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Giro d'Italia, Italy
7 - 29 May
Classifications
Maglia Rosa (Overall Jersey)
"Maglia" roughly translates to jersey, and "Rosa" to pink. The history of the pink jersey is tied to La Gazzetta dello Sport, an Italian sports newspaper printed on pink paper. This pink jersey is the prized possession of any Italian, or other rider who can ride a strong three-week GC race. The jersey is awarded after each stage to the rider who has the lowest cumulative time.
The smart money has to be on last year's winner, Damiano Cunego. He's had a very auspicious build-up to the Giro d'Italia and his confidence has to be sky high. His teammate, Gilberto Simoni, being the proud man that he is, won't go without a fight, but we expect him to be outclassed by his younger compatriot. Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas-Bianchi) looked good in the recent Tour of Romandie, as did Paolo Salvodelli (Discovery Channel). Both riders have won this race in the past and both riders can count on extremely strong squads. Then of course, there's Ivan Basso (Team CSC). This ultra classy rider can climb with the best of them, and also has a very strong contingent backing him up.
Those are the heavy hitters. Now lets talk about the dark horses. Tadej Valjavec (Phonak), Dario Cioni (Liquigas-Bianchi), Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears) and Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros-Würth), to name but a few. All of these riders are vastly talented and will be there to make sure that the boys in pink and blue of Lampre-Caffita don't walk away with it.
Maglia Ciclamino (Sprinter's Jersey)
Ciclamino is a type of flower that has a purple color, thus this jersey is named "Maglia Ciclamino". Highly sought after by fast-men, the ciclamino jersey is determined by points gained on the finishing line.
We have two words for you: Alessandro Petacchi. Lets be honest, is there any rider out there that can beat an on form Ale-Jet? Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto), Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole) and Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) will give it all they've got, but don't expect much. Realistically, their only hope will be for Petacchi to abandon the race.
Maglia Verde (Climber's Jersey)
"Verde" translates to green, and this green jersey is determined on points gained over classified climbs.
Our guess is that the GC men will figure highly in the climbers competition, but don't bet on Cunego killing himself for mountain points. A more likely bet would be the Mexican climbing ace, Julio Perez Cuapio (Panaria-Navigare) or one of the several pint sized Colombian climbers on the Selle Italia squad. These boys love it when the road tilts upwards and will be looking to grab some publicity for their sponsors.
Intergiro (Intermediate GC)
This one is sort of complicated to understand ... There is a designated "Intergiro" point for each stage, marked by an "i" on the stage maps. At the Intergiro point the time is marked for the first six riders. The Intergiro (blue) jersey is awarded after each stage to the rider who has the lowest Intergiro cumulative time. So, in a sense, it is a half-way Giro, a race to the half-way point.
It is hard to determine the winner of this competition. It could be a rider who likes to go in breaks, but does not typically have the strength to win a stage. A true GC rider, mountain-man, or sprint-gun won't waste their efforts on the Intergiro classification, however it is a prize that is worthy of fighting for. Below are the past winners to help understand the type of riders that can win the blue Intergiro jersey.
1989: Pavlic, Jure (Yugoslavia)
1990: Anderson, Phil (Australia)
1991: Leanizbarrutia, Alberto (Spain)
1992: Indurain, Miguel (Spain)
1993: Svorada, Jan (Slovakia)
1994: Abdoujaparov, Djamolidine (Uzbekistan)
1995: Rominger, Tony (Switzerland)
1996: Guidi, Fabrizio (Italian)
1997: Konyshev, Dimitri (Russia)
1998: Fagnini, Gianmatteo (Italian)
1999: Guidi, Fabrizio (Italian)
2000: Guidi, Fabrizio (Italian)
2001: Strazzer, Massimo (Italian)
2002: Strazzer, Massimo (Italian)
2003: Backstedt, Magnus (Sweden)
2004: Illiano, Raffaele (Italian)
- Paco of BiciRace.com
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