Wouter Weylandt, a professional cyclist on the Leopard Trek Team, passed away today, during the third stage of the Tour of Italy, as the result of a fall.  He was 26 years old, and leaves behind a wife, with child. 

Amongst many wins, he won the third stage of the 2010 Tour of Italy. 

The following are his final two remarks on twitter.

@wouterweylandt Wouter Weylandt
long teampresentation today #150yearsitaly . tomorrow the real start with TeamTimeTrial! the lungs and legs tested by day 1! start of 3496km
(6 May)


@wouterweylandt Wouter Weylandt
went today to the hairdresser #declient, now on airport ready to go! #ilgirod'italia !
(4 May)

In The (Time) Zone by David Olle, Italy, +39 333 5959 217
(twitter feed @DavidOLLE)

For those in Australia, SBS2 does a daily report on the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) in the evenings, catch them if you can.
Stage 2, Alba - Parma, 242 km

Results
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
2 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) HTC-Highroad
3 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox

Overall classification after stage 2
1 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) HTC-Highroad
2 Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad
3 Craig Lewis (USA) HTC-Highroad

Skippy report:  Mark Renshaw (Bathurst) did a good leadout for his team mate Cavendish, but was beaten by Petachi, who, if he hadn't followed a line drawn by a spirograph during his sprint, should have finished about 50 metres in front of the pack.  As it was, he won by a whisker.  Robbie McEwen placed 8th, all others a bit further down the page.

Cuisine Report:  We had lunch at Modena, near here a couple of weeks ago, with a friend who used to work in the bike industry, but now sells tiles, internationally.  He is passionate about food and all things from his area (Reggio Emilia).  His mood for the week can be dictated by Ferrari's result in the weekend's F1 (Ferrari's base Maranello, is just outside Modena).  He gave us a cheese lecture.  Funny, because I don't remember asking for one.  The only cheeses worth appreciating are those that take time to make.  Parmigiana Reggiano when cured for 36 months is the best apparently, closely followed by Grana Padano, both made within a couple of hours drive.  I don't know what comes after these two, but I mentioned Mozzarella di Bufala, from the Napoletana region (the south of Italy) a cheese made almost overnight to be eaten the next day, and was dismissed with the wave of a hand.  That's not even a cheese, apparently.  Forget about camemberts and bries, they're off the list too, in fact no French cheeses rate.  It just has to be Parmigiana Reggiano (36 mth old), Grana Padano, or nothing.  
He's a hard man.    

Tomorrow:  Stage 3, Reggio Emilia - Rapallo 178 km

The Writer:
Covering my tenth Giro, 23rd Grand Tour, enough said.

Giro 11 report Prologue/Stage 1
In The (Time) Zone by David Olle, Italy, +39 333 5959 217 (twitter feed @DavidOLLE)

For those in Australia, SBS2 does a daily report on the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) in the evenings, catch them if you can.

The Bike Race:
Italy is celebrating 150 years of unification this year and starting the 2nd biggest Grand Tour of the season in Torino.  From there the race traverses the Tyrrenian seaboard (over the ‘knee') south, all the way to Sicily's Mt Etna.  An air transfer helps the riders back over to the Adriatic coast (near the ‘calf') where they begin the run north, through the Dolomites, taking a quick rendezvous in Austria, before finishing in Milan.  Just 3,482 kilometres, and with 8 hilltop finishes, it will definitely be some super skinny guy donning the winners Maglia Rosa in Milan, at the end of this year's ‘Fight for Pink' May 7-29.

Giro d'Italia, May 7 - 29, 2011,

Stage 1,  May 7, Venaria Reale - Turin 21.5 km
Results
1     HTC-Highroad     0:20:59     
2     Team RadioShack     0:00:10     
3     Liquigas-Cannondale     0:00:22     

General classification after stage 1
1     Marco Pinotti (Ita) HTC-Highroad     0:20:59     
2     Lars Ytting Bak (Den) HTC-Highroad           
3     Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad

HTC's plan in the opening Team Time Trial (TTT) was to take 20 second  (max) turns to the halfway point, where the stronger riders would move to  longer, faster turns.  Mission accomplished.

Skippy report:  The old dog Robbie McEwen outsprinted his RadioShack teammates home (as you would expect) to take 6th place on GC (General classification). 

Cuisine Report:  Breakfast menu in the ‘Autogrill' (tollroad service station) fresh squeezed orange juice, cappuccino and a brioche €4.10  ($5.50)

Comment:   Alberto Contador is all teeth, skin and bones.  Marco Pinotti (pink jersey) is all teeth, skin and bone under a nose ‘breather-bandage'.  Team Leopard (sans scarves) are apparently happy with their 14th place.  I know it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game, but seriously, you have to PLAY the game, even just a little...lookout Euselesstel, they're on your tail.    

Tomorrow:  Stage 2, Stage 2, Alba - Parma, 242 km
Expect Cav to be in pink tomorrow night, after this long, but fairly flattish stage.  HTC will be flogging themselves early in this Giro, but that is what it is all about.  Unless our Robbie unleashes something special, which IS possible.

The Writer:  This is my 10th Giro, at the barriers, and my 23rd grand tour, enough said.