Rodriguez, seen here at the stage start in Falzes, pinned a black ribbon to his jersey on the anniversary of the death of Xavier Tondo, his friend since childhood. Rodriguez went on the win the stage, and he dedicated his win to Tondo.
Alla flippa...
Willj would have loved this stage, and not just for the classic Dolomites climbs.
Vande Velde, Hesjedal and Bauer ride to the start area:
Pinotti and Garate:
Cataldo was understandably loathe to impose helmet hair on his elegant do until the last possible moment.
The impulse was perhaps more difficult to understand in Ferrari's case.
Check out the earring on Daniel Schorn:
Lagutin in his national champion's jersey:
Txurruka:
The riders gather to wait for the start:
A few Basso shots (what can I say, the camera loves him).
De Gendt:
Capecchi:
Scarponi face with funny nose strip and glasses (talk about gilding the lily!):
At the finish, we watch the race on the press tent tv, while the soigneurs watch in the adjacent teams' tent:
After he finished, Purito sped right past us, then came back down with a huge smile on his face.
He stopped to hug Moreno on his way to the podium area.
Hesjedal stopped and sat on some steps, showing the strain of his hard effort.
Check out the argyle tape on his ring finger. Covering his wedding ring, perhaps? Or substituting for it?
Cataldo:
De Gendt:
Txurruka:
You can see the salt stains on Intxausti's and Ulissi's jerseys.
Purito had a well-earned swig of champagne in a shower of pink confetti.
Best maglia rosa podium kid yet! He looked genuinely happy for Purito, and when his podium duties were over, he amused himself with the left-over confetti.
After the Cortina finish, La Gazzetta, which had previously focused on what Basso and Scarponi had to do to beat Rodriguez, finally labeled Hesjedal as "the danger." Note the helpful map showing readers where British Columbia is.
