It's hard to say anything upbeat about the most intriguing stage of the most intriguing grand tour being converted into a miserable but inconsequential pseudo-climbing stage. Given how much money (a half mil) the race spent to temporarily resurface the road to Plan de Corones (the surface will be removed shortly), they obviously didn't have a lot of choice. Of the three grand tours, the Giro is the only one where weather seems to routinely intrude, mostly as snow... which either ruins the stage, or transforms it into an epic that websites go into a tizzy over for the next ten years. It was a close call, but this time we got... bubkis.
- If for some reason you still want to read the race reports... at least Pez has pictures. Or hit BiciRace. Or listen to Graham Watson describe the nasty scene (and make excuses for Savoldelli) at the Paceline.
- Lots of racing today... Erik Zabel finally scored Milram a win in the opening stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt. Get your Bayern results. even though it's in Bavaria, the main contenders are sprinters. Could we finally get that Ciolek-Zabel showdown we've been wair for?
- Meanwhile, over at the Tour of Belgium, an early split meant that a 22-man breakaway was in fact the move of the entire race, as the riders (including Tom Boonen) put over 14 minutes into everyone else. Get the lowdown here, or listen to Discovery whine about it here.
- Sam Abt runs down the Spanish doping scandal. Recommended!
- Professor Wilcockson mails it in with a completely perfunctory look ahead at the rest of the Giro. It'd be better if he stuck to writing about history, in this case Charly Gaul's famous win at Monte Bondone, or as Anthony calls it, Monte Bologne.
- T-Mobile easily has the most entertaining team site. Although the only news today was Serguey Gonchar's withdrawal.
- Pez gets drunk again and rides the Bondone.
- BiciRace checks in with Alejandro Valverde.
- And last but hardly least, CN reviews the book of renowned author Udo Bolts.