I'm writing this whilst doing what many people on the race will be doing on the Giro d'Italia rest day: waiting for my laundry to finish. After a week on the race, I managed to get a lie-in this morning, and a few hours to have a walk and not think about work, but the time 'off' goes quickly and it won't be long until I'm planning logistics and prepping questions for tomorrow. No complaints, though – sitting here in the sun in Pisa is pretty good.
I'll be penning some regular columns whilst I'm out here at the Giro, taking you behind the scenes of the race and my job at TNT Sports and Eurosport, plus plenty of off-bike anecdotes too, because a lot happens in three weeks! Before we get onto this week in Italy, I wanted to give you a little introduction to what my job looks like, and what goes into the stuff you see on TV.
Despite what some people think, it's just me and my cameraman, Bob, in our car, doing all the driving, which can be a lot here in Italy, as well as all the filming, interviews and planning for three weeks. It can be a long time to spend with one person, and some long and busy days, but we've done a few Grand Tours together now, which definitely helps, and we’ve become great friends.
A typical day will always start with a good breakfast – pretty cake and crostata heavy here in Italy, plus a cappuccino and an espresso to set me up for the day – and then I'll spend some time preparing for the day: reading the news, thinking about who I need to speak to at the start, what the storylines and questions of the day will be. Then we'll head to the start, and it's always straight to the buses for me. We have other reporters on the ground talking to the riders at the start, but I'm on team and DS duty.
For Bob and me, the next part of our day will be to drive the course to the finish and again be those on-the-ground eyes, so if we spot anything interesting, like a really hard part of a climb or a dodgy road surface or the excited fans, we'll jump out and do another piece for the broadcast. A good example was the other day when a sudden downfall of rain washed loads of debris onto the climb at the Red Bull KM, and we were there to show it – something riders and teams probably hadn't even seen yet – so that course recon part of the day is really important.
Especially with the element of live TV, you might think these finishes are stressful, but to be honest, that's not the word I'd use; I'd more say it's just high adrenaline. There are definitely times you don't get exactly what you hoped for, like on Sunday when Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe weren't ready to talk after Giulio Pellizzari's tough day on the Corno alle Scale, but the truth is, there's always another story and another person to talk to, so it's never a disaster.
I'm a person who always wants to throw myself into everything, and I always want to give my all, but I think that works in this job where you're always running around. I try to give 100% every day to deliver the best thing possible, so as long as I finish the day knowing I've tried my best, then I know I can be satisfied. On a Grand Tour, there's never an easy day or a chance to take your foot off the gas, but that's not really in my nature anyway.
Plus, as I said before, we have a real mutual respect with the teams, we know we're all just doing our jobs, so fortunately everyone is usually very happy to talk to me, and once you've been here for a few weeks, you build a really nice rapport with them too.
I started thinking about who my favourite teams to talk to at the moment are, but honestly, I can't pick one – as soon as I think of a few, I think of ten more that I'm not mentioning. Really we just have a good relationship with all the teams, no one's really difficult, and you get to know who is good to talk to, who will give insightful answers and a good chat.
First week highlights – Hannah-dona and la vita dolce
I only came out to the race on the travel day from Bulgaria this year, so I've only been here a week, but already so much has happened; it's hard to pick highlights, because every day is such a buzz. One thing I'm really enjoying at the moment is doing the live chats with The Breakaway studio, and they've been really good – just asking quick questions, on the move, and getting really authentic reactions.
This means it's often quite small things that end up being highlights for me; I'll remember interviews that were funny or entertaining as much as ones that gave really insightful answers. One good moment this week was when I was talking to Red Bull DS Christian Pömer, and he had his sandwich he'd not managed to eat during the stage, and we just had a little joke about that. I like those moments where you go from being serious and talking about tactics to those moments of just human realness and funny interactions.
