Stories by Andrew Hood

• Posted: Thu, May 15th
  Visconti seizes lead at Giro as Priamo wins stage 6
  For the second day in a row, a breakaway stayed clear of the peloton, with another unsung hero from a smaller team in the form of Matteo Priamo (CSF-Panaria) taking center stage. Unlike yesterday, the attackers had enough rope to end Franco Pellizotti’s four-day run in the ...
• Posted: Wed, May 14th
  Peloton growing peevish over transfers, travails
  Riders are at their wits’ end with the seemingly endless string of transfers, delays and hassles associated with the opening days of the 91st Giro d’Italia. In the first three stages of racing on Sicily, there were no less than 500km of transfers, nearly as much as the ...
• Posted: Wed, May 14th
  Brutt battles to stage-5 win
  Tinkoff’s Pavel Brutt feinted and feigned his way to victory in the final kilometers of a five-man breakaway that held off the chasing peloton by 30 seconds in Wednesday’s fifth stage at the 91st Giro d’Italia.
• Posted: Mon, May 12th
  Bennati survives carnage to win stage 3
  Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) survived to win a crash-laden 222km third stage at the Giro d’Italia on Monday that saw scores of riders hit the deck in a nervous, technical race around the flanks of Mt. Etna. While Europe’s most active volcano remained quiet, there was plenty ...
• Posted: Sun, May 11th
  Vande Velde's day in pink
  Christian Vande Velde stepped off the Slipstream-Chipotle team bus Sunday morning along the beach at Cerfalù with a big smile on his face. Proudly decked out in the maglia rosa, Vande Velde was clearly enjoying his moment as the first American since Andy Hampsten won the ...
• Posted: Sun, May 11th
  2008 Giro d'Italia: Pellizotti in pink after Ricco wins stage 2
  Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) uncorked a tremendous sprint in the final 100 meters to win Sunday’s exciting 207km second stage, but Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) snuck into fourth to short circuit
• Posted: Sat, May 10th
  Inside Slipstream's team time trial preparation
  Slipstream-Chipotle’s victory in Saturday’s team time trial began weeks ago. The building blocks of the team’s historic victory that put Christian Vande Velde as the first American in the pink jersey in 20 years started with the team’s meticulous planning and ...
• Posted: Sat, May 10th
  Giro TTT: Slipstream's American Vande Velde in the lead
  Christian Vande Velde might have the pink jersey, but it was a team victory in every sense of the word Saturday for Slipstream-Chipotle in the 23.6km team time trial to open the 91st Giro d’Italia. Vande Velde, 31, ...
• Posted: Sat, May 10th
  Unexpected opportunity: Leipheimer at the Giro
  Levi Leipheimer was at home in California when he woke up a week ago with a surprise message. Instead of racing the Volta a Catalunya and the Dauphiné Libéré as planned, he was going to the Giro d’Italia. Leipheimer’s Giro debut in Saturday’s team time trial might ...
• Posted: Fri, May 9th
  The road to the Tour starts with the Giro for Menchov
  In Palermo, Italy Rabobank is trying a new approach this year for its quiet but steady Russian GC threat, Denis Menchov. After watching him win two of the past three editions of the Vuelta a España after racing the Tour de France, the team figures three hard weeks ...
• Posted: Fri, May 9th
  Contador: from the beach to the Giro
  In Palermo, Italy Alberto Contador was sipping a beer on the beach in Spain last week when he received a phone call from Astana team boss Johan Bruyneel. The news caught the defending Tour de France champion by surprise: Pack your bags, you’re heading to the ...
• Posted: Fri, May 9th
  The 2008 Giro d'Italia: the best field of the year?
  With a world champion, winners of all three of last year’s grand tours and a top-notch field of sprinters, does the Giro d’Italia boast the best lineup of the season? If you ask the riders ahead of Saturday’s start of the 91st Giro, they seem to agree. “Without ...