Hey there,

Just spoke with Tim quickly before he hit the sack after today’s 6th, and longest stage of the 08′ Giro. 231.6k in the saddle, in scorching hot conditions, and at crazy speeds. The peleton covered the first 100k in just a click over 2hours today!! thats nuts, after nearly 1100k of racing so far and 2000 odd to go. The pace was on from the gun, with Jens Voigt from CSC attacking madly, spurring on other attacks, until the break of the day finally got away, and the pace in the peleton settled down. Tim mentioned that they seem to only have two paces in the bunch, either ticking along at around 30k, or flat out at 50kmph.

The distance of the stage was actually reduced from a whopping 265km, after self appointed peleton leader, Australian Robbie McEwen gathered together the support of ‘almost’ the entire bunch (Paolo Bettini, current world champion, posed the most notable resistance, strangely??) None the less, the majority prevailed, and they rode 231!! The issue was really pressed by the riders due the long transfers between stages this year, which has severely eaten into recovery and sleep time. Very important things to preserve in such a race, and especially as fatigue starts to kick in from the back to back days of hard racing (first rest day coming up on Monday)

At the start of the Giro each team is offered choices on the quality of their accommodation along the way, this decision impacts the total start money they receive for participating in the event…. the effects of this choice became glaringly obvious when FDJ rocked up to their hotel last night, right next to that of CSC, Slipstream and Saunier Duval, but they could have been worlds apart!! The heating hadn’t been working at FDJ’s hotel all winter, the rooms were musty, and the mattress’s like a few damp hessian sacks. Only course of action, pull on the thermals and get horizontal.

Things took a turn in the right direction tonight however, when Lampre (one of the top Italian teams) rolled up to the same hotel… a sure sign there would be no repeat of the previous night, and perhaps even strawberries with dessert!!

Tim’s form and strength on the bike is steadily improving, just taking it one day at a time is the main focus, and to ride in support of his good friend + team/roommate Jussi Veikkanen from Finland. Jussi is riding really well, a strong climber, already finishing 7th on the 2nd stage, and sitting just outside the top 50 on GC. The plan is to put him in the best position to fight for a top 10 spot once the race hits the big climbs later in the tour. Although, it’s never really ever flat on this tour, as you can see from the stage profile of tomorrow’s route (attached)… that last 22k is going to be really nasty!

Attached also are a few more pics of the racing + scenery from the last days.

++ for up to date info on the GIRO incl. vids+pics visit http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/ has a cool fly-thru video of all the this year’s stages + the last few k’s of every stage from belgian tv! mint.

Thanks again for reading, and until the next Giro installment, Good night or Good morning wherever you are.

Cheers

Kyle (on behalf of Tim, as he still has v.limited web access)