There's also obviously the embarrassing but in hindsight quite funny moment you've probably seen, where I was practising my football skills at the start one day with some keepy-uppies, and managed to kick the ball right into a man's face. He's fine, just to confirm, and I got a lot of messages about how I'd had people in stitches, but it was mortifying at the time. The Breakaway team have nicknamed me Hanna-dona because of it, after the Argentinian legend, so I don't think I'm going to live that one down any time soon (though we just bought a football on the rest day, so watch this space for more skills…)
But some of my favourite moments are the ones you'd never see on TV. The other day, we were driving to Blockhaus, and we hadn't managed to get lunch at the start, but there was just nowhere on the way into the mountains; we were getting desperate. We stopped in this tiny village, hoping a cheese shop might be able to make us a sandwich, but no luck, so our last option was a little trattoria a few doors down.
It was a tiny little family-run place, with the mum cooking and the son waiting, but they couldn't have been more welcoming, making us the most simple but delicious spaghetti, which the Nonna put in trays so we could get back on the road, as well as a really good caffe macchiato. It was a small moment and so basic but also so wholesome, and they even sent me a really sweet message on Instagram later. So sometimes it's these just really lovely moments away from the race where people are just being kind and friendly that are the ones you remember. The days can be long, and it's hard work, but when you're eating pasta in Italy in the summer, and this is your job – what could be better?
An open, exciting race
Racing-wise, I've really enjoyed this year's Giro so far, because there have been so many storylines, intrigue and different stage winners. One thing that's been really nice to see is how UAE Team Emirates-XRG have bounced back from a really torrid start to win three stages, two with Jhonatan Narváez and, of course, that crazy stage with Igor Arrieta – I don't think I've ever seen a stage like it.
That day as well was also super poignant because Afonso Eulálio went into pink, exactly five years to the day since Gino Mäder won his first Giro stage for Bahrain Victorious. I interviewed Aart Vierhouten, the Bahrain sports director, afterwards, and, of course, it was a special moment for them to claim pink for the first time, but it was also really emotional and apt to do it on that day in particular.
Of course you never want to ask someone about something like that, but it was also really special to talk about Gino. My voice was breaking asking the question, and the DS was welling up too, and it just shows how Bahrain are still always riding for Gino. I think it's important to remember the human, emotional part, as well as the racing.
Seeing new riders and teams win has also been great, like Paul Magnier coming in and beating the favourite Jonathan Milan in the sprints, and of course Davide Ballerini's hugely deserved victory in Naples; that was just magic. Thomas Silva winning a stage and going into pink as the first Uruguayan to ride the Giro, too, that was amazing, and it's been so cool seeing his family here and seeing the Uruguayan flags every day.
As for the GC, obviously Jonas Vingegaard is still the favourite, but it's been amazing how close Felix Gall has been pushing him. I've been speaking to Decathlon nearly every day, and it's clear they're here to fight and get Gall ahead of the days where he might lose time. Jonas too is really focused and locked in, but staying calm; with Felix often coming good in the final week of the Grand Tour, I think Jonas has a real battle on his hands.
And that's all assuming that Afonso is going to lose the jersey, as he's been riding amazingly. Franco Pellizzoti was telling me how they have to really guide him through the stages and remind him to keep calm and in control, but he's learning really quickly, and with the stages to come, if he can keep the lead in the TT, he could keep pink until the end of the week.
Straight back to it
Once I've figured out how to use this Italian tumble dryer, my day – or few hours – off will be over, and we'll be back to thinking about racing with Tuesday's time trial. Studying the course, preparing some questions, and working out our mission for the day.
For me, I'll be at the start in Viareggio, chatting to directors about the race and pacing strategies, plus scoping out some new tech and the riders' set-ups. That's a fun part of TT days, because teams often like to keep the bikes and equipment under wraps, so it's really cool when Bob and I go out and spot new things.
The only thing I'm hoping for is that it's sunny, because I'll be running around at the start all day, and it can be a long day, which is never fun when it's raining. Although like I said, with the camaraderie on the race, it's never that bad. For last year's TT in Pisa, the weather was awful - my cameraman Marco and I dodging the rain - but Movistar got loads of pizzas in, and they shared them with us and looked after us all day.
Whatever happens, it will be another great day and week on the Giro, and there's nowhere I'd rather be right now. See you on the next rest day!
