Riders at the 2013 Giro d'Italia

GIRO - Pro Tour

Riders in the 2013 Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia begins tomorrow. Twenty-three teams of 9 riders each will roll across the hills and plains, and over the mountains of Italy for the next three weeks. The Giro is pageantry and competition at its best.

See the full preliminary roster of 207 riders from 23 teams of the Giro at VeloNews.com: Giro roster 2013 or at Steephill.TV.

Any rider who will be competing in the 2013 Giro d'Italia will obviously not be racing at the Amgen Tour of California, where I will be, enjoying the other riders on this list: Riders at the 2013 Amgen Tour of California

Some of the key riders competing in the 2013 Giro d'Italia which begins tommorow include:

SKY: Bradley Wiggins, Christian Knees, Danny Pate, Uran
Cannondale: Damiano Caruso, Elia Viviani (Ivan Basso pulled out this week due to a cyst)
BMC: Cadel Evans, Taylor Phinney, Marco Pinotti
Garmin-Sharp: Ryder Hesjedal, Peter Stetina, Thomas Dekker, David Millar, Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson
Omega-Pharma Quickstep: Mark Cavendish, Pauwels
Orica-GreenEdge: Matt Goss, Luke Durbridge, Michael Matthews, Weening
RadioShack Leopard Trek: George Bennett, Yaroslav Popovych, Jesse Sergent
Saxo-Tinkoff: Majka, Boaro, Daniel Bennati, Matti Breschel, Karsten Kroon, and Rory Sutherland
Astana: Vincenzo Nibali
Blanco: Robert Gesink, Paul Martens, Wilco Kelderman, Maarten Tjallingii, Jack Bobridge
Argos Shimano: Thomas Damuseau, Koen de Kort, John Degenkolb, Patrick Gretsch

Looking back at the podium - 2012 General Classification winners of the Giro d'Italia
Final General Classification last year

1. HESJEDAL, Ryder (GARMIN-BARRACUDA) 91:39:02
2. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 0:16
3. DE GENDT, Thomas (VACANSOLEIL-DCM) + 1:39

* Thomas De Gendt will not be returning in 2013, he will be at the Tour of California.

2013 Pedal Dancer top bets for overall win at Giro d'Italia

1. Bradley Wiggins 
2. Robert Gesink
3. Vincenzo Nibali  

More information: 21 Stages, Previous winners, Top-10 GC ranking of riders at GIRO:
See the statistics page by ProCycling Stats - 2013 96th Giro d'Italia (WT) 

I can't wait for three glorious weeks of watching early morning bike racing across the hills, along the coastline, and over the mountains of Italy. May is here!

Riders to watch for at the Giro d'Italia

Recognizing your favorite rider is a big part of the fun of being a fan the races..... learn these faces.  All photos ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®  click any image to enlarge

Bradley Wiggins

Bradley Wiggins at 2012 Tour de France  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Robert Gesink

Robert Gesink at 2012 Tour of California  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali at the 2012 USA Pro Challenge  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Cadel Evans

Cadel Evans at 2012 USA Pro Challenge  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Rory Sutherland

Rory Sutherland has hit the big time and will lead the Saxo-Bank Tinkoff squad to the Giro in 2013  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Yaroslav Popovych

Yaroslav Popovych at 2012 Tour de France   ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Taylor Phinney

Taylor Phinney at 2012 USA Pro Challenge  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Peter Stetina

Peter Stetina at 2012 USA Pro Challenge  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Christian Vande Velde

Christian VandeVelde at the USA Pro Challenge  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Tom Danielson

Tom Danielson at 2012 USA Pro Challenge  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Wilco Kelderman

Wilco Kelderman at 2012 Tour of California  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Koen de Kort

Koen de Kort at 2-12 Tour de France  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Jerome Pineau

Jerome Pineau at 2012 Tour de France   ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Maarten Tjallingii

Maarten Tjallingii telling a story to my sister-in-law Suz at the 2012 Tour of California  ©By Mike at Pedal Dancer®

This year the Columbia team will not be at the Tour of California, they will be at the Giro d'Italia! Good Luck to them.

