Giro d'Italia '03

We had a 45min drive from our hotel to Grumo Nevado, the venue of the prologue. The Italian drivers must really be experienced as words fail to describe what driving in Italy is really like. A 2 lane road will have 4 cars across it, indicators are rarely used, the speed limit is ignored, roundabouts are negotiated from any direction and one-way streets are not really one-way. The Toyota's, our team cars also have electric fold in mirrors to squeeze through the tight back streets.

The prologue was an individual time trial where we were set off at 1min intervals. In typical Italian style, there was a band playing, women were dancing and the race was nearly an hour late in getting started. The start list changed at least 3 times and so in a mad panic, I rushed down at 9pm thinking I was riding at 9.06pm but I ended being the 6th last rider off and started my time trial at 11.20pm. It was so dark at nearly midnight and the corners were really tight so I didn't take any risks on the corners. Given I had been standing/sitting at the start area for over 2 hours, I did an ok time, 3mins 23sec while the winner did about 3mins 6sec.

Stage -1

119Km

Today was a mountain stage, finishing with a mountain top finish in Guardia San Framondi. The first 20km had a number of cobble stone sections, and we went through at least a dozen Italian villages. The roads were really rough and we were constantly trying to avoid holes and water grids on the road. There were so many crashes today. Riders who were not concentrating would touch another wheel and up to 5 riders at a time would go down. I only saw one serious looking crash where a girl somehow miss judged a hairpin turn and went straight over the cliff.

We rode a flat course for 77km and then climbed for 20km. The climb was a reasonable gradient with at least 60 riders getting over in the front group. We actually rode through the finish line and then headed out on another 20km loop before climbing the same ascent to the finish. I made it over in the climb in the front group and then negotiated speed humps and hairpins as we raced down the other side before looping around to climb the same hill again. At the 100km mark, I started to feel really dehydrated. It was 36C and I hadn't had enough water. I was on the wrong side of the peloton as we went through the 90km feed zone and hadn't been able to get a bottle. The race caravan that includes all the team cars was being held up by the slower riders who had been dropped so we were unable to get any water. I lasted until 5km to go and then my legs blew up. I struggled up to the finish and lost several minutes on the main group. In our team, both Felicia and Mitta finished with the main group in the top 30, while Meredith and Tina finished about 1 minute ahead of Charm and myself. Unfortunately Trine and Christine had mechanical problems and a crash, respectively, but they overcame these problems to only a few minutes behind us.

Tomorrow is another hilly course with another mountain top finish. I am praying for some cooler weather and hope my legs feel strong.

Stage - 2

6 July 2003

85km

Well, what a hard day!

The day started out rather unpleasantly for me. Without going into all the details, I accidentally drank Italian tap water last night, caught a stomach bug and spent the morning running to and from the bathroom. After countless visits, I had become quite dehydrated and by 12 noon when the race started, I had a headache and uncomfortable empty stomach cramps. With poor health, I knew today would become a survival day.

Today' stage was 85km, which started in Colle Sannita and finished in San Marco dei Cavoti, at the top of a category 1 climb. Most of the major climbs are categorised with 1 being the hardest and 3 being a little less steep. The first category 1 climb was 10km long, commencing at the 19km mark, but the roads wound up gradually after 9km and the pace was putting me right on the rivet before we even started the category 1 climb.

I started the race right at the back of the peloton and after an initial 4km steep descent I was badly positioned as the road started to climb and soon gaps were opening up everywhere. Each time I came around a rider to close a gap it was using up energy and I was really struggling. I tried to drink a juice box (liquid Extran energy drink) and I didn't have the co-ordination to get it in my mouth. I spilt it all over my face, down my arms and all over the bike. I felt sorry for our mechanic Chad who would have to clean it all off tonight.

Shortly after starting the 10km climb, I lost contact with the front group, and found a smaller group of riders who were climbing at my tempo. About 25 of us finished the day together, coming in 16 minutes behind the main field. It was not a brilliant day for me but I am glad I made it in, within the time limit and hope I can have a better day tomorrow and my stomach doesn't feel so delicate. And for those that were wondering, my tender stomach didn't effect my appetite! The dog bowl is still being filled on the hour.

