Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Giro d’Italia 2007 – Day 1: Getting there

-

HomeDiariesGiro d'Italia 2007 - Day 1: Getting there

We’re on the Giro d’Italia 2007… Sardinia is hot, damn hot, real hot, but our Peugeot 107 has air-con and a CD which plays John Hardie’s 70’s compilations just fine.

It’s 09.10 and we’re north-bound to catch the ferry from Palau out to the island of Maddalena, where tomorrow’s TTT takes place.

Dave is at the wheel, doing his best to coax some speed out of the little Peugeot. We arrived late last night, flying from Liverpool to Alghero in north west Sardinia.

Giro d'Italia 2007
The hill-top town of Aggius.

The B & B we stayed in was sound, and we enjoyed an al fresco breakfast before heading east and north towards Palau and the ferry.

The game plan was to drive the TTT course and preview it.

The country is green despite the heat, but jagged mountains thrust out of the earth to give saw-tooth skylines. Big flocks of sheep graze; olive groves and vineyards are well-tended – the Italian Government’s plans to drag the island into prosperity appear to be working.

Giro d'Italia 2007
It’s awfy hot here.

The roads across the plains were straight and well-surfaced but lazy-rolling trucks make for slow progress.

The driving is, as you would expect, radge. In the towns, traffic lights are few and it’s hard to imagine what you would have to do to get the police upset – Olbia, where we spent last night is just a huge dodgem track.

The TTT course is a real “test of man and machine” – not like last year, Dario Cioni (then Liquigas, now Lotto) told me that he only braked once during that entire race. This year there are all manner of climbs, dangerous descents and bends – we fancy a ‘road’ rather than one of the TTT specialist teams to win.

Giro d'Italia 2007
The lethal Bailey bridge on the TTT course – thank goodness it was dry!

It takes a 20 minute ferry trip to get to Maddalena where the race finishes.
It starts on the neighbouring island of Caprera, where Italian folk hero, Guiseppe Garibaldi spent his later years. He was born 200 years ago, hence the hassle of dragging the whole Giro across to a little island; we’d do the same for The Bruce, I guess.

After our course recce and the 20 minute ferry trip, we had to find the Giro d’Italia 2007 “Permanence“, in order to get our credentials. Finding the conference centre where this went-off was a pain but actually getting the creds was OK.

The wi-fi in the press room was grim, it went-down twice, but eventually we got the words and pics of to Vancouver.

The hotel was sound, as was the pizza place. As my tutor at college told me never to say; “we went to bed, tired but happy.”

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Gent-Gent & Kuurne Brussels Kuurne 2009 – Day 1

We're at Gent-Gent. His long torso arches, like that of a tiger about to pounce on it's prey; elbows out, the black Specialized with it's hugely over-sized down tube - necessary to absorb the mega wattages this beast produces - surges forward.

World Road Championships – Mads Pederson surprises to win the Elite Mens’ Road Race

Denmark’s Mads Pederson drops to the wet Yorkshire tarmac, a hundred metres past the finish line, he can’t take in what he’s just accomplished. He has out-sprinted one of the foxiest and fastest men around, Matteo Trentin of Italy - the hot pre-race favourites for the title on this horror of a day.

Paris – Roubaix 2007 – Day 1: Getting There

Paris - Roubaix 2007. My lift was late; the architect at the site meet was a pain, then the car broke down. It was therefore a stressed Ed who lurched onto the 12.30pm London express at Waverley on Thursday afternoon to rendez-vous with VeloVeritas Editor, Martin.

Le Tour de France 2009 – Stage 2: Monaco > Brignoles, 187km

Mark Cavendish blasted to his first victory of the Tour today at Brignoles, a victory that also places him in the green jersey as the leader of the race's points classification, for the first time in his career.

At Random

Matt Gibson – Snapped up by Burgos-BH for 2019

The last time we spoke to 22 year-old Englishman Matt Gibson he’d just won the European u23 Scratch Championship. Since then he’s gravitated away from the track spending the last two seasons with John Herety’s JLT-Condor team.

Evan Oliphant – Looking forward to Ghent-Wevelgem

We caught up with Scottish professional Evan Oliphant shortly after he returned from a winter spent racing in Australia, and just prior to his new DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed team's official launch in Holland.

Giro d’Italia 2007 – Day 4: Rest Day

Giro d'Italia 2007, It's 05.00 hours, Tuesday, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, somewhere west of Civitavecchia - that's the sea port for Rome. "An ugly and forgettable port that's best avoided" according to the 'Rough Guide to Italy', so we won't be lingering here!

Paris – Roubaix 2007 – Day 1: Getting There

Paris - Roubaix 2007. My lift was late; the architect at the site meet was a pain, then the car broke down. It was therefore a stressed Ed who lurched onto the 12.30pm London express at Waverley on Thursday afternoon to rendez-vous with VeloVeritas Editor, Martin.