The Team Garmin cyclists must be licking their collective chops on Saturday after learning that the 2009 Giro d'Italia opens with a team time trial in Venice.
An opening team time trial in the Giro last year put the US-based team -- then known as Team Slipstream-Chipotle -- in the leading position with Illinois-raised Christian Vande Velde in the pink jersey.
The Giro rolls across Italy (with brief visits to Austria, Switzerland and France) for 2,105 miles from May 9 -31. It finishes in Rome with a time trial, the first time the bike race has skipped Milan as the finish since 1989 ... more »

