Giro Donne 2011 - post-race media round-up

by Sarah Connolly on Jul 14, 2011 5:48 AM EDT in Women's Cycling

Ah, the Giro Donne... Ten days of amazing racing, in spectacular scenery, that proved once and for all that everything really is Vos territory!

You can read how the race was won through the Giro Donne tag - and there are links to videos, blogs, photos & tweets under each of the daily post-race articles - but this is a little round-up of blogging and media - and some injury updates - that's come out since the race finished.

Race winner Marianne Vos and Swedish superstar Emma Johansson were taken to the Tour de France as a post-race treat, where they were interviewed and filmed by Sporza's Vive le Vélo. There are some clips up on Sporza's Videozone - Vos and Johansson meet Alberto Contador (talking in English) and Emma Johansson meets Thor Hushovd - with bridging studio interviews around the clips. Go and have a look - every click shows Sporza we appreciate them showing women's cycling! Vos' team-mate Annemiek van Vleuten has also been on post-Tour tv - on De Avondetappe, on NOS. This one's geo-restricted, but it's always worth checking to see if you can see it!

And for non-Dutch speakers, here's a video of backstage at the Giro Donne:

More below the jump - and anything you've seen, pleased add it to the comments!

So, a post-race blog round-up...

Amanda Miller of HTC-Highroad and Vicki Whitelaw of Lotto-Honda are two of the riders who blogged throughout the race - they have great day-by-day descriptions of the racing from different perspectives, and their blogs were fantastic for giving us almost daily updates on what it really is like, riding the biggest stage race of the year.

Iris Slappendel's blog has some great photos on it - here's her final blog of the race - I especially like how the Garmin-Cervélo bus has been updated to include the women's names - and I'm really happy the Garvélos managed to find some gelati!

Petra Dijkman (Netherlands National Team) was riding for the first time, and Aussie Davina Summers crashed out last year, but finished this year for Bizkaia-Durango - here are their PoVs.

Claudia Häusler has a great blog piece up - she talks about how Diadora-Pasta Zara had high expectations that she didn't meet - but still, it was a good race for her. I love this blog for the honesty, and how, even through google translate, she seems like she's happy where she is.

Edit! More from Diadora-Pasta Zara - some videos and written pieces from various riders on the Fuji bikes site, with 'backstage' photos

There have been a number of riders injured in the Giro, and some post-race updates on how they're doing.

Annemiek van Vleuten said before the race that she was having problems with her leg, and these continued through the Giro. She blogs a bit more about her problems, and how she's probably needing to have some more surgery soon.

Rochelle Gilmore, sprinter and part-owner of Lotto-Honda, was in a huge crash on Stage 5 that has left her with fractured vertebrae, and she blogs about the crash, and about the aftermath here. I love the insights into racing that the blogging riders give us - even when it's painful to read.

Rachel Neylan has tweeted how she crashed on the final ITT stage, fracturing her pelvis. She's flown back home to Australia for rehab and recovery, and some reacent tweets:

MRI showed no further complications so allowed to start weight bearing with assistance.. that got the smile back a little!

Now off to a good start on rehab day one with 11h sleep.. the wonders of love, care & comfort at the good ol family home :)

Here's hoping Annemiek, Rachel and Rochelle heal fast and painlessly, and everything goes smoothly for them. Positive thoughts to all of them - hope all of them get back on their feet (and their bikes!) very soon.

Finally, I've linked to this before, but it's so great, everyone should see it. It's mostly on-bike camera footage, from AA Drink-Leontien.nl's Lucinda Brand, as she climbs through the Italian mountains. It gives a unique view of the race, and I love getting to see how the riders move around each other, within the peloton. Beautiful! And if you want to watch more about the race, there is an hour on every stage up on youtube...

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Comments

Slightly taken aback by this morning's whole-hearted endorsement of Contador...

but then he seems to be very hard to dislike (with certain obvious exceptions). Even I’ve been moved to defend him a few times over the last week or so.

Great round up, Pigeons. All those links should keep me going for a while.

"I’m hoping for the Mortirolo-Gavia combination, then we can ride down to Bormio for ice cream." Emma Pooley on the Giro Donne

by civetta on Jul 14, 2011 5:55 AM EDT reply actions

Was it an endorsement

or just a polite introduction and the like.

by Monty. on Jul 14, 2011 8:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Nice work Pigeons!

I especially love Lucinda Brand’s race clip, more riders should do that

by broerie on Jul 14, 2011 6:07 AM EDT reply actions

Edited in - lots of pieces, photos etc of Diadora Pasta Zara

on the Fuiji Bikes site

by Sarah Connolly on Jul 14, 2011 6:40 AM EDT reply actions

I like that Fuji blog

Claudia was a bit lucky when she won the Giro. Emma P and Judith Arndt were the best climbers that year, but Emma lost masses of time through really shit descending, and Mara did loads of work for Judith who then crashed out. Although I didn’t realise that she’s been away or had some sort of crisis or form, because she’s been taking big study breaks too.

by Monty. on Jul 14, 2011 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Claudia had that huge crash in... which race? Toscana? The last month before the Worlds

She had concussion and (I think) head injuries that kept her out of the Worlds team – and it’s taken her a while to be seen at the front of the races this year. It’s good that she’s feeling like she’s coming back, though – and also great that her team are (seemingly) so understanding, about the form and the study breaks.

Which reminds me, when WAS the last year we saw a full-strength German team? Last year Düster & Häusler were out with injuries, the year before, IIRC, they took Düster, only to tell her, on the race day, that she wasn’t registered (cue some typically-fab outspoken words from Judith Arndt, I am such a fan of her!)… but touch wood, if they’re all there, ok, registered this year, it’s a super-scary team, with Häusler and Arndt for climbing & breakaways – and Arndt and Becker for killing the field at 5km to go and killer turns on the front, Düster for the lead-out queen, especially in the technical courses, and then Teutenberg…. and then riders like Kupfernagel and Worrack…. should be a very exciting race….

by Sarah Connolly on Jul 14, 2011 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions

D'oh, I'm really crap at remembering this stuff sometimes

that was that awful crash that meant she couldn’t fly for a while. Teutenberg led out by Duster? Could that be the Dutch beater?

by Monty. on Jul 14, 2011 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions

It could be spectacular...

Especially if they send off their many escape artists out to try their legs….

by Sarah Connolly on Jul 14, 2011 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions

A couple more bits

OrsoTV who gave us that 15 minute tour guide to the Ceresole Reale stage now have 12 minutes up from the finish line and podium ceremony. None of their stuff seems to be directly linkable, but it’s at the top of the list now. The first 10 minutes or so is another display of how good race announcer Alberto Rigamonti is. I’d swear that he never misses a single name crossing the line.

Here’s a short but very appreciative blog from Roxane Knetemann

Cicloweb have their post-Giro piece up marking riders out of 10. Vos gets 10 with honours and a kiss from the Academy, Pooley a 10 (as they point out, Judith Arndt was almost 5 minutes behind her), and from Velletri onwards Emma Johansson served up her own speciality – placings. Cruel but funny.

by Monty. on Jul 14, 2011 5:19 PM EDT reply actions