Stage 17 - Monier on the Money

I settled down on the sofa this morning and tuned-in, (well pressed some buttons, such is the technological age we live in) to catch the action from stage 17 of the Giro. I must have got my timing off, as the first thing on my TV screen was this gentleman.

I seem to having a bit of a run with encountering partially-dressed men in the morning recently. Yesterday arrived at my workplace to find what appeared to be a gay photo-shoot going on at the side of the building. I managed to get a quick picture of the scene, but hastily retreated when I heard the photographer say, "now undo the top button of your jeans for me".

Anyway, this Borat character seems to be the latest in a long list of chancers who pop up at the roadside to harass the riders. These range from the enthusiastic amateur, who just wants his 15 seconds of fame - like this guy.

To the seasoned race-follower with his own costume. Probably the most famous is "The Devil", who I spotted myself when I was in London for the TDF prologue back in 2008. I was lucky to spot him early on, as rumour has it, the Devil doesn't wash a whole lot during the race and come the mountain stages he can be smelled several km away.

So what happened in the race today? Well, there was a break of 19 men that went clear and soon had a nice lead of 10 minutes of so over the bunch. I wasn't too bothered, as none of the escapees were in my team, so no big scores for me. As the finish approached, the attacks started and in the end it was Damien Monier who made it over the line first.

Back in the main field, the favourites were content to sit back and watch each other. Although Scarponi did have a bit of a dig coming up to the line, there were no significant time gaps. No big changes in the GC then and no big points for anyone in the minileague - as far as I know anyway, the scores aren't in yet.

Stage 18 should be one for the sprinters. There aren't many fast-men left though. A lot of them have quit the race, rather than take a battering during the final week. Still riding though, is Andre Griepel, who I'm hoping will finally come good and win me a stage.