Team Columbia is going to the Giro, meanwhile Frankie Andreu will be back at the Tour of California, but as a Team Director for 5-hour Energy Powered by Kenda Racing Team.  ©By Karen at Pedal Dancer®

Images of the Day: Maarten Tjallingii & Provence

Pictures of the Day: telling cycling stories

Can you guess the story Maarten Tjallingii was telling my sister-in-law Suz?

Word of the Day: story = histoire (une histoire drôle = a funny story)

A wild ride for Maarten Jallingii   Photo by PedalDancer.com/SyS

Maarten and Suz chatting in the Rabobank VIP area in Los Angeles   
Photo by PedalDancer.com/SyS

Today in Provence
Today at the morning market in Cuceron, France. An image from Provence, where Suz and my brother Mike, and niece Kristina are currently traveling.

The Roman bath in the center of Cuceron, France   Photo by PedalDancer.com/SyS

The Flower Lady in Cuceron   Photo by PedalDancer.com/SyS

At the 1st century Roman aqueduct bridge - Pont du Gard - near Remoulins    
Photo by PedalDancer.com

Update:

The best entry for the story that Maarten Tjallingii was telling Suz came from M.N. from AZ: 

 "... So I'm walking through Luby's right ... and then I trip over your friend there [that would be me] ... My tray goes flying! ... hits this old lady. But anyway, what's with her [me] damn leg fetish? Always taking pictures of our legs. Can you believe it? In Luby's ... [she's] hiding under the dessert table ... Then the Manager comes over ... Threatening me cuz ... turns out my tray and all my chocolate pudding hit his mother, visiting from Wisconsin ... so I turn around to point out your friend [me again] ... and she's following Luis Leon into the men's room! Taking butt pics the whole way ... and then it gets weird ... Joop. Zoey as we like to call him, comes running in from the team bus, turns out he's having an affair with the old gal, the one covered in pudding ... ... ... and the story continues ... [ok M.N. from Arizona - you owe me that round in Telluride at the up-coming USA Pro Cycling Challenge for printing your Maarten Tjallingi narrative - see you there!]

The legs that powered the tour

Cycling legs at the 2011 Amgen Tour of California 

Because 15,000 views and counting - guess whose legs was such a popular post in 2010, today's special is Guess whose legs of the 2011 Tour of California. 

Ready to start playing .... click any photo to enlarge (answers below the image) All Photos by: PedalDancer.com

Whose legs?

Chris Horner's legs (climber) 

Whose legs?

Tom Danielson's legs (climber) 

Whose legs?

Jonathan Patrick McCarty's legs (climber) 

Whose legs?

Oscar Freir's legs (sprinter) 

Whose legs?

 Peter Sagan's legs (sprinter) 

Whose legs?

Matt Goss's legs (sprinter) 

Whose legs?

Bernhard Eisel's legs (above 2 photos)

Berhnard Eisel (left) and Matt Goss (right) 

Whose legs?

Dave Zabriskie's legs (time trialer)

Whose legs?

Tom Zirbel's legs (time trialer)

Whose legs?

Taylor Phinney's legs (time trialer)

Whose legs?

Jacob Fuglsang's legs (time trialer)

Whose legs?

 Matthew Busche's legs (All-rounder) 

Whose legs?

Lucas Sebastian Haedo's legs 

Whose legs?

Thimothy Roe's legs

Whose legs?

Matthew Hayman's legs 

Whose legs?

the legs of Charles Wegelius, Martin Pedersen, Jason McCartney

Whose legs?

the legs of Martin Mortensen and Andy Schleck 

Whose legs?

Martin Tjallingii's legs 

Whose legs?

Nick Nuyens' legs 

Whose legs?

Johan Vansummeren's legs

Whose legs?

Peter Velits' legs


Leg warmers are not nearly as exciting (Thor Hushovd's legs)

More legs - - - More legs of the Tour of California

and at - - - 15,000+ views and counting

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