Sunday's Stage 8 start time: 11:00 CET (2:00 AM PDT);
Earliest live video: 14:35 CET (5:35 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 17:11 CET (8:11 AM PDT); 

road.cc: The most southerly point of this year's race and a day for a break says Geraint Thomas.

PodiumInsight: Day two of the Missouri Professional Cycling Series saw top class fields contest the most recent round of the USA Crits on the streets of the Grove neighborhood in St. Louis, MO. With 150 riders in the men’s race and over 50 racers in the women’s field, all the top NRC teams were represented as perfect weather greeted the fields for an afternoon of full tilt crit racing.

CyclingNews: Paolo Tiralongo added to Team Astana's list of successes in 2012 by conquering the steep, twisting climb up to Rocca di Cambio to win the seventh stage of the Giro d'Italia. He had taken off with 500 meters to go with 2011 Giro winner Michele Scarponi, who took second place. Fränk Schleck of RadioShack-Nissan finished third, only three seconds later.

CyclingNews: Michele Scarponi gave a clear answer to those who doubted his state of form on stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia to Rocca di Cambio by finishing second behind Paolo Tiralongo (Astana). The Lampre-ISD team has lost the lead as Adriano Malori was unable to hold the speed on the final climb, but they have gained serenity with Scarponi showing that he’s the most incisive of the favorites in an uphill finish. The official defending champion has also justified his leadership over Damiano Cunego.

TwistedSpoke: If you’re a underdog with awesome form, that’s how you want to slide into the Tour of California. Just off the list of potential contenders, a media afterthought, mentioned but not really feared.

Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages & results),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
Tour de Picardie - May 11-13 (Stages & results),
Tour of Chongming Island - May 9-11 (Stages & results),
Tour de France - June 30 - July 22 (Stages),
2012 Olympic Games - July 28 - August 12 (Races),
Vuelta a España - August 18 - September 9 (Stages),
More...

VeloNation: French sprinter adjudged to have impeded rivals in Villers-Bocage finish.

Reto Hollenstein: "On Wednesday we set out for the Giro d'Italia. On the day we arrived there wasn't really a Giro feeling – everyone was really relaxed and laid back. But on Thursday we did a casual training session and saw the pink signs and posters everywhere – that's when things really got started!"

road.cc: Grippy, durable and fairly light, a very good all-round performance training tire.

Chris Horner: “Hey, your boys writing the articles for Cali do remember that I was 4th last year, I’m the highest-ranked U.S. rider in the world, and am going to drop all your favorites.”

VeloNation: Ryder Hesjedal becomes the first Canadian in pink after the race’s first mountain finish.

VeloNews: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) made history Saturday by becoming the first Canadian to wear the pink jersey. But like most things in modern-day cycling, it didn’t happen by accident. Behind Hesjedal’s journey to the top of the Giro leaderboard is months of planning and hard work.

VeloNation: RadioShack Nissan rider to the fore in Giro d’Italia.

InnerRing: There’s been a big focus on the Giro this week and no wonder given it’s the second biggest race on the calendar, with an open list of contenders, some good scenery and a variety of chances. But there’s been plenty more happening during the past week and more to come in the days ahead.

TwistedSpoke: Post TOC press conference we’re feeling all rhetorical. For instance, has Horner already won the Cali race without turning a pedal in anger or disinterest? We’re dealing with a Levi Void.

road.cc: The first summit finish of this year's race… and Geraint Thomas gives us a name.

PodiumInsight: As the cycling world looks to Italy and California over the coming days and weeks, a fast growing series of criteriums in St. Louis, MO is quietly attracting top teams from the around the country with a variety of quality courses and NRC points. With deep neighborhood support and a growing list of sponsors, the Missouri Professional Cycling Series, also know as MoPro, is working its way into the upper echelons of domestic criterium racing.

BikeHugger: There’s been some head scratching on the configuration of the new Dura Ace 9000 brake caliper. Velonews speculated that there are 3 pivots hidden in the caliper above. What’s kind of weird is the spy photo from Japan (about a month old) seems to show a full production model, while the shots of Team Sky Pinarellos at the Giro this week have logo-free examples, as if they were prototypes.

VeloNation: Comment sought from RadioShack Nissan team.

CyclingNews: Ciao from Pesaro on the East coast, watching the Adriatic Sea from the hotel room I share with my team-mate Mathias Frank. Let’s talk about another team-mate of mine: Taylor Phinney. In the past five days, the world has discovered a phenomenal person. He’s the kind of champion that cycling needs. Without the most damaging of his three crashes, he would still be in the maglia rosa now.

VeloNation: Garmin-Barracuda rider becomes the first Canadian in pink after letting it slip the day before.

New team-mate says Italian is extremely focussed

Peloton: Three-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer of the United States plans to start this year's edition of the top US stage race Sunday despite breaking a leg last month.

PodiumInsight: One year ago, a then retired Fast Freddie Rodriguez was riding a fund-raiser with the Specialized Junior team when he “got the bug back”. Climbing on Sierra Road with the riders he was mentoring, his interest to return to professional cycling was re-kindled. A few months later, he was racing with his new squad, Team Exergy in Philly.

VeloNews: Here at the Giro, the 23c is in decline, replaced by its slightly fatter cousin, the 25c. Many of the teams already recognized for more progressive technological mindsets have begun using fatter 25c tires for regular road stages – no cobbles or gravel in sight, just smooth(ish) Italian tarmac.

Lee Waldman: What do you do when you have that really bad race? It’s that day when you just can’t get out of your own way. Absolutely nothing works. Everything just feels off kilter. Like the Universe has shifted slightly overnight.

road.cc: Shiny shoes, new jerseys, helpful videos, beautiful saddles and more...

Lee Rodgers: “Come race UCI Asia Tour,” they said. “New cultures, amazing vistas, exotic wildlife,” they said.
Sounds too good to be true? Well, it actually is kind of true (if any truth can be “kind of”), but they forgot to mention one critical factor that will transform even the most transcendentally beautiful locale from Nirvana to Hell in one fell swoop: The Heat.