2nd stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia starts from Alba in Piemonte . . . .

. . . so this is a perfect time to plug my lovely wines from G.D. Vajra! It is a sprinter's stage so look for one of the guys below to win, barring some unseen catastrophe, and what would be better than a nice bottle of G.D. Vajra Moscato d'Asti, chilled within an inch of its life, after a hard long stage? Or maybe the Langhe Riesling . . .

TOP TEN SPRINTERS:

1. Tyler Farrar (Garmin)
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)
3. Mark Cavendish (HTC)
4. Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step)
5. Theo Bos (Rabobank)
6. Robbie Hunter (Radio Shack)
7. Robbie McEwen (Radio Shack)
8. Julian Dean (Garmin)
9. Mark Renshaw (HTC)

And of course, the the stage ends in another one of my favorite towns, Parma. I know Parma pretty well as my good friend Max M'bassado grew up there and I went to visit occasionally to see him play soccer. Always amazes me that soccer is still played in the winter over there (the summer and early fall was always reserved for working the harvest!) as it is butt-cold and moist in the winter. Brrrrrrr.

Well, I am putting my money on Tyler Farrar to get a few stages this year and let's see what he can come up with tomorrow.