By the way, I thought I would briefly introduce the Team S.A.T.S. (Scandinavian Athletic Training Senter) team, that I am riding the Giro d'Italia with.

The riders include:

• Trine Hansen - Denmark
• Christine Peick-Andersen - Denmark
• Mitte Fischer - Denmark
• Meredith Miller - USA (living in Denmark)
• Tina Mayolo-Pic - Georgia, USA
• Charm Breon - Pennsylvania, USA
• Felicia Greer - Canada

Our staff include:

• Chris MacDonald - Director
• Chad Contreras - Mechanic 1
• Mario Salinas - Mechanic 2
• Per Kylling - Soigneur 1
• Rasmus Hansen - Soigneur 2

Today's stage was 83km, again finishing at the top of a mountain. I am so grateful that today is the last mountain stage, with the rest of the stages being relatively flat and undulating - much better terrain for my build.

We started today's stage in Monteroduni, an amazing Italian village perched right on the top of a mountain, with an old castle standing on the highest peak. I read in our Italian race bible (not that I can read Italian) but could work out that the castle was built in 1193. The weather was again hot, (35°C) so keeping hydrated was again a concern. There were storm clouds gathering though, so we were anticipating a shower or two.

After yesterday's bad start, I got to the start line 20 minutes early to secure a position up near the front. The stage started with a fast 4km steep descent and then we headed onto a highway before turning upwards for a day of climbing. My stomach was still a little squeezy but better than yesterday so had a bit more energy today for climbing. The first category 2 climb started at the 9km mark and the fast pace caused me to gradually slipped towards the back of the peloton. I recovered a little at the 20km mark but I kept getting really slowed down on the hairpin corners and the accelerations out of these corners to catch back on was ripping my legs apart. At the 28km mark, I started to drift back through the cars and I watched the peloton ride away. I worked with a few girls as we crested the hill at 31km, and soon formed a group of 15 riders which included two Team SATS team-mates, Meredith and Charm.

The rain started after 40km and it came down really hard. The roads turned treacherously slippery and with the long hairpin descents we had to ride really conservatively. The oil and mud off the roads was flicked up everywhere making riding a little unpleasant.

In Team SATS Charm, Mitte and I remained upright while the others had a few incidents. Tina wiped out on a corner and slide for several metres but jumped up quickly and got back into the front group. She went on to finish in the top 30. Christine abandoned the race after vomiting all night and having absolutely no strength to climb.

Felicia crashed into a guard rail, with her ribs taking the entire impact. She flipped her bike over the guard rail and had to climb over and retrieve it. Our director Chris had trouble finding her as she was still down the embankment retrieving her bike when he drove by. Trine crashed out on a corner and put a nasty gash in her elbow and still finished well.

Joan Wilson (Team TDS) who was riding carbon wheels that are super light but have the disadvantage of not breaking well in the wet, lost control on a corner, broke 2 ribs as well as her collarbone. Meredith and I found her in the back of the ambulance in a full body brace after the race. Amy Safe (AIS) crashed on a corner and needed 5 stitches in her elbow which they did without an anaesthetic. In all, nearly every second rider had a bandage of some sort on their body.

We finished the race in Castelpizzuto several minutes behind the lead group but happy that the major climbing stages are over.

Stage - 4

8 July 2003

141km

Today's stage started in Frosolone, another quaint little Italian village. The road twisted gradually up for about 1km before descending for 9km. It was another 35°C day - is it always so hot over here??

In the warm up my bike was perfect, however on the descent it started making a really strange rubbing noise down near the right crank. I radioed back to Chris and moved to the back of the peloton. I tried to explain to the neutral support crew that I had a funny noise down near my cranks but he didn't understand English. I was nearly 500m behind the peloton when I heard Chris tell me to stay with the peloton until the bike became too bad to ride. The stage had nearly 70km of descending (yippee) and it would be impossible to get back into the peloton if I stopped. So I opened it up and descended at nearly 75km/hr to catch back on. It was much less stressful descending alone and I was quickly back in the bunch.

After the descent we had a nasty 4km climb that almost had me dropped. I just made it over and recovered on another long descent. The next part of the race was a little scary. We had about 10 tunnels to go through. Most riders dropped their sunglasses down their noses and peered over them to see, but this blocked the sideways vision a bit and made me feel like I had blinkers on.

