The Giro d’Italia is no stranger to a bit of drama, sometimes of an exciting nature and at others excruciatingly painful. The Grande Partenza in Bulgaria has lived up to those expectations by serving up a hint of the former and sadly a large dose of the latter.
For those who are drawn to random statistics, Thomas Silva being the first ever Uruguayan to win a Grand Tour stage will be a delight, and he's their first ever Grand Tour race leader, too. XDS Astana have to be considering when the current Maglia Rosa wearer will be the first ever Uruguayan at the Tour de France. Unlikely this year but I’m sure ASO, the Tour organisers, will have already noted him as more proof of the 'mondialisation du cyclisme'. Uruguay could well be a new market opportunity in the same way that Colombia brought some fresh faces to a gloomy European scene.
