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...