Giro d'Italia 2009

[Duke]

The first of the big 3 stage races starts this weekend & with SBS upping their commitment and showing 1/2 hr highlights of every Giro stage this yr, I thought it might be worth sending this around for those not so familiar with the Giro & its stages.

SBS Coverage
Starts on Sunday 10th May, 2009
07:10am Giro d'Italia Daily Update
11:25pm Giro D'italia 2009 Highlights
http://www.sbs.com.au/schedule/2009-05- ... 0Melbourne

Also on SBS this Sunday is the last of the spring classics;
12:00pm Cycling: Fleche Wallonne 2009
12:30pm Cycling: Leige-Bastogne-Leige 2009

Giro 09 on Cyclingnews
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/giro09/

Start List (provisional)
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... =startlist

Map
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/giro09/?id=map

Stage Descriptions
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... o09_stages

If your really keen then Cyclingnews do live (text) feeds of every stage via the link in the Giro homepage above.

Friend of mine posted this elsewhere, MYP2P TV will show the Giro but may not be English commentary, worth a look in conjunction with the live text above.
Confirming that every stage of the Giro can be seen live, on your PC @ http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?com ... ne=cycling
Setup tips can be found here: http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/04/ ... iege-live/

[norbs]

Thank you Flinty.

[nutty]

Great stuff! go lance!

[Duke]

1st post updated with details of Live TV feeds.
I have never used it but given my source & as far as i know it can be trusted, unless someone here knows otherwise?

[Duke]

Giro's key battlegrounds described in cyclingnews. (funny as I thought this was a bike race not a war)...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... tlegrounds

[Gizmo]

Been looking forward to this for awhile. One of my favourite tours..... Thanks flinty. Get well soon mate.

[Duke]

Tks Gizmo, well I now have plenty of time to watch the Giro & catch up on all the news each day.

[norbs]

Hell of a time trial by the big Russian.

[Duke]

Yeah it sure was, not your traditional ITT course hence the reason Dodger didn't go so well but I was super impressed with Di Luca getting 6th without any aero aids on a standard road bike. I hope the local boy wins it as I feel he has been the strongest all-round rider thus far and Menchov's Robobank team may struggle to assist him in the mountains to come. Should be a great contest to the end the way it has shaped up so far.

What about Cav, 3 stage wins (4 if you count the Team TT) shows he is the class sprinter of the Pro peleton right now, great prep & confidence for him to take to the TDF. Got to feel for our own Alby Davis, he has to crack it for a win soon been top 3 so often, if only he had the team to help him when he becomes the sprinter and doesn't have to work as the lead-out man for "Mr Cocaine" (Boonen).

[norbs]

Cav is a freak. He seems to do it so easily. Bring on the TdF. I am having the last week off work so I can watch it.

[Duke]

Whao!!!! Way to go Gerro...

[norbs]

Whao!!!! Way to go Gerro...

SPOILER!!!

Flinty, have you seen this site?

http://thetourtracker.com/

I haven't got Flash 10 on this machine, but I have heard good things about it. I saw Cadel Evans Tweeting about Gerro going out early on his own, so I imagine he won the stage?

[Duke]

I do apologise mate, it was late and I figured (hoped) those that really care would already know & that everyone else would hear of it in the news early this morning, god forbid an Aussie cyclist winning a stage of the 2nd biggest race of the yr not getting any local headlines, shame, shame, shame on our paparazzi.

I not sure if I have seen that tracker before, going to check it out though that's for sure. tks.

[norbs]

No worries mate. It all ok. I had a quick squizzy after I read your post.

That site wont work for us aussies.

[Duke]

Huge stage tonight, may only be 83km's but the last 23.5 km's are straight up, the climb starts around sea level and ends at 2064m & is aptly named the Blockhaus. Watch Di Luca as this climb is his backyard training climb, they pass his house tonight @ km 12.
It may well decide the whole tour.

Stage Preview: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... s/giro0917

Should get a reasonable webstream link here: http://www.cyclingfans.com/

[norbs]

Huge stage tonight, may only be 83km's but the last 23.5 km's are straight up, the climb starts around sea level and ends at 2064m & is aptly named the Blockhaus. Watch Di Luca as this climb is his backyard training climb, they pass his house tonight @ km 12.
It may well decide the whole tour.

