Two corks and a parrot

When I hit “Publish” on yesterday’s blog post (Stage 10: Pescara to Jesi – GreenWightRed) I was unaware of the podium drama that led to yesterday’s magnificent winner Biniam Girmay leaving the race today, and I had somehow also missed the parrot. Now we know that cycling is a dangerous sport, highlighted by the tributes paid to Michele Scarponi yesterday, five years after the talented Astana rider was killed when on a training ride near his home in the village of Filottrano which was on the route of Stage 10. His pet parrot Frankie, who used to accompany Scarpone on training rides (see Frankie the Parrot – YouTube), was there to greet the peloton. Frankie also featured on special water bottles used by the Astana team.

The race organisers are now having to consider health and safety changes for the podium celebrations after Girmay somehow hit himself in the eye with the champagne cork and ended up in hospital and now out of the race (sorry, Paul, Don’t ruin it for me are down to 7 riders now and ominously last on points today). The Eritrean star had unwittingly emulated Mattieu van der Poel who also managed to cork himself in the face when he won Stage 1.

Run from the back

It was a thrilling sprint finish at the end of Stage 11, and an Italian stage winner in Alberto Dianese storming past the fast men in the last 50 m. Amazing! The best placed of any of our fantasy team selections was Caleb in 5th, but the most successful minileague team was Philippa’s It’s all downhill from here (Team of the Day on Stage 3) with Cavendish in 6th and Theuns in 7th. Overall it was the lowest scoring day so far, but there was still some jostling in the mini-league:

Flag of the Day

Well Reggio was a nice place to finish the stage, and at first sight the flag is bright and interesting. And it features the famous roman abbreviation SPQR (“Small Profits, Quick Returns”) But hang on, I hear you say, why aren’t those symbols in the middle of the quarters? That’s because they seem to have been lifted from the coat of arms and plonked willy-nilly into a flag shape. I’m not convinced at all that this is a real flag, which is why I’d rather mention one of the many notable Reggio residents: Giovanni Venturi was an 18th century physicist who gave his name to the Venturi effect, of course, which describes the reduction in fluid pressure when it passes through a constriction in the pipe, as illustrated by a large peloton squeezing through the narrow roads in the last 20 km. Sort of.