The road continued to descend gradually as our speed hovered around 50-60km/hr. Meredith Miller, Tina Mayolo-Pic and I were all racing aggressively - covering attacks and trying to get into a break. Eventually, a break Tina was in, got a good gap on the field and we moved to the front to shut down the pace of the peloton. TMobile missed the break and fought hard to try and get a rider across but we sat on each move they made, and they eventually gave up.

Tina rode a great race, working hard in a group of about 12 riders, while the rest of Team SATS rode defensively to slow the peloton as much as possible and increase her chances of the break staying away. Tina's group did stay away, and she crested the final 4km climb and sprinted to a strong 2nd place, while the rest of Team SATS finished in the peloton, just over 1min behind. Our team was so happy to get our first podium in the Giro - it was a great moment for all of us.

By the way, I found out a small chain ring bolt had rattled loose and the noise was my small chain ring rubbing on my frame. It took a little paint off but fortunately was an easy fix for our mechanic, Chad.

Stage - 5

9 July 2003

101Km

Today's stage was really really fast. After a breakfast of cereal, pasta and croissants we rode 5km from our hotel to the race start, in Lanciano for another hot stage.

Someone attacked early and with the cross headwinds the bunch was strung out in a single line for the first 30km. I hadn't warmed up well and my legs screamed for the first hour. The course was up the east coast of Italy and had some spectacular scenery with great views of the ocean, castles, churches and other old buildings - but with the speed sitting around 48-50km/hr, it was difficult to sit in the peloton and sight-see, although I did see one huge old castle that no-one else saw, so the joke was that I was sitting in the bunch - just looking around and enjoying the scenery.

The race finished in Alba Adriatica where we completed 3 laps of a 2km finishing circuit. It was very difficult to move up on the last lap and the peloton had a number of almost crashes as we turned the final corner to sprint. Mette Fische (Team SATS) finished 15th which was a great result for such a hard finish. Other team SATS riders, Felicia and Charm were rolling into the finish and got caught up in a crash that significantly injured Felicia's shoulder and took a lot of skin off Charm. Felicia was at the hospital until 9pm where they told her various stories - she needs an operation, she has a ligament separation but also that she can ride tomorrow. So she has a shoulder brace on it and she will see how she feels tomorrow.

Until then, I am off to eat another huge bowl of pasta and have a red vino!!! Ciao.

Stage - 6

10 July 2003

90Km

This morning we were woken up at 6.30am for drug testing. Every rider in the hotel had blood taken to check whether our hematocrit level (red blood cell count) was under the prescribed limit. And what better place to take our blood than in the restaurant where we eat breakfast, so a number of athletes were busy eating their cereal while in a corner, a nurse was busy sucking blood out of each riders arm. I am horrible with injections and warned our Director that I may faint. He had me squeeze his hand and this helped distract me from the procedure. The results came back before the start of the stage and the tour was certainly taking its toll on me as my hematocrit level was only 38.7 when it is typically around 40.

Today's stage was really tough for our team. The course was a 30km undulating loop in the town of Jesi but it had a really nasty 2km climb straight off the line and on the first lap I felt like my legs were being ripped off. The climb really warmed me up though and about 10km I saw an attack up a climb and went with it. I sat on her wheel and then countered her attack. She jumped with me and I looked back to see that we had a gap. She pulled through over the top of the climb but within 30 seconds the strung out field soon closed the gap. The next counter attack left me gasping for air and struggling to hold a wheel as the peloton kept the pace at 45km/hr.

A few minutes later I heard over the radio we all wear that Tina Mayolo-Pic had flatted. Charm dropped back to help her while Meredith, Felicia and I hung towards the back of the peloton while Mette stayed up near the front of the peloton to cover any attacks. Tina rode hard and was soon in the caravan of team cars and after several minutes of time trialing was at the back of the peloton just as we started our second lap. Suddenly, someone at the front of the main field attacked hard up the 2km climb and the peloton strung out into a long single line. With most of Team SATS at the back with the weaker riders, gaps started to open up and we were all struggling to close them. As we crested the hill, we were in a group of 30 riders, about 10 seconds off the main field. Meredith, Tina and I started driving it hard but no-one would help us. We held the 10 second gap for a several minutes before it gradually began to stretch. I radioed my frustration to our Director who suggested that two of us jump off the front and time trial ourselves back onto the group, without taking the entire field. Tina and I attacked with Lynn Gaggioli (USA) coming with us. We worked hard together but were unable to get any closer than 25 seconds.

