Is it feckin' spring yet?

Is it feckin' spring yet?

This winter has gone on and on and on. In the UK there has been snow in late May and even in Italy we have had the Giro had to divert the route due to rain and snow. This is not what I signed up for!

In fact this week I was in Amsterdam and it was far far warmer in Amsterdam than Italy - and that's just crazy talk!!

Amsterdam

However - the sun is now shining and the fields are green and probably super lush due to the amount of rain we have had - check it out!

Giro d'Italia a Firenze 2013

Giro d'Italia a Firenze 2013

On 12th Maggio 2013 the giro d'Italia came through Florence. The race is tough and hard, but noone expected there to be so much fricken' rain. And my word there has been a lot all week. We arrived in Florence and went for a ride in beautiful sunshine - we rode up the final part of the course up towards Piazza San Michelangelo. The course was marked out with railings, the four of us were riding light, but as we approached the 1 km to go things got a little lively. You could feel the anticipation as the sprint was on - we were starting to crank it up and jostle for position but then we found that at 300 m the route was blocked - nearly had a spill there!!

Strava ride

http://app.strava.com/activities/53816436

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QltM9dCvyoQ&feature=youtu.be

We rode on and out into the chianti hills then were told whilst we were having coffee in Greve in Chianti that there was torrential rain in Florence. We decided to bin our plans of going to the hiklls or the finish and stayed in the flat watching on tv, and just jumped out to see them dash past.

But at least we weren't as bad as this guy!!

http://www.wheelsuckers.co.uk/video/spectator-falls-off-road-giro-2013?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=16May13-eDigest&utm_content=16May13-eDigest+CID_5a4ce8f321ecf4bb5a6171906e7b97b6&utm_source=email&utm_term=Video%20Giro%20Spectator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iDQhrM1i1b8

Hundreds of tifosi were out as ever, and it was great to see. The front guys of course were all going b@lls out but it was really noticeable that some were just pedalling over. Ryder Hesjedal was being pushed by his domestiques and dropped out a day or two later. Wiggins looked cold, as did Cavendish, and Nibali looked comfortable and confident.