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Giro report stage 2
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 Bike Race:
Italys 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,
The Writer:
Covering my tenth Giro, 23rd Grand Tour, enough said.
These reports are independent, opinionated, Australian biased, and could miss a day here and there, along with containing the odd error.
We also run good bike tours.
David Olle
Topbike Tours (just book it)
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