My Giro days two and three

OK. I won't go on too much more about the Giro, I know there could be a limit to the number of photographs of tanned limbs and lycra that you want to see. So I'll just tell you that we caught two other stages of the tour and on both occasions I got really really close to Lance.

The second day of our holiday we were up bright and early, I woke around 5. 30 to bright sunlight, opened the curtains and was surprised to see the man next door up, fully dressed and watering his garden. Its inspirational to live in a climate where there's no need to huddle under the duvet postponing getting out of bed.

We didn't have to drive too far to catch the cyclists that morning, we had thought they were riding to the top of a mountain pass but actually the road surface was so bad it would have been dangerous and they went through the tunnel underneath it. We saw them just before they started the climb and here is my photograph of Lanceblurred but precious he's on the far left wearing no 21.

The other stage we saw was the penultimate one that passed within about 20 minutes of our house in Lazio. We left Tuscany that morning and after a long long drive arrived in Anagni in time to catch the end of the day that included two circuits of the town. I took a few more snaps but for the final lap I decided just to watch, cheer and enjoy, I was rewarded when Lance came along at my side of the road so close, so handsome. Next day, Sunday, we watched part of the final stage, a time trial in Rome, at our friends house. I saw Denis Menchov fall off, skid down the road, get on a new bike and go on to win the Giro d'Italia. Ivan Basso might have been my winner of choice but Denis really deserved his victory especially after such a disaster and Lance finished a creditable 12th. Brilliant.