Welcome to the seaside town of Albenga, host to the Giro's stage 2 start.
I was impressed by the size of the crowd by 9:30 am. The square was packed up to six people deep!
There was standard pre sign on entertainment: bike tricks,…
…the obligatory group of local school kids,…
…and a gaggle of old timey bikes and kits.
The publicity caravan came and went, leaving a wake of happily dazed people clutching their new treasures and wondering what exactly each little trinket was.
Once the caravan had gone, so had most of the crowd!
Whoever is wearing the maglia rosa on May 31 in Milan will take home this trophy, which is displayed every morning by an insanely tall woman wearing dangerously high heels. It is, of course, an impressive feat to earn the trophy, but it's also pretty damn impressive she is able to carry it so gracefully while sashaying on an uneven ground and managing to walk up a short flight of stairs to the podium without tripping on the hem of her dress and face planting.
One of the announcers displayed the sign on sheet the 197 riders would use. Typically 198 riders start a Grand Tour, but you'll notice the small X near the lower left corner indicating that George Bennett will not be riding.
Alessandro Petacchi spoke to the press.
Hubert Dupont, the first rider to sign on.
Mauro Finetto.
While the big picture of any given race is the same–race bikes and the first one over the finish line wins–the details can vary tremendously from one race to another. I'm not sure I've seen a pro race rack the bikes like this before. This is how bikes are typically racked in triathlons to facilitate speedy transitions.
BMC's Amael Moinard and Philippe Gilbert sign on.
A huge roar for Fabio Aru.
Esteban Chaves and Darwin Atapuma: competitors on the bike, friends and Colombians off. (Note: they are, in fact, still Colombians when they're on the bike.)
It didn't take long for the sign on area to get congested.
Andre Greipel.
Orica started the day with the pink and white jerseys. With today expected to be a sprint finish, will Michael Matthews take them both at the end of the day?
Jesus Herrada.
Because it is what I do, I had my marker and banner ready to collect autographs. By now so many of the rides know me, even if it's just as “that crazy Canadian girl who keeps showing up,” that many of them automatically come over to sign or to have a chat. It tickles me to know that they recognize me just as easily as I recognize them, even if I've only been to one other race since last September.
Bardiani CSF.
Most of the big names waited until the last minute before signing on while other riders made their way to the start line. Below: Brent Bookwalter and Amael Moinard.
Davide Formolo.
Marcus Burghardt.
Davide Malacarne and Jerome Pineau share a moment.
High 5s from Fabio Aru.
The streets were lined with spectators to send the riders off.
The neutral zone took the riders on a long loop through the town. I thought I could probably catch the peloton if I hustled up the road. When I turned away from the start, my jaw fell as I saw the crowd! No wonder they left after the publicity caravan, they had all gone to secure their spots on the course! While this was going to make things tricky for me, it made me so happy to see everyone had come out to support the Giro.
Some urban bushwhacking was required on my part.
I never get tired of this sight: the colorful peloton flowing like water around the curves.
Today's 22 autographs came from: 3 Carlos Betancour, 5 Hubert Dupont, 7 Hugo Houle, 18 Serghei Tsvetcov, 41 Philippe Gilbert, 42 Darwin Atapuma, 62 Tom Boonen, 74 Murilo Fischer, 77 Kevin Reza, 84 Heinrich Haussler, 103 Stig Broeckx, 105 Adam Hansen, 118 Dayer Quintana, 145 Mauro Finetto, 155 Tom Danielson, 161 Luka Mezgec, 165 Simon Geschke, 166 Chad Haga, 169 Tom Stamsnijder, 175 Sergey Lagutin, 192 Bernie Eisel, and 207 Mick Rogers.
At this early point in the race, I must call a time out and step away from the Giro but I will rejoin the peloton all the way to Milan by the end of next week with my Canadian flag, assorted permanent markers, a friend, and (if the Spanish mail system is playing nice) my cowbell!