From the beaches of Venice to the historic ruins of Rome the Giro d’Italia is winding its way through Italy. Commonly known as “The Giro” the Giro d’Italia is Italy’s answer to France’s Tour de France.

This year the tour has the added excitement of having Lance Armstrong who is competing after a 4 year layoff spent drinking beer – his words, not mine. He also has to cope with the aftermath of recent shoulder surgery, the result of taking a spill in a race this past spring.

Adding emotion to the race is Danilo Di Luca from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Abruzzo is home to L’Aquila, the city damaged in the April 6 earthquake. Di Lucca who was poised to come in second before being overtaken by Stefano Garzelli in the last seconds was cheered wildly by Italian fans who in turned booed Garzelli. Di Lucca the clear fan favorite finished third in the stage.

While the Tour de France has its yellow jersey The Giro has the “Maglia Rosa”, the pink jersey. You would think it would be easy to pick out a pink jersey in a group of male cyclists but given the bright outfits cyclists wear it is harder than you would think it would be.