanza. Was that a good idea? I guess depends on who you ask. Henao and Wiggo were in trouble, but Uran went on to win the stage. Is Uran the leader for Sky? Well, he told RAI (in excellent Italian, to my surprise) that Wiggins and Henao are still strong and that now Sky will have two leaders. He added that he recuperated better during the rest day than Wiggins. I don't know, the Englishman did not look good to me, but we will have to wait and see. I would not be the SkullKrusher if I didn't point out, once again, that if Uran wouldn't have been asked to wait for Wiggins on Friday, he'd be 2nd in the GC 26" behind Nibali.

AG2R are also having a great Giro. Pozzovivo and Betancur played the one-two punch perfectly up the last climb. That's two second places for Betancur in this Giro and he continues to crawl his way up the Maglia Bianca classification. AG2R has to be very happy with their two new signings. Maybe Mike Spriggs has the right idea with buying their jersey and putting it in the freezer for future enjoyment.

Mike's real refrigerator with a real AG2R jersey in it

On the other side of the spectrum, Hesjedal lost contact with 54k to go and finished over 20 minutes down. Needless to say his Giro is over. What a shame. He looked very racey at the beginning of the race last week.

How many times have I said "keep an eye on Evans"? This is the last time I say it, because everyone now realizes I was right all along.

Finally, a special and heartfelt THANK YOU to Rapha for remembering that the Giro is a cycling race and not a baseball game. Rapha (yes, I'm kissing their ass) provides Team Sky with cycling caps and it was very nice to see Uran not only wearing a cycling cap on the podium, but a winter cycling cap. Thank you Rapha!

Uran answering question in Italian wearing a proper Rapha cycling cap

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter: 10
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 1 / 8 / 1 (Finally!)

Krushing the Giro: Stage 9

Chalapud and Pirazzi fighting for KOM points

Once again, the Giro didn't disappoint. Today's stage was full of drama, attacks, and Colombians on bikes. The type of stage I love. That's why I'm so pissed I missed it. The GF guilt-tripped me into going to a flea market. It turned out to be pretty cool, but I had to enjoy a Colombian 2-3 (including Betancur's awesome attack) via twitter. Fortunately I also missed his celebration as he thought he'd won and the stage. I feel sorry for the riders when that happens.

Also saw that Evans finished an impressive 5th. I keep telling you people, keep an eye on the 2011 Tour de France winner.

What I did get to see live was pretty exciting, tho. Chalapud and Pirazzi going head to head for the KOM points the way that classification should always be fought for. Great cycling. In the last 15 years so much emphasis has been put on the points classification (especially the Green Jersey at the Tour), that it's nice to see people fighting for what I consider to be a way better jersey. I trust the battle for the Maglia Azzurra will continue to be this awesome. As it stands right now Stefano Pirazzi leads with 38 points and Robinson Chalapud is second with 23. Visconti drops to third with 16. If Team Colombia is serious about pursuing this jersey, they'll have to get Chalapud or Pantano in the breakaway Tuesday and hope to cross the Passo del Cason di Lanza in first place. I'm sure Bardiani know this and will also try to get in there. Tuesday is going to be a great stage from the get go.

Colombian Conspiracy (aka Wiggo needs to grow some balls)
What is going on with this dude? He looks scared to ride fast. I know the streets were wet and it was dangerous, but if you can't take the heat, get out of cycling. Fortunately, this time Henao and Uran stayed in the main group. I'm guessing they where told to do so, but who knows. Maybe they decided on their own and who could blame them.

Tomorrow we get to sleep in (in the US...if you don't have a job), but Tuesday will be the first real test of legs and guess what? My prediction is that Sir Wigg-a-lot is gonna crack.

See yous then.

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter: 10
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 8 / 1 (STILL ridiculous)

Krushing the Giro: Stage 8

Hey, everybody, I found a $14,000 bike in the gutter!

By now you know how I feel about TTs. I watched the stage on while cleaning Mr. Beechcroft's cage, so this will be a predictably short post.

I may have been scrubbing hamster poop off plastic tubes, but don't think for a second that I missed Wiggo throwing his Graal around like it was a Dogma.

"Bloody hell, I love throwing bikes about, mate!"

I also caught a peek of Henao and Kelderman riding the TT like it was a breakaway. Tsk tsk, gentlemen...

Elbow flick?

The Colombian Conspiracy
I did some quick math here and figured out that if Uran and Henao would have finished in the front group yesterday (like they should have), Henao would be 2nd in the GC, at 38 seconds form Nibali, and Uran would be 3rd at 1:13. Make of those numbers what you will, but personally, I think Sky threw away a chance to have a 2 or 3 prong attack heading into the big mountains tomorrow.

Tomorrow is gonna rule. I'm cheering for Evans.

