Giro d’Italia 2012. It’s over, a great race from start to finish. Even the ‘flat boring sprinter stages’ all had terrific finales – and the time trial was a cracker.
Rodriguez rode more strongly than anyone expected; this was no lame effort.
When he rolled in to the last few bends the time gap was much less on Hesjedal than anyone – including Messrs Harmon and Kelly – thought it would be.
The Canadian went out fast but was on the ragged edge by the end and taking chances on the corners.
But it’s the Giro and there was history there to be made – he had to risk everything.
De Gendt was the surprise; it takes a hard man to keep Scarponi off the podium.
The media in Belgium will now have the man with the stubble down as a Grand Tour winner; but he’s a level headed young rider and should be resistant to the hype.
Basso – and that amazing team – gave their all, but it wasn’t enough.
I think Ivan will have to be content with two Giro wins.
Cunego was sixth; a good ride for a man who won this race as a youth but for several seasons had seemed to have lost his way, until a solid ride in last year’s Tour showed that the fire still burns.
Uran will get offers – the pitch will be along the lines; ‘look, if you ride for us, we won’t have you leading out sprinters!’
I’m glad the race is over, though – it’ll let me get on with life, properly.
Being part of a Grand Tour for a week and then leaving it to roll on without you is hard on the head.
You’re still connected to the race but not part of it, a strange feeling.
You waken up and want to start writing about the Giro – take this morning, for instance, before the race:
I got the Gazzetta, today – I even cycled up the Town to get one. That sunshine makes all the difference.
It’s not until you’ve been buying the Italian edition of the Gazzetta that you realise the version we get here is decaffeinated – no colour and no full ‘stats’ page.
Still, it feels as if you’re in closer touch with the race when you’re sitting in The City Caff with your cappuccino and Gazzetta.
But on the subject of stats, whilst Cycling News has all the info, nothing beats sitting with the Italian version of the Gazzetta with all those columns of times and points – and a coffee.
Fran Ventoso was last on yesterday’s Stelvio stage at 47:49 – it wasn’t a great day for the sprinters; Cav’s Rossa dream was upset by Rodriguez.
And the little Catalan could perhaps surprise, today – albeit the race looks like Hesjedal’s race to lose.
The stage win will be between Marco Pinotti – who has clocked off and been hiding in the gruppetto – Taylor Phinney and Alex Rasmussen.
For me it’s between Rasmussen and Pinotti; Phinney has gone deeper than ever before – whilst Rasmussen’s big, strong, farm boy rude health seems to soak it all up.
He was second to Millar last year and wants the win, badly.
Pinotti did win and Rodriguez did surprise – we didn’t get it too far wrong.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our Giro scribbling, but keep tuned – we hope to bring you some nice post-race interviews from the men who made this such a special Giro.
Ciao, ciao.
Result - Giro d’Italia 2012 – Stage 21: Milan (ITT) 31.5km
Stage Result
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:39
3 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:53
4 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin – Barracuda 0:01:00
5 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:01
6 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Barracuda 0:01:09
7 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:14
8 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:15
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:01:22
10 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:23
11 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:01:24
12 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
13 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:25
14 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:01:28
15 Nelson Oliveira (Por) RadioShack-Nissan 0:01:30
16 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:31
17 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Barracuda 0:01:36
18 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:01:47
19 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:49
20 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin – Barracuda 0:01:50
21 Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:53
22 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:01:54
23 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin – Barracuda
24 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
25 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:01:55
26 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:01:56
27 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:01
28 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:06
29 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:02:10
30 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:02:11
31 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling
32 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin – Barracuda 0:02:12
33 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha Team
34 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:02:13
35 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
36 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:02:17
37 Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:19
38 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:02:21
39 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team
40 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:02:25
41 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:26
42 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
43 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank
44 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:29
45 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:30
46 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp 0:02:31
47 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:02:32
48 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:33
49 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:02:37
50 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 0:02:42
51 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:02:43
52 Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:02:45
53 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling
54 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:02:46
55 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
56 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team 0:02:47
57 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
58 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:02:49
59 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:02:54
60 Marco Coledan (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:02:56
61 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox 0:02:57
62 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:02:58
63 Jan Barta (Cze) Team NetApp 0:03:00
64 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) Movistar Team
65 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:01
66 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ-Big Mat 0:03:02
67 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:03:04
68 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 0:03:05
69 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:03:07
70 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
71 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:03:08
72 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:03:12
73 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:03:13
74 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 0:03:15
75 Gregor Gazvoda (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale
76 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) RadioShack-Nissan 0:03:17
77 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
78 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team 0:03:18
79 Matthias Brandle (Aut) Team NetApp 0:03:23
80 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:25
81 Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol Team 0:03:26
82 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:29
83 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana Pro Team
84 Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetApp 0:03:30
85 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:32
86 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team
87 Johann Tschopp (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:03:33
88 Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:03:36
89 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:03:37
90 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
91 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre – ISD 0:03:39
92 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:03:44
93 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:03:45
94 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
95 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team
96 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan 0:03:46
97 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:03:48
98 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:03:50
99 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team Saxo Bank
100 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:03:52
101 Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:03:53
102 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team 0:03:54
103 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:03:55
104 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
105 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:58
106 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Colnago – CSF Inox
107 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp 0:04:00
108 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 0:04:01
109 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:04:02
110 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:04:04
111 Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin – Barracuda
112 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 0:04:05
113 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:04:08
114 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:09
115 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Farnese Vini – S