Rasmussen: "Finishes totally nuts"

Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen has joined the ranks of this year's Giro d'Italia riders complaining about the parcours of the race's stage finishes. In his diary on feltet.dk/michaelrasmussen, the Rabobank rider wrote, "There might be somebody who calls [the finishes] spectacular, but we call it totally insane," especially referring to the final part of stage two where the peloton had to pass a narrow bridge.

"At that point it was totally nuts. There was a low stone fence of 20 cm and 15 m to fall. In Wednesday's stage there were eight hairpin turns within the last kilometres. It doesn't make much sense that we are not allowed to take off our helmets on the last climb on our way up to the finishing line because they think it is too dangerous, but it is possible to make that kind of stage finishes. To me it seems a bit contradictory."

Rasmussen also thinks that the racing has become harder because of the ProTour. "It has started to remind me a little of Tour de France," he said. "That is also the impression I get when I speak to the Italians that have done the Giro many times. They say that it is by far the hardest and best Giro for many years."