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter: 10
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3 (crazy low, if you ask me)
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 7 / 1 (ridiculous)

Krushing the Giro: Stage 7

Hansen takes a wet, well deserved victory

Yet another stage come and gone. It was a tough parcourse the whole way, making it possible for the break to make it, and I'm very happy for Adam Hansen. As I've said a few times before I met his mother and interviewed her for the podcast a few years back and she was such a nice lady I have become something of a Hansen family fan. Good for them!

Apparently Declan Quigley and I are besties on Twitter and he mentioned one of my tweets talking about not all Colombians being climbers on the air. Yeah, I'm a big deal.

I lost count of how many guys went down, but I can tell you that not a one (of the ones on TV) was an Euskaltel-Euskadi rider. Even Nibali, obviously bored, decided to go for a fun slide.

"Weeeeeeeeee!"

Evens came in 6th, once again and quietly, under the radar, he's now 6th in the GC. We'll have to wait to see how tomorrow goes for him, but I still think Evans is one to watch.

On to the most important topic of the day: What a mess Sky made of the stage. I was VERY angry, not only that Uran was asked to go back to help Wiggins, but that the Brit wasn't even trying. He looked like he didn't wanna ride. So, why ask a guy in second place on the GC to come back and help you go down at 5mph? If Uran would have stayed in the front group he would be in pink right now instead of Intxausti, taking a lot of weight off Wiggo's shoulders. I simply do not get it. Maybe it is time for a real Colombian conspiracy.

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter: 9
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 6 / 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 6

Cavendish remembers Wouter Weylandt on the second anniversary of his death

A pretty straight forward stage today. Not much to say here, except I really wish Gavazzi and Hunter would have gone all bar brawl on each other after the finish line. Nothing funnier than 110lbs dudes in spandex, dumb looking helmets and cycling cleats trying to look tough. Guys, a little secret, you look as tough an ballet dudes in leotards.

Not so tough guys

There was that caduta with about 25-30kms to go that caught Sky out. The group slowed down and allowed Sky, and the rest of the guys caught behind the crash, to catch back up without mush of a chase. Made sense, but what if BMC, for example, with Evans in the front started pushing hard? What if... I'm glad they didn't, because then, I'd have to write twice as much and I don't feel like it today.

RAI never ceases to entertain me with their post-stage show. Today, they had Artie Lang as a special guest. Weird. I didn't know Artie was into cycling. Also, nice to see that Cavendish still had the energy and sense of humor to get up there and joke around with the panel of randoms they always seem to have up there.

The Italian Artie Lange

Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter: 9
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter:3
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 4 / 1

Krushing the Giro: Stage 5

Degenkolb

Two less than normal "sprint finishes" in a row. Degenkolb takes the win, but unfortunately wearing a baseball hat on the podium and sporting a mustache, he looks more like an incestuous NASCAR fan than a cyclinst. Shame on you, John. Shame on you, Argos/Shimano. Shame on you, Pearl Izumi.

Before the riders arrived in Matera, however, the town looked like a scene from Waterworld. Interesting to hear Sean Kelly suggest that today's cyclists aren't as tough as they used to be when it comes to weather conditions. Don't worry, Sean, we know. These prima donnas seems to be made out of sugar these days.

Weird to see Cavendish look human today. I felt bad for him. He looked like me going up that 4th category climb, weaving around all over the road. I was actually cheering for him to make it back to the main group. Not it would have mattered as everyone went down to take a nap on the last corner. Especially cruel (from my point of view) was De Kort taking out Colombian sprinter Leo Duque. He was in a great position and could have had a great sprint. Fellow Team Colombia rider Jarlinson Pantano managed to come in 6th in the chaotic finish.

Does anyone really think that there's a "Colombian Conspiracy" between Uran and Henao to take the Giro away from Wiggins? Italian press (not the most reliable of sources, let's remember), have been talking about just that. Well, today Uran had a flat with about 6kms to go and Henao didn't as much as look back and ended up fourth in the stage. If there is a "conspiracy," Henao is doing a terrible job. Unless, of course, it's Henao who leads said "conspiracy," not Uran. Hmmm... still sounds like a load to me.

Pozzovivo Fan Club in full effect

Onto one of my favorite topics: Short cyclists who look like 14-year-olds. Domenico Pozzovivo was born a short 45 minute drive from where the stage finished today, so it was no surprise to see his fan club out in full force. He was presented some sort of maglia bianca award in a most unofficial ceremony during RAI's post stage coverage. The award was presented by the president of his fan club, who apparently ate a few of the other members on his way to Matera earlier today.

Pozzato is laughing at the huge belly

I don't wanna finish today's post without mentioning Marco Canola who almost made it two in a row for Bardiani Valvole. What an effort. I could almost see the smoke coming out of his thighs with 100 meters to go. Hats off to the young Italian.

