Giro di Sardegna Photos Feb 22 - 26

« Giro di Sardegna 2011 Live Dashboard

The ferry docked in Livorno on the mainland that will transport all the teams and their vehicles	Ready to unload on Sardinia	Lets isolate what BMC and RadioShack brought. 1 BMC team car unloading...
1 BMC support van...	1 BMC motorhome	Liquigas' Vincenzo Nibali arriving. He'll wear bib #1 tomorrow for his first race of the year
Take a look at the fleet of vehicles RadioShack brought. 1 team car...	Another team car...	One motorhome...
And a big truck. Any space left for the other teams?.

Stage 1:   Olbia → Porto Cervo, 138 km  Full Results and Report

Late addition to the startlist, Ora Hotels - Carrera, arriving at the start in Olbia	The rollout from Olbia. The 70% chance of rain didn't materialize until later in the stage.	And this is the flattest stage of the five
The peloton let two riders get away early on ...	Spidertech's Will Routley, the Canadian National Champ, and Katusha's Arkimedes Arguelyes got a healthy lead and scooped up most the sprint and kom points	Liquigas' Peter Sagan gapped the field on the twisty, slightly uphill finish in Porto Cervo
Looks like he's ready for Paris-Nice which starts in less than two weeks.	2) Alessandro Ballan (BMC), 3) Daniel Oss (Liquigas Cannondale), 4) Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre ISD), 5) Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli), 6) Angel Vicioso (Androni Giocattoli), 7) Elia Favilli (Farnese Vini Neri Sottoli)	Peter Sagan is, of course, the first rider this year to wear the cool Sardegna leader's jersey

Stage 2:  Porto Rotondo → Monte Ortobene, 198 km  Full Results and Report

Suffering from bronchitis earlier in the year, Lampre's Alessandro Petacchi was quiet in his season debut at Saturday's Trofeo Laigueglia and Tuesday's stage 1	Petacchi's new teammate is Michelle Scarponi making his season and team debut this week on Sardinia	A couple of sprinters (Danilo Napolitano and Robbie McEwen) enjoying their favorite moment of this stage, a sunny morning by the harbour at Porto Rotondo. This would be the last we'd see of them.
The picturesque roll out from the shore, literally, of Porto Rotondo	The peloton passed by Olbia, yesterday's start host, while on its way southwest to Nuoro (Monte Ortobene)	Attacco: Liquigas-Cannondale's Eros Capecchi leading inside 1 km to go on Monte Ortobene
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) and Jose Serpa (Androni Giocattoli) in hot pursuit	Damiano Cunego wins stage 2 ahead of Jose Serpa (Androni Giocattoli) and race leader Peter Sagan who was passed at the line by Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli)	Cunego celebrates after going winless in 2010
It's been 527 days since Cunego last stepped up onto a podium	Your stage 2 podium: 2nd Jose Serpa (Androni Giocattoli), 1st Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) and 3rd Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli)	Cunego is also the new race leader by 2s over Peter Sagan who finished 4th today just outside of the time bonuses
No scenic shots from the top by Sirotti as of yet so here's a repeat of his best panoramic from last year

Stage 3:  Orani → Lanusei, 173 km  Full Results and Report

BMC arriving for the start in Orani on a beautiful morning	Liquigas' Vincenzo Nibali signing in...	RadioShack's Fumiyuki Beppu signing in...
BMC's Alessandro Ballan signing in...	Androni Giocattoli's Alessandro Bertolini um...	Michele Scarponi doing some extra warm-up in a confined space
Race leader Damiano Cunego enjoying the morning sunshine	The Orani start panoramic	The rollout
A beautiful day for a bike ride	Once again a strong Liquigas team, again led by Eros Capecchi, dictated the race with 1 km to go	Just like stage 1, Liquigas' Peter Sagan gapped the field, after a great leadout, on the narrow uphill run to the line... this time in Lanusei
While Sagan celebrates, José Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli) nipped Damiano Cunego (Lampre Isd) for second	This gives you an ideal of how narrow the finish was	Your stage 3 winner being presented his award
The stage 3 podium: 2nd José Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli), 1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas Cannondale) and 3rd Damiano Cunego (Lampre Isd)	Peter Sagan moved back into the race lead, 4s ahead of Cunego and has 6s on Serpa.

Stage 4:  Lanusei → Oristano, 174 km  Full Results and Report

Giro di Sardegna seems to bring out the younger crowd more so than other Italian races	RadioShack's Fumiyuki Beppu warming up	The start in Lanusei, site of yesterday's finish. As the sign says we are 140 km from Cagliari, Sardinia's capital, but we are not heading there today
A behind the scenes look at the Great Britain National Team and their kit design	And we are under way!	The rollout from Lanusei on another nice day
The sprint finish in full flight in Oristano, 174 km later	A surprise result? Liquigas' Peter Sagan wins again, this time beating sprinters Manuel Belletti (Colnago CSF Inox, left) and Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giocattoli, middle)	This guy can do it all
A crafty move because he may need the extra 10s of bonus time for tomorrow's uphill finish, the toughest of the race averaging 6.25% over the final 4 km. Detailed stage 5 preview (hilltop finish) now posted...

Stage 5:  Oristano → Gesturi, 174 km  Full Results and Report

Team RadioShack relaxing before the start in Oristano as other riders continue to sign-in behind them. If the Liguigas rider had a 'G' on his shirt then we would spell G-R-R-R!	RadioShack's Fumiyuki Beppu had the idea that he might solo the entire 174 km stage as the peloton rolls along the coast	The view of Gesturi from Giara di Gesturi where Stage 5 finished. photo credit: Artemisia
100m to go: Michele Scarponi (Lampre ISD) leads José Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli) after the two of them attacked on the steepest part of the climb (13%) with 2 km to go	José Serpa Perez knows he's within seconds of the overall win	Scarponi out of the saddle over the final 25 meters on the dirt finish
Michele Scarponi takes the final stage and the toughest finish	Scarponi not only denied Serpa Perez the stage win, but the four extra bonus for 1st place would have given Serpa Perez the overall win... as it turned out	Damiano Cunego needed better than third today (+ 0:08), but that's where he finished...
... five seconds ahead of race leader Peter Sagan who was fourth (+ 0:11)	Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli) about to pass Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) for fifth (+ 0:14)	Not only did Cunego not do enough to win the overall, he actually slipped down to 3rd overall after his 3rd place finish today
Your stage 5 hilltop podium: 2nd José Serpa Perez (Androni Giocattoli), 1st Michele Scarponi (Lampre ISD) and 3rd Damiano Cunego (Lampre ISD)	Serpa Perez (+ 0:03) and Cunego (+ 0:07) seem happier with 2nd and 3rd overall than the race winner Peter Sagan. If not for Michele Scarponi today, Serpa Perez would have been your overall winner.