At the start of the final 30km lap, the three of us knew we were unable to close the gap and we rode tempo for the final lap. A team mate, Felicia and another rider, Rhonda Quick (USA) eventually joined us and we rode in together. We lost nearly 10 minutes today on the lead group which was disappointing. Mette (Team SATS) narrowly avoided a crash in the final kilometre and then rode up the wrong side of the finishing shoot, so her chance at a top 10 finish didn't happen today.

The other unfortunate incident today was that Charm, after dropping back to help get Tina back on after her wheel change, missed the caravan convoy and rode the majority of the stage on her own. With such a fast stage, Charm finished outside the allocated 10% time cut allowance and was excluded from continuing in the race. This rule is tough if you get dropped from the main field and with the hills and windy conditions it unfortunately meant the end of Charm's Giro d'Italia.

My legs are a little fried from trying so hard to get back to the group, but I hope I find something in the legs to have a good day tomorrow.

Stage - 7a

11 July 2003

45Km

Today was a tough day as we had to ride two stages. We kicked the day off with a point to point race that started at 9.30am. This meant an early start for us with me trying to force some pasta down at 7am. I couldn't do it and decided to just eat cereal and a croissant. Some days during a long tour, I wake up hungry and it is no problem eating a small feast, but this morning the site of food made me feel sick, but I ate what I could to get through the morning.

The 45km point to point race started in Gabbice and finished in Cesenatico. After a 4km descent to the Adriatic coast, some keen rider attacked and the peloton became one long line of riders, all trying to hide from the cross headwinds. The pace was painfully fast and I was actually concerned about getting dropped during the first 30km. I looked down and we were hammering at over 50km/hr. Our director, Chris, as he gave out instructions to us from the car, occasionally referred to these winds as 'tailwinds' but I was suffering out there and did not ever feel a nice taily!

The race bible described the finish as a straight run to the line, but at 3km to go, we went through several roundabouts, negotiated a steep highway curved off ramp and then had a 180 degree corner only 800m from the line. I wasn't in the top 10 at this point and it was impossible to move up during the final few kilometres. We all finished safely in the bunch but without the anticipated top 10 finish.

We rolled around for a few minutes to try and cool down (although the temperature was hovering into the upper 30's), found the team cars, piled in and commenced our 1.5 hour transfer to Cento for the afternoon circuit race.

Stage - 7b

11 July 2003

44Km

After another meal of pasta (what else would we eat day after day in Italy) we headed to the 7km circuit in Cento and rode a warm up lap in the 38°C heat. We were all dripping with sweat from the heat and from the thought of riding such a technical circuit at high speed. The circuit had 11 corners, 2 sections of cobble stones, a narrow archway, several divided sections of road with the median to avoid and 2 climbs. Granted the climbs weren't steep, but after reviewing the race bible which showed zero elevation it was another unpleasant surprise for the day.

I spoke to our Director before the race and mentioned that I would love to get in a break today and it was certainly a circuit where a break could stay away. It was so technical that a break would be quicker than the peloton. So I moved to the front during the first 2km, saw a girl to attack and dived off the front after her. Soon there were 4 of us working hard to get away from the peloton. The other girls were strong, pulling turns at 48km/hr and I was red lining it just to hang in there. I pulled as many turns as I could and desperately radioed back to Meredith (Team SATS) to find out if the peloton were interested in chasing. I was hoping we were putting time into the group and could maybe ease the pace a little. After 2 laps, our time gap was being closed and soon into the 3rd lap we were absorbed. I sat in for a while to recover and then started at looking at another opportunity. Meredith and I were covering a few attacks but everything was being chased down.

