OT: Cycling Fans, Giro d'Italia full stages on web

[RichardP]

The website www.universalsports.com is webcasting (for free) full stages (2+ hours) of the Giro (Tour of Italy)! This is a great alternative viewing source, as the Versus channel is not showing any of the Giro, not even weekend wrapups. See Lance's return to top level racing. I watched a full stage, then skipped through another, today at work (work? Ha!). They are apparently going to webcast every stage, as well as separate videos of finishing highlights if you don't have 2+ hours each day to sit at your computer. A great deal for us fans.

[rll]

There's also cyclingnews.com with their live coverage, although not video. The sping classics are great, but for me the season really begins with the start of the Giro. The Tour is still the greatest race on the planet, but there's something about the Giro. The Tour seems choreographed to perfection, while the Giro just seems more pure. Don't get me wrong, I love them all, particularly the Grand Tours.

I returned to Colorado in 1979 after getting out of the Navy. The first road race I ever saw was in the summer of 1980, a stage of the Coors Classic in Estes Park. It's been in my blood ever since. The mythical name in that race was George Mount - remember that name? First American to ride one of the Grand Tours. A year or two later a very young Greg Lemond came with his Renault Elf teammates. I remember seeing them sitting under a tree before the start of the North Boulder Park stage.

There was a short story circulating on the front range last week about Armstrong having a conversation with the Governor about bringing a stage race back to Colorado. The writer of the story in the Boulder paper mentioned the usual names one thinks of who rode the race in the 80s - Lemond, Hinault, Grewal, Hampsten, Phinney, Kiefel. But how about Phil Anderson, Steve Bauer, Segei Sukorchenkov and the Soviet National team, John Howard, the Leprechaun Alan McCormick, Connie Carpenter, Marianne Berglund, Jeannie Longo, Marianne Martin (the first American winner of the Tour ;-)). Geez, I could go on for an hour. The highlight of the summer was always the Coors Classic, watching stages in Estes Park, Vail, Aspen, and the final in North Boulder Park.

Riding around Boulder is always interesting. Never get too full of yourself, always give a friendly wave or nod when you blow by someone. That may be an Olympic medalist or former World Champion you've just insulted, and they can rip your legs off if they want. But they're usually all pretty good folks.

Allez!