​The final day on the island of Sardinia certainly produced a dramatic finale to three days of spectacular scenery and aggressive racing.
 
The wind on stage three into Cagliari, was extreme with gusts in excess of 70 kph. Everyone knew that the Quickstep team would light it up in the final 20 km, when a change of direction turned what had been a full-on tail wind into a damaging gale force side wind, not many could do much about it. 

Sardinia has been an amazing experience for most on the 100th Giro d’Italia, but not for the Orica Scott team, and specifically their gun sprinter Caleb Ewan.

A tactical mistake on stage one cost the dynamic young sprinter from Bowral a certain victory, and in stage 2, a mechanical in the final 200 meters cost him another.

THE island of Sardinia is bathed in pink today as it hosts the first stage of the 100th Giro d’Italia.
Pink is the colour of the Giro, similarly to yellow being the colour of the Tour de France and for the same reasons.

The Tour was first run as a promotion for a daily sports paper called La Auto. Its pages were yellow so that soon became the colour of the leader’s jersey. The event captured the imagination of European sports fans so the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport started their own version and it also was embraced by the Italian sport mad “Tifossi”.

Its pages were pink and so the leader’s jersey, the Maglia Rosa, and the flavour of the race are also pink.
I have a serious love affair with the “Giro” — I raced it 36 years ago and have covered six for the Addy over
the years.

And although always referred to as the bridesmaid to the Tour de France, it has a beautiful element that makes it quite special — the passion.