Giro d’Italia
So today marks the start of the 91st Giro d’Italia. This race holds alot of special meaning to me. My mother is Italian and has a sister that lives in Sicily. Now this is not why I watch the Giro d’Italia, but it is why in 1982 my parents sold everything we owned and we actually moved to Sicily. We lived on my Aunt & Uncle’s cattle ranch that was just outside of Baucina, Sicily.
It was during this time in Sicily that our family was traveling back from Palermo when we came to a road block and were asked pull off the side of the road. There were all sorts of people standing on top of their cars and on the side of the road. I didn’t understand what everyone was waiting for. Shortly after we pulled over I started to hear the people cheer and a couple motorcycles came by. Then all of sudden the peloton came sweeping by. I was 13 and had never seen so many bikes. I had my mother ask one of the spectators what was going on. They told us it was the Giro d’Italia - a professional bike race. It was that day that made me fall in love with cycling and want to someday become a professional cyclist.
That was 26 years ago and although I never became a professional cyclist my love of cycling still remains.
Below are the results from the 1982 Giro d’Italia.
| Cyclist | Country | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Hinault |  France |
110 h 07′ 55s |
| 2 | Tommy Prim |  Sweden |
+ 2′ 35s |
| 3 | Silvano Contini |  Italy |
+ 2′ 47s |
| 4 | Lucien van Impe |  Belgium |
+ 4′ 31s |
| 5 | Gianbattista Baronchelli | Italy |
+ 6′ 09s |
| 6 | Giuseppe Saronni | Italy |
+ 10′ 52s |
| 7 | Mario Beccia | Italy |
+ 11′ 06s |
| 8 | Francesco Moser | Italy |
+ 11′ 57s |
| 9 | Marco Groppo | Italy |
+ 14′ 43s |
| 10 | Faustino Rupérez Rincón |  Spain |
+ 14′ 57s |
