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 […]

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 […]

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 35C 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 […]

Stage 3 –  7 July 2003 – 83km 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hi Everyone, I am racing the Giro d’Italia, a 10 day stage race with Team SATS, a Danish team.  The race started in Naples, southern Italy yesterday and finishes in Venice next Sunday. Prologue – 2km We had a 45min drive from our hotel to Grumo Nevado, the venue of the prologue. The Italian drivers must really be experienced as […]

Stage 4 – Workers Credit Union Criterium, Fitchburg, 50/25 miles (M/W) Today we decided to go out and have some fun.  We didn’t have a jersey to defend so we were able to race aggressively and try and go for the stage win. Almost by surprise, Ulmer went for the first points sprint and won it.  Without even talking about […]

Stage 3 – Unitil/FG&E Road Race,Princeton, 110km Today’s stage was a day for the climbers.  Each 18km lap had a tough 1.5km climb through Princeton where the feedzone was located, however a number of other climbs throughout each lap soon took its toll on the peloton. Team TDS rode in defence of the leaders jersey for the third day in […]

Stage 2 – Aubuchon Hardware Circuit Race, Fitchburg, 60km Greg Moran’s Aubuchon Hardware company was the proud sponsor of today’s circuit race.  Our plan was to ride defensively to retain the leaders jersey but to also try and win the stage.  It was a welcome relief to hear that due to the extreme heat and humidity, the organisers decided to […]