Stage Preview: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... s/giro0917

Should get a reasonable webstream link here: http://www.cyclingfans.com/

Keep me informed. I am knackered and off to bed.

[Duke]

np's Norbs.

Pity as I got a good stream in English tonight: http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-giro-d-italia.html

[norbs]

Just got up for a look. Jesus, didn't expect this!

Johan did make an interesting remark on Twitter this arvo though.

[norbs]

SPOILER coming.......






















Current situation

* Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas)
* Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas)
* Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo)
* Lance Armstrong (Astana), Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas), Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli) and Carlos Sastre (Cervelo Test Team)



Thats how it stands with about 8kms to go. This is excellent Flinty.

Sastre looks like he is struggling with Lance right behind him. Menchov and de Luca look strong. So does Basso.

[norbs]

Oh boy Flinty. You picked it, what a stage!

de Luca looks dead, with Menchov right behind him looking cool as.

[norbs]

Glad I woke up. That was cycling at its best. Kudos to them all, but Armstrong certainly surprised me. Well done him. Bed time again. I will try and catch you on FB tomorrow Flinty.

[Duke]

Told you it was going to be a showdown, good to see you got up and didn' miss it Norbs, didn't post anything as I didn't want to spoil it in case you watch it on SBS. What an awesome stage Pelizzotti was incredible just kept putting time on all of them but still a 2 horse race & as much as I can't bear to say it , I think Menchov has got it. Di Luca threw the proverbial at him and he just sat on looking comfortable.
Lets just hope there is no truth to this story for cycling's sake: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... /may28news

Yeah I also saw Johan's twitter yesterday and when Lance went I thought "here we go" but not to be, Lance's twitter today is also quite revealing.

There is one more mountain top stage (Stage 19 to Vesuvius) that could play a part in the overall so it's not over yet.
Stage 19 Profile: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... s/giro0919

Can't wait till July, the TDF will be so good with Basso & Lance finding their old form as well as the likes of Sastre, Pelizzotti, Rogers, Liephiemer and not to mention Menchov trying to do the double. Be interesting to see if Cadel can hang with them given he has taken a different approach to his TDF preparation.
Can't wait!!!

[pixelboy]

wow, seems like a great race.. Hopefully uou can get a good feed for fridays stage, it looks a cracker

[norbs]

Told you it was going to be a showdown, good to see you got up and didn' miss it Norbs, didn't post anything as I didn't want to spoil it in case you watch it on SBS. What an awesome stage Pelizzotti was incredible just kept putting time on all of them but still a 2 horse race & as much as I can't bear to say it , I think Menchov has got it. Di Luca threw the proverbial at him and he just sat on looking comfortable.
Lets just hope there is no truth to this story for cycling's sake: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... /may28news

Yeah I also saw Johan's twitter yesterday and when Lance went I thought "here we go" but not to be, Lance's twitter today is also quite revealing.

There is one more mountain top stage (Stage 19 to Vesuvius) that could play a part in the overall so it's not over yet.
Stage 19 Profile: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/gi ... s/giro0919

Can't wait till July, the TDF will be so good with Basso & Lance finding their old form as well as the likes of Sastre, Pelizzotti, Rogers, Liephiemer and not to mention Menchov trying to do the double. Be interesting to see if Cadel can hang with them given he has taken a different approach to his TDF preparation.
Can't wait!!!

Do you follow Evans on Twitter? ( http://twitter.com/CadelOfficial ) I do, and I must say, I like him less and less these days. He seems very negative most days. I don't know how his preparation is going, but he will need his team to support him more than they did last year. Would have loved to have seen him in this race. Good to see Rogers up there.

Thanks for that feed to mate, it was terrific. That and the ticker on the other link you sent us was enough to keep me up til the end.

[Duke]

Umm yeah well, one of my teammates knows Cadel quite well through a mutual acquaintance, all I can say is that from the stories I here the way he projects himself and acts (like what you read on Twitter) leaves a lot to be desired. But he is one hell of an athlete there is no denying that. As for the TDF I don't think we will see him on the podium this yr as I feel his team won't be strong enough, top 10 for sure, maybe top 5 but I will surprised at anything better.

Not sure if I will stay up for tonight's stage it is catching up on me and I want to make sure I see the day after and the final stage being an ITT. Will catch it on SBS in the morning. by the way from what I can tell that link last night was a diverted feed from the US Universal network, hope it continues to work for the rest of the Giro.