On the first gradual hill on the 4th lap, a few girls attacked with Meredith and I both there. Over the hill, they opened a gap in front of us and started driving hard. Before the gap opened to far, Meredith sprinted from the peloton and drove hard towards the break away, with one girl on her wheel. I sat on the front of the peloton, prayed that no-one else would follow Meredith and hoped that most of the major teams had a rider represented in the break. And indeed this was the case which was a perfect situation for us so we sat on the front of the peloton and eased up the pace in order to lengthen the time gap to the break.

With one lap to go, the break had over 1 minute on us so they were guaranteed to stay away. As the break approached the final cobble stone section (with 1km to go), where the finish line was located, Meredith jumped hard and almost held them off for her first stage win, but with 10m to go, two riders just edged past her. Her third place in the Giro, however, was another awesome result for Team SATS and we were delighted to be on the podium again.

Stage - 8

12 July 2003

147Km

I couldn't believe it. Our director knocked on our door at 6am to inform us that (the vampires were back and) we all had to go to report for drug control testing again. My first thought was that we had a long stage today and I hoped they wouldn't take too much blood out. I wondered if my body could replace the lost blood by 10am if I ate enough for breakfast. This time I handled the needle much better but still had cold clammy hands while I nervously waited my turn.

We decided to eat breakfast right away, so I sat with my back to the nurse and chowed into some cereal, yoghurt and several cups of Italian espresso. They make great coffee but it is a bit strong at times.

Team SATS' plan was to get into a break and from the start there were numerous attacks from the major teams. I was keen into the break and was jumping into many of the attacks but everything was being shut down, by one team or another. The temperature was really warm too, and everyone was feeling tired. Meredith had a solo break for several kilometres but the Cataluna team came to the front and team time trialled to chase her down. After 137km, we passed the finish line and headed onto a 5km circuit that we rode twice. This circuit had 2 tight corners on it and had a long 1.5km wide road to the finish.

With 3km to go, an Acca Due O rider attacked and I jumped across to her. I took a hard turn at 55km/hr but the peloton were not keen to let anyone escape at this late stage and we were quickly swallowed up. I tried to recover and position myself for the sprint. The AIS train was driving at the front with the Acca Due O team also bringing Rochelle to the front. It was a rough battle in the closing section with a lot of pushing and screaming. I chose the right side of the road but just couldn't get past many of the riders. Trine, Tina and I were only 0.4 second behind the winner and finished 26th, 27th and 28th.

I was glad to have made it across the line in one piece. I narrowly avoided running over a photographer who had positioned himself a mere 20m beyond the finish line. I watched his eyes open wide as he realised he was in a bad place with the peloton hammering towards him at 60km/hr.

So with only one stage to go, it was off to the hotel to get some rest and recovery. I was looking forward to a good massage, another bowl of pasta and an early night. Meanwhile, our mechanics had a busy evening getting our aero bars on and tuning disk wheels for our final stage, the individual time trial.

Stage - 9

13 July 2003

24Km

I was so happy to wake up and realise that after today I could have a rest. I wouldn't have to force down food, I could sleep in and even have a day off!!!

The time trial started in Mira and ended in Venezia (Venice). I spent 45 minutes on the trainer, trying to coax my legs into going hard one last time. I had jumped into so many breaks yesterday that they just wouldn't respond today. I rode as hard as I could and finished 4mins down on the winner.

Trine Hanson (Team SATS) rode like an absolute steam train and finished 8th, only 43 seconds behind the winner. So with another top 10 result for our team, we finished off the Giro with another successful day. Riding into Venice was amazing. The final 2km took us along narrow paths beside one of the canals. After recovering at the finish line for several minutes, we returned to our team cars by boat.

After some team photos, and a 2 hour sight-seeing tour of Venice, we loaded up the cars and headed back our hotel for a celebration dinner. We all had a few wines and relaxed into the night with yet another great Italian meal. The following day we paid a visit to the team's bike sponsor, Pinerello, before commencing the 20 hour commute to Copenhagen. I slept on and off but was most relieved to reach the ferry terminal between Germany and Denmark in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

I am now resting up in Copenhagen and getting ready to ride the Tour de France with Team SATS. I am a little nervous but so excited to be riding such a prestigious race. I hope the alps aren't too painful and look forward to the flat, windy days that will be more suited to me.