Friday's Stage 13 start time: 14:25 CET (5:25 AM PDT);
Earliest live video: 14:35 CET (5:35 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 17:13 CET (8:13 AM PDT).

road.cc: There's mountains, but it's a shorts stage - one for the sprinters says Team Sky's Geraint Thomas.

road.cc: Breakaway carries the day as race heads through spectacular scenery above the Cinque Terre.

VeloNews: The Giro d’Italia celebrates its pink, blue and red jerseys daily, but little attention is given to the other classifications. Categories like the fuga, the super team and the time gaps rankings go unnoticed, only spotted in the daily hand-outs to the journalists in the press room.

CyclingNews: After more than six weeks on the sidelines with a serious knee injury, Vacansoleil-DCM's Bjorn Leukemans made his competitive return to cycling yesterday at the Circuit de Lorraine in France. The 34-year-old Belgian was satisfied with his 15th place in the opening stage of the French race from Rombas to Neuves-Maisons.

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...

Bicycling: 25 solutions to vexing problems.

road.cc: A tough day and one for the break says Geraint Thomas… but there's a nice tight turn at the finish if ends in a sprint.

CyclingNews: Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela) who caused the major crash on stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia, won the sprint stage 11. Francesco Chicchi (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) was second, with Thomas Vaitkus (GreenEdge) third. Top favourite Mark Cavendish, who lost his teammates to a crash in the final turn, was unable to move up to the front and was fourth.

Fridays's Giro d'Italia Stage 13 departs Seravezza at 1:05pm CET (7:05am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Sestri Levante at around 5:09pm CET (11:09am U.S. Eastern).  Giro d'Italia live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNation: Jens Voigt takes unexpected runner-up slot behind USA TT champ.

PodiumInsight: Defending Champion, Kristin Armstrong (Exergy TWENTY12), dominated the Bakersfield time trial course finishing in under 40 minutes. She easily won the Second Annual Amgen Tour of California Women’s Time Trial Invitational. The women’s field raced the same course as the men’s Stage 5 time trial, 29.7 km with an 8% climb at the end on the China Grade Loop.

PodiumInsight: The race of truth today at the Amgen Tour of California – the time trial. One rider, one bike and a clock. That’s it. And the 18.4-mile (29.7 km) course is definitely for the specialists.

VeloNation: Slovakian plays down time trial chances.

CyclingNews: If the Amgen Tour of California had a jersey for the most popular rider, it would likely go to RadioShack-Nissan's Jens Voigt. The affable German was in a good mood as usual in Sonora yesterday as he prepared for the longest day of the week.

Bicycling: A look at cycling’s rising star, and the winner of four out of four stages at this year’s Tour of California.

PodiumInsight: On stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California, Alex Candelario (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) finished a very close fourth in a bunch sprint behind three very fast men, all on ProTeams. But before tangling at the front for the win, the sprinter had to make his way over three climbs as the pack raced 115.3 miles (185.5 km) from San Jose to Livermore.

CyclingNews: The Bontrager-Livestrong development team has made the most so far of its invitation to the Amgen Tour of California, scoring multiple top-10 stage results and placing New Zealander Josh Atkins, who currently sits 10th overall, in the Best Young Rider's jersey.

BikeRumor: ENVE Composites is considered one of (if not the) premier carbon fiber tube and component manufacturers, and we were given a chance to peek behind the curtain at their operation. Well, most of it anyway. There are a few things we couldn’t photograph or mention, but for the most part they opened their doors wide and gave us surprising amount of access.

Thursday's Tour of California Stage 5, a 29.7km Individual Time Trial at Bakersfield gets underway with the departure of the first rider at 1:00pm PDT (10:00pm CET). Tour of California live streaming video should get underway at around 1:45pm PDT (10:45pm CET).

SBS: World road race champion Mark Cavendish (Sky) has openly criticized key leadout man Geraint Thomas at the finish of Stage 11 of the Giro d'Italia in Montecatini overnight, after a mistake from the Welshman ruined his chances of what would have been his third stage win.

PodiumInsight: AEG and SRAM will present the Second Annual Amgen Tour of California Women’s Time Trial Invitational. Ten elite women time trial riders have been invited to race concurrently with the men’s time trial stage in Bakersfield. The women’s course will be the same course as the men’s race, 29.7 km with an 8% climb at the end on the China Grade Loop. Kristin Armstrong (Exergy Twenty12), last year’s winner, is aiming to repeat.

VeloNation: Briton pleased with progress, but doesn’t want to make presumptions.

Off The Beaten Path: Whether it’s wide tires at lower pressures or front-end geometries, some of what we find to work best is not currently used by professional racers. Don’t professional teams do a lot of testing and development of their equipment? Isn’t it safe to assume that their equipment is optimized for the job at hand? I believe the answer is: “Not always.”

road.cc: RadioShack Nissan's two fortysomethings relive the past - and Jens has another story saved up for the grandkids.

BikeHugger: Spotted this LED turn signal prototype on a bike in a rack yesterday. It’s for bicycle running and turn signals.

RedKitePrayer: "So last week I laid my hands on a SRAM 2012 Red group. To use a more colloquial phrasing, you might say that my stock has risen enough with the folks in Chicago that they were willing to provide me with a group for review."

CyclingNews: Following his interview with Men's Journal, Lance Armstrong will also appear on a US talk show, hosted by the California lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom, saying he's "done" answering questions regarding his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.

RedKitePrayer: "Given the opportunity to talk about ourselves, we make bold statements like, “I am a cyclist” or “I am a writer,” as if those temporary actions derive from some deeper sense of purpose or intention. The bicycle is always a bicycle, unless it is destroyed, but is the cyclist still a cyclist when he stops cycling?"