Giro diary watch: Vampires and ice cream

Ronny Scholz' day started with vampires and ended with ice cream he reports on www.ronnyscholz.de. "The day began early, as the vampires from the UCI came in the early morning to take our blood." After breakfast and a two-and half hour training ride, the Gerolsteiners "sat in a cafe and enjoyed the sun." Late that afternoon was the team presentation. "On the way back to the hotel, we all went together to eat an ice cream and the café owner turned out to be a big cycling fan, who invited us all for an espresso."

Rabobank's Grischa Niermann also enjoyed the "quiet before the storm," spending time with his girlfriend, son and mother. He has a special goal for the Giro: "It will be my ninth participation in a three-week tour, so it's about time I had a stage win. I just hope that my rivals and especially my legs think so too!" (grischa-niermann.de)

Olaf Pollack of T-Mobile wore the Giro leader's jersey for a day two years ago. He knows it will be more difficult this year. "The Giro is super difficult this year. It goes constantly up and down and there are two hard time trials." But he is looking forward to it, "especially because there are so many fans out on the road. I'm ready." (olafpollack.de)