Four cyclists have died during the Giro d’Italia: Orfeo Ponsin (a.k.a. Orfeo Ponzin) (1952), Juan Manuel Santisteban (a.k.a. Juan Manuel Santiesteban) (1976), Emilio Ravasio (1986), and Wouter Weylandt (2011).
Category: Races
Jens Voigt, the 41-year-old (nearly 42) German rider of RadioShack-Leopard won Amgen Tour of California 2013 Stage 5, after a solo attack just over five kilometers from the finish of the stage to Avila Beach. Yesterdays’ winner Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) won the sprint in the main bunch and finished in second. Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team) completed the stage podium. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) took the general classification lead.
Giovanni Rossignoli was the hidden winner of two Giri d’Italia. He never won the Italian grand tour, but, in fact, he was the fastest finisher – twice.
I finished reading “Put me back on my bike” by William Fotheringham, and now started a new book: “Maglia Rosa – Triumph and Tragedy at Giro d’Italia”, by Herbie Sykes. A great book about the history of the Giro d’Italia.
A very enjoyable story about the legendary Swiss cyclist Ferdi Kübler.
As I wrote before, these days I am reading William Fotheringham’s “Put Me Back On My Bike – In search of Tom Simpson”. Like all books of Fotheringham, it is a great book.
"To win such a stage is wonderful. Europcar is a big team, and I hope to become a rider like Thomas Voeckler or Pierre Rolland. I was looking at these guys on TV and today, even in Africa, people have been able to see me win on TV."
Natnael Berhane (Team Europcar) won the queen stage of the 2013 Presidential Tour of Turkey atop Göğübeli Mountain Pass, and it was one of the bigger stage wins by a black-African rider, if not the biggest.
By winning a mountaintop finish at the age of 22, Berhane showed us that he is a real talent. Here is a nice quote from Berhane after the stage:
Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp), the nephew of former Tour de France winner Stephen Roche won the Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2013 edition, outsprinting Katusha Team’s Joaquim Rodríguez. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) won the sprint in the small chasing group and took third place.
These days I am reading “Put Me Back On My Bike – In search of Tom Simpson“ by William Fotheringham. This is my third Fotheringham book, after “Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi” and “Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike”.
La Flèche Wallonne 2013 (77th edition) will be held on Wednesday, April 17. The race is the first of two Belgian Ardennes classics (the other being the Liège-Bastogne-Liège).
Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling) won the Flanders classic Brabantse Pijl 2013 (see notes 1) edition. Current UCI World Champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) finished in second, and Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil-DCM) completed the podium.