Pink Knickers For The Giro!

You are quite right, Schlecklanders - there's a ton of cycling on tv and I have hardly written a word about it.

There is a perfectly good reason for this:  I've been in Andyhab again, for being caught looking up the cost of flights to Lux (£39) and for just casually mentioning that Itzig is quite close to the Howald Tunnel *sighs*.

However, I've been let out on a special pass, on condition that I wear pink knickers *checks - yes, pink* and don't keep saying "well, it's a shame that Andy isn't riding in it" as Andy only rode the Giro once, in 2007, and never since, so it's not exactly a case of "the Giro isn't the same without him" in the way that le Tour is. Mind you, the one time he did ride the Giro, he come second, not bad, eh?!

So, anyone else watching the Giro? So far it's been far too exciting: the Prologue TTT went with a swish with not one single rider hitting the deck, although it was pretty strange to see Team Sky being beaten by FdJ... no offence meant to FdJ, but they beat Sky??? Predictably, O'rica won it, with Stinkoff coming in second, although Conti did look a bit like a dying duck in a thunderstorm towards the end, much to my secret amusement. Sorry, Contador fans, I still haven't quite forgiven him for Chaingate.

Then on Day 2 we had crash after crash, including that massive and really stupid one with 10k to go, when an idiot spectator on a bike hopped off the pavement and rode right into the peloton, with the expected result:  *sound effect of skittles*

Poor old Barbie Barbie (Heinrich Haussler) hit the deck there, and then again within about two minutes, he was not having a good day.

Sky had a  better day, with Viviani taking the stage, putting Michael "Bling" Matthews into the pink jersey, thus avoiding all the fuss and kerfuffle that goes with wearing the jersey. Cunning plan, Sky!

As for today's stage, Bling won it, thus consolidating himself as leader: but there was another heart-stopping crash when poor little Pozzovivo took a tumble while descending, and for a horrible moment it looked like a replay of four years ago, as he was airlifted off to hospital. Luckily he was not badly hurt, although presumably he is now out of the Giro, as he didn't finish the stage.

Talking of four years ago, it's good to see that the organisers are still honouring the number 108 by removing it from the roster. To be honest, I did think that they would only do so for a year or two, then quietly let it fizzle out. 

OK Schlecklanders, that's all I have time for tonight, but I promise I will try to keep up to date with what's going on *searches for planning permission in Itzig* 

Hmm, just one more thing, *checks over shoulder to make sure LLB isn't listening* Itzig is a very small place, but there are a couple of houses for sale.

In the UK, we would describe this as "ideal for the diy enthusiast" which is a polite way of saying that it is virtually derelict.

I don't even know what room this is supposed to be!

A kitchen?

A bathroom?

Either way, definitely ideal for the diy enthusiast.

But I quite like the attic, it definitely has potential.

It's hard to know how big the house is, as they seem to go on overall square footage, and being told that a house has 160m2 does not give me any idea as to whether it is spacious, or grotty.

But it could be yours, Schlecklanders, for just 495,000 Euros, that's about £345k or $552k.

Tempted, anyone? *laughs*