Thoughts on the Giro, thus far

So, the Giro is well over a week old, and I'm just not getting around to having something to say about it...
1. Alessandro Petacchi - What has happened?!? He finally won a stage Monday, but this Giro has been a struggle so far. In his defence, his team did take themselves out on one stage, and there haven't been that many sprints, but still...
2. Paolo Bettini - I saw the move to the left that forced Baden Cooke into a somersault against the barriers, and I'd say the race officials were correct in relegating Bettini for an illegal line change. I've always liked Bettini, but that was quite a move, and he didn't make many friends with his denials and temper tantrum afterward...
3. Danilo Di Luca - What can one say? He's been amazing, and his struggle to stay in contact and keep the pink jersey today was almost as good as Thomas Voekler's last year in the Tour
4. Robbie McEwen - As much as I'd rather have Petacchi winning all the time, I like McEwen, because he's always brash and has great quotes, whether he wins or loses. Then again, that's true of pretty much all the Australians, so I like 'em all.
5. Dave Zabriski - Quite a time trial on Sunday. 'Nuff said.
6. Ivan Basso - Also quite a time trial on Sunday. I'd say he's spent a lot of time working on that this winter, and Lance should be afraid. Especially after today's mountain stage (see below).

So, with the first mountain stage on today, I sucked it up and purchased the OLN streaming video package. I was overjoyed (literally jumping around my apartment, albeit half-asleep, at 6:30am) when I got it going, along with the free streaming audio from Eurosport, and discovered that it's pretty much as good as watching it on TV!!! The only drawbacks are no Phil and Paul, and a slightly blurry picture, but that's nothing compared to being able to watch all the drama unfold! I had it full screen on my laptop and I moved it around as necessary whilst getting ready for work (ah, wireless internet). Today's stage was pretty exciting, with Basso and Salvodelli (and Simoni, in fairness) pretty much decimating the field. I was really disappointed in this actually, because now the race is basically down to Basso and Salvodelli, and maybe Di Luca, but Cunego, Garzelli, Cioni, they're all out of the picture. It's bad when that happens, because it's more interesting when there are more challengers. It always goes like this though - at the beginning there are so many people who can win, and the day when all those options go away is kind of depressing. But, I have faith that Cunego will still do something spectacular this Giro. Or maybe he's waiting for the Tour?!?

Tomorrow seems to be a stage potentially for the sprinters. Fingers crossed. I'll be up early to watch...