Yes it is on!
The biggest race to hit July is about to start, the Giro Rosa. This most prestigious tour on the women's calendar will be held from the 30th June until the 7th July in Italy, starting in Giovinazzo, in Bari, Puglia and finishing in Cremona, Lombardy.
Here is the cheat sheet to catch the Aussies in action.
In 2013 there will be
The riders and the teams they will ride for are:
Bizkaia - Durango (@BizkaiaD2013)
Ruth Corset (@RCorset)
Jo Hogan (@healthycyclist)
Hitek Products UCK (@Hitec_Products)
Chloe Hosking (@chloe_hosking)
Lotto Belisol Ladies (@LB_Ladies)
Carlee Taylor (@carleetaylor1)
Orica-AIS (@Orica_GreenEDGE)
Tiffany Cromwell (@tiffanycromwell)
Gracie Elvin (@gracieelvin)
Shara Gillow (@SharaGillow)
Melissa Hoskins (@MelissaMHoskins)
Jessie Maclean (@aussiejessmac)
Amanda Spratt (@AmandaSpratt)
Team Specialized-Lululemon (@velociosports)
Loren Rowney (@LorenRowney)
Wiggle Honda (@WiggleHonda)
Rochelle Gilmore (@RochelleGilmore)
Lauren Kitchen (@LaurenKitchen1)
(Full start list and any corrections can be found here)
Coverage
The official race Twitter is: @GiroRosa2013
Official race website is: www.girorosa.it (you can select English as your preferred language)
There is currently no live coverage available to Australian audiences. However, Italian TV Channel RAI Sport 2 will be providing one hour highlights - if you can access it, they will be shown around 4am Australian Eastern Standard Time.
During the race, there are some DS, Team Managers and Soigneurs who will also tweet updates.
SBS have provided a Tour page with all the basic race info - great start, and hopefully we see this built upon as the race progresses:
http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/event/giro-rosa-2013
Race results are almost guaranteed to appear on all cycling news related sites, including the ones providing specific race previews below, as well as the ones who (mostly) focus on the other race in July.
Race Previews
A great spread of race previews to get your feel around the race. Some of these are:
Bicycling.com
A very detailed stage-by-stage preview is available on deessesdelaroute
VeloFocus has an awesome amount of race info, including history, what each classification means, and a social start list (riders with social media profiles): http://velofocus.com/
British-based preview (but a good one) at Total Women's Cycling
Aussie - Women Who Cycle
Cyclingnews.com have a great profile on Gracie Elvin
Teams are also self promoting (which is awesome!).
Orica AIS pre-race presser
Sarah Connolly (@_Pigeons_), an amazing resource of all things cycling, compiles a review of where to catch the action, tweets during the stage, and all the other interesting guff to come out of the event:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/6/28/4474004/how-to-follow-the-2013-giro-rosa
Stories relating to the Giro Rosa and published the website she writes for, Podium Cafe, can be found here:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/6/26/4467762/giro-rosa-2013
This year there are two major initiatives to help build the profile of female cyclists, and both of them benefit Australian riders.
The first, by Podium Cafe, has asked riders questions about the Giro Rosa. Lauren Kitchen is profiled in Part 1:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/6/26/4467694/Giro-Rosa-2013-rider-questions-1
And Loren Rowney and (a sometimes Aussie) Sharon Laws are profiled in Part 2:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/6/27/4468312/Giro-Rosa-2013-rider-questions-2
Part 3 includes Rochelle Gilmore and Chloe Hosking:
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/6/28/4470304/giro-rosa-2013-rider-questions-3
Podium Cafe are also undertaking a major campaign involving the Orica-AIS riders, where fans can submit questions and the Orica-AIS women will respond, with answers released throughout the Giro Rosa.
http://www.podiumcafe.com/2013/6/25/4462112/Ask-ORICA-Giro-Rosa-2013
The second is the Australian based news source for cycling, Peloton Cafe, which has a very strong focus on covering women's cycling. Peloton Cafe (don't get the two confused) will also be providing a Q&A following each stage for these Aussie riders: Jo Hogan, Chloe Hosking and Carlee Taylor. You can submit your questions via facebook, and the riders will respond after each stage. Follow Peloton Cafe on facebook for updates on this.
Best of luck to all the women competing, I hope to be able to stay up late watching you all....one day very soon.
x