Do not forget to check out the latest episode of the podcast, where we discuss the Giro up until now.

Dee yous tomorrow.


Randomness:

- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 3
- Helmet talk counter:8
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 2
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 3 / 0

Krushing the Giro: Stage 4

Battaglin may look like a consenting adult celebrating, but look below and you'll find out the truth

And for the second day in a row: What a stage!

We got to see Euskatel's Minguez attaching with 87 bottles in his jersey, Leo Duque attacking on the descent, and fellow Team Colombia Quintero showing his face. Let's not forget Chalapud, DiLuca, Felline, Georges and, of course Enrico Battaglin, who took the stage in a wet, slow-motion sprint. While yesterday was heavily animated by the GC contenders, today was obviously everyone else's turn.

If you look a little deeper into today's results, maybe it represents the passing of the proverbial torch in Italy. Old man Danilo DiLuca (37) tried, but couldn't hold off the younger generation of Italians, Battaglin (23, but looks 15), Felline (23) and even Visconti (30). With all the shame that DiLuca, and his generation, have brought Italian cycling, maybe it's all for the best.

Today's winner looks more like a character in a Disney Channel show than a pro cyclist

As I'm typing this Wiggins sits in 6th spot in the GC, because of 17" he lost in today's finish. However, that may change as the day goes by, if the commissars deem that Wiggins lost that time because of a crash within the last 3km. As of now every report on RAI (and you'd think they'd be the first to know) is that he will lose that time and Uran has moved into second place 17" behind Paolini. I'm sure the Colombian media are going ape right around now.

Also of note is Cadel Evans' stage result. Sure, coming in 6th (and moving into the top ten in the GC) in an apparently inconsequential day may seem like no big deal, but it shows two very important things: Evans is motivated, and he's in good form. I knew I should have picked him for my fantasy team.

Randomness:

- Sponsor spotlight: Team Colombia Yup, you read right. Team Colombia is an official "Partner/Supplier" of the Giro.
- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 2
- Helmet talk counter: 7
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 2
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 2 / 0

Krushing the Giro: Stage 3

"In my heart, I know this is an ugly helmet."

What a stage! A most welcome day of real racing after yesterday's banausic lycra parade.

Most would say that Luca Paolini won the stage today. I'd argue that the winner was actually cycling. Special thanks to Garmin and Ryder Hesjedal for animating the stage by attacking not once, but twice during the last 25 kilometers. Some may consider it a waste of energy to be this aggressive this early in the Giro, since, at the end of the day he didn't win significant time on Nibali, Wiggins, or even Evans. I disagree with that. He got almost a minute on Scarponi, and I think psychologically he made a statement, not only to the other favorites, but to his own team.

Back to Paolini: He stated on the RAI post-show that he saw today as a one-day classic race, and it really felt that way. Despite cruising the last 600 meters to the finish line, the Italian takes the Pink Jersey from fellow countryman Puccio, who looked in trouble as far back as the beginning of the second climb. Bravo Luca! Thank you, too for making today yet another amazing Giro stage.

Paolini also took over the points classification while Willem Wauter, who was in the early breakaway, took over the Maglia Azzurra. Fabio Aru's excellent season continues, as he gets the White Jersey.

On other important topics:
- I'm all for Vini Fantini hyper-fluo kits, but them ass-grapes gotta go. They give me the heebie-jeebies.
- Colombian Jarlinson Pantano looked awesome in the signature breakaway, but PLEASE note his name is pronounced "Har-linson," with a soft J.
- A shout-out to some of my faves that had a good stage: Sanchez, Intxausti, Santambrogio, Uran, and Henao.

Photo Manual For Speed, via my brother in Cycling Inquisition

Randomness:

- Sponsor spotlight: Banca Mediolanum KOM Blue Jersey- Italian consumer bank
- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 2
- Helmet talk counter:6
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 2
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat / no hat counter: 0 / 2 / 0

Krushing the Giro: Stage 2

"Woohoo!"

So, I'm writing this the night of May 4th, which of course means I'm writing before the TTT takes place on Sunday, the 5th. Why am I doing this? Because I am so sure the TTT is going to be a snooze-fest, it doesn't really matter when I write it, the post will basically be the same.

Why do I hate time trials? I'm asked that question all the time. By "all the time" I mean once every few years, when I meet a person that cares enough about my opinion on anything, much less cycling. Well, the answer is simple: they are plain BORING. Especially at the beginning of a Gran Tour. Of course things could happen that could change the outcome of the race overall. A whole team could go down and lose 3 minutes ruining their leader's chance in the GC, but how often does that happen, and more importantly, how exciting is it to watch live? Personally I don't find it interesting at all.

