So do I, actually. But I'm not taking anything for granted this season.

In the mean time, this was nice to see:

(count me in with the 'know bugger all about cycling' brigade)

Cavendish won another one, and came second a few days ago. Is there a points thingy in this Tour (sorry, Giro)?

This is the jersey worn by the points winner. It's called the ciclamino and is currently worn by Daniele Bennati.

Seen eating Cavendish's dust off his right shoulder in the photo above.

Current top five for the Ciclamino:

Bennati 144 points
Cavendish 86
Bettini 71
Ricco 69
Zabel 66

I was fortunate to see the 6 tappa of the Giro d'Italia pass our village on 15 May: the stage from Potenza-Peschici.

Many people young and old turned out to see them whizz by. It was a real event. It had not been by for 8 years.

We watched by the cement works, where many of the workers had knocked off waiting to see the cyclists.

Then I had coffee at my elderly aunt's house on the way back and she'd been to see it to and was really stoked by it all.

I know very little about cycling but it was rather impressive and dramatic to see them swing en masse round a tight corner and whoosh down the hill towards us.

We are fortunate enough to live on the traditional route for the last stage (and less than 200 metres from the finish line), but it never loses its fascination.

The experience in the countryside is even more special, though, because one has the great sense of expectation and then it's all over in a flash. Kuhisek (an erstwhile member of the OTF Peleton who is much missed) wrote something similar about his experience of Le Tour in rural Burgundy last year.

Ursus what a great location!

That's exactly what it was like! We waited ages, chatting excitedly, they swooped round the corner into sight in a mass of colour, whooshed very fast down the hill at us, then swept precariously round a sharp corner and were gone...

We sort of stood there bewildered for a few seconds after.

Mind you we haven't even got a cinema here, so we are easily pleased!!!

Quite a weekend for Sig. Sella.

Indeed! Good to see, he's been there or thereabouts for a good while now without ever getting a big move or making a breakthrough.

Contador in la maglia rosa, bollocks. But I have every faith in Ricco's ability to reel him in by sheer strength of ego.

And Contador extends his lead on the time trial up to Plan de Corones (which the locals all call Kroenplatz, being that they are German-speaking).

Still only 41 seconds over Ricco, though.

Aye. A great ride for Phillip Deignan, too, he finished within forty seconds of the lead.

He's a properly classy rider, who's had shitty luck with illness the last two years. I think he's due a big breakthrough soon...

Been in London for the past three days and got back to watch the last three stage highlights, back to back. Sella was fantastic. I've been reading David Walsh's "From Lance to Landis", and I can't help but be totally cynical with regard to any of Bruyneel's riders. I don't know if Ricco is clean, but AC is hugely suspect and I want to see him beaten.

If Sella had won 3 in a row yestaerday I was gonna start a fresh thread called 'Sella, Italia'.

What a great effort. He's my new hero.

I loved Baliani too, when he fell over the cobbles on that breakaway. Forza CSF-Navigare! (since Euskaltel, 'my team' normally are putting very little into it, I don't need to feel guilty about cheating on them).

I'm struck by the fact that the diddy teams invited in for the Giro really have a go, whereas, say, Agritubel and other agriculturally-named invitees in the Tour in the past have tended to be totally outclassed.

Is there just a bigger base of decent cyclists in Italy, even below the Pro-Tour level?

I think that is basically the answer.

Italy has been more successful at preserving a culture of competitive cycling than France, and one sees the results in the Giro.

It's also my sense (though I have no data) that the logistics of the Giro are significantly less expensive for sponsors than those of Le Tour, which allows the Italian teams to spend relatively more on riders than their French counterparts.

The French might argue that they are cleaner.

I'm sure they would, though that doesn't necessarily mean that they are right.

QUOTE:
The French might argue that they are cleaner.

"Cof(idis)"