... those of you waiting eagerly for our July obsession with the Tour de France may be interested to know that the Giro d'Italia is pretty terrific this year. Spectacular landscapes, a close race, too many crashes and injuries, Canadian Svein Tuft wearing the maglia rosa after the first day, great contributions from Italians, Australians, Colombians, Frenchmen, and Norwegians with the most glorious assortment of surnames. And our boy Ryder Hesjedal, weighted down by a team crash on the first day that left him minutes behind the leaders, now moving up the ranks as the big mountain stages start. Currently eleventh overall, even though half the stars of his Garmin squad stayed out of the Giro to contest (quite successfully) the Tour of California.