There is those few times when a TT may be interesting, but a few things have to be going on: First, it has to be in the last week of the race, otherwise who cares. Second, there has to be a legitimate chance for the podium positions to change, otherwise, X rider from X team breaking into the top ten is as exciting as a dance at a retirement home, you hope someone will fall to make it worth watching. Third, the course or weather have to be difficult. Two specific TTs come to mind right off the bat, the 1989 LeMond/Fignon battle and the 2009 final TT in the Giro, where Menchov crashed. And even then only the last 30 minutes where worth watching. Even with tomorrow's (I mean today's) course being hilly and a little tricky, let's be honest; it is not gonna be anywhere in the neighborhood of those, dare I say, epic time trials. Let the guys go head to head, one on one in person. It's ALWAYS more exciting that an endless parade of guys riding funny looking bikes in stupid looking hats.

LeMond, 1989

All that being said, I will watch the stage, try not to fall asleep too much and bring you this titillating report. Note that all text in black was written tonight, before watching the stage. Text in orange is what I filled in after waking up from the nap that will surly ensue at some point. Probably when a team as enthralling as Bardiani hit the first check point. Ooooooh... can not wait.

Today's stage went pretty much as predicted with Team Sky taking the victory and putting Salvatore Puccio  in the Maglia Rosa.

Thank you for reading.

Randomness:

- Sponsor spotlight: Estathè - Iced tea and beverage company
- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 1
- Helmet talk counter: 4
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 2
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat counter / no hat: 0 / 1 / 0

Krushing the Giro: Stage 1

L to R: Nacer Bouhanni, Fran Ventoso with a dopey helmet, Cav and Viviani using his tiny hammer.

Finally, the Giro is here. As I did for the Tour last year, I'll be doing a short post after every stage of the race. Don't expect in-depth analysis about strategy or results. You can get that crap everywhere else. What you'll get is... well, you'll get the 'Krusher's ramblings. High five.

First off, I'm very glad that the Italians opted to open the Giro with a road stage, instead of the boring prologues the French seem to favor. We'll have plenty of time to nap during tomorrow's TTT.

The finish of today's stage saw Mark Cavendish use Elia Viviani as a lead-out in the absence of a real OPQ lead-out train. Not only did Cav win the sprint, but also dropped a huge F-bomb live on TV in the post-stage interview. Can I high five again? Ok, High five to the F-bomb.

I know what you were all wondering: What was Viviani doing after crossing the line? Well, obviously a nail was lose on his handlebar, so he took out a tiny hammer from his jersey pocket and proceeded to hammer it back in. After he was done he "put the hammer down." Unfortunately, by then the stage was over and he'd lost. Puns are fun.

Speaking of Italians, RAI's Alessandra de Stefano was obviously very excited and screaming throughout the day, because by the time I tuned in to see the post stage show on RAI Sport she sounded like an old man who'd been smoking since the Second World War. I almost felt bad for her. Anyone else thinks that she looks like and old Hermione Granger?

The stage had a perfect backdrop. Napoli looks like a gorgeous city. Whatever amount of Euro they had to pay RCS, it's worth it, cuz now I really wanna go there. And as everyone knows, once the SkullKrusher visits your town, tourism booms. Start building more hotels, dudes.

We got to see defending champ Ryder Hesjedal sporting the new, stylish, Pope-blessed, Pink Jersey. Personally (IMHO, as the kids would say), I think it's a bit disrespectful to the maglia to have it worn by a guy who hasn't earned it. Of course Hesjedal earned it last year, but this year, at the beginning of today's stage he was still even with every other rider at the start line. Jersey sponsor Balocco (an Italian cookie company), probably had something to do with the situation and I'm sure Paul Smith wasn't displeased either, but what about Garmin? What about Hesjedal himself? I'm really superstitious (I know a lot of pros are too), and I would hate to wear a jersey I haven't earned. I think it would jinx it and I'd never get to wear it again. I'm weird that way.

Pretty lady in strapless dress to Ryder: "Dude, you are gonna wish you'd never put that Pink Jersey on. You jinxed it."

Finally, I will be watching the Giro on Eurosport this year. Declan Quigley and Sean Kelly... the jury is still out. Actually, the jury hasn't even gotten here. Of course, I'll keep you updated on my feelings about the Irish double-punch.

Randomness:
I mentioned on the podcast that I was going to do a post about all the Colombian riders in the Giro this year, but my brother Klaus beat me to it. Check it out. His is better than mine would have been.

- Sponsor spotlight: italo - Italian high-speed rail service
- Mario Cipollini mention counter: 1
- Helmet talk counter: 2
- Euskaltel guys on the deck counter: 2
- Stage winner wearing cycling cap / baseball hat counter: 0 / 1