Because of Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong almost everybody in the US knows about Le Tour de France but, the Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain are the next largest annual cycling events. Cyclists from the US rarely ride La Vuelta España but Andy Hampsten won the Giro some years ago. At any rate, il Giro comes in May, le Tour in July, and la Vuelta in September. That means the racing is on! Last year Tyler Hamilton (Armstrong’s former teammate) garnered 2nd place in il Giro (with a fractured shoulder, lots of pain, but some true grit).
Unfortunately the German site that used to carry integrated audio/video has changed formats so, I use two different sites to get live daily coverage. The German site used to update images about every 10 secs. the CZ and FR sites I’ve found only update once every 2 mins. That’s better than not at all. I don’t have cable or satelite TV and, can’t afford it anyway.
I miss racing. Not so much the getting up before dawn so I could be on the road by 7am but, my fitness level has dropped so low. Training rides used to be very calming or every invigorating (depending on what type of training I was doing).
Miami/Ft. Lauderdale has the top 4 worse bicycle-to-car accident rates in the US. You know damn well the cyclist is the one getting hurt or killed. Hit-and-run drivers are really bad down here, too.
I got hit by a car back in the 80s but thank gawd the elderly driver had good insurance. I woke up in the hospital but my concussion wasn’t too bad. I got physical therapy at the office of Dr. Carmichael, father of Chris Carmichael (Lance Armstrong’s coach). That therapy got me going again and I was flying soon and went on to do some motorpacing before the racing season ended.
Anyway… il Giro d’Italia will pass close to the locale where I spent 6 months in Italy, Treviso province. I was in a village at the Dolomite foothills and had a great time. I miss it there. That’s where I gained my real appreciation for wine. Wine of Conegliano e Valdobbiadene region
Current Music: 
The Best of Ornette Coleman