CyclingFans: Wednesday's Giro d'Italia Stage 17 departs Falzes/Pfalzen at 11:55am CET (5:55am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Cortina d'Ampezzo at around 5:13pm CET (11:13am U.S. Eastern).  Giro d'Italia live streaming video should get underway at around 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNews: Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) believes there is no better tribute to his former teammate Xavier Tondo than riding well in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

road.cc: Basque rider attacks fellow escapees on final climb to take solo win.

Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages & results),
An Post Ras - May 20-27 (Stages & results),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (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...

VeloNews: Peter Stetina (Garmin-Barracuda) is kicking himself for not eating enough in Sunday’s wet slog and dropping out of contention for the Giro’s white jersey. Stetina got the bonk Sunday and slipped out of the top 20 overall, down to 38th and 20:07 back.

Pedal: At the 2012 Giro d’Italia Ryder Hesjedal immediately proved that he deserved the designation as team Garmin-Barracuda’s leader, finishing the opening Time Trial with the top time among GC hopefuls.

VeloNation: Belgian attacker sits 12th overall heading into final week.

Cyclismas: "One of the great things about this sport is the people who you meet on the road; bikes are a fantastic equaliser. There aren’t many sports where you could take part in the sport with a top professional and a rank novice at the same time. I mean, it’s not often that Jona Lomu nips down to the park for a spot of touch or Messi comes down to have a kick about behind the bike sheds."

Amber Neben: "On Tuesday, I am going back to where my road cycling career all began: an international, women’s-only race in Idaho. A long, long time ago, back in 2001, before Twitter and Facebook and when DSL was fast internet, I was a broken hearted distance runner-turned-gym rat-turned mountain bike racer/grad student who was invited to race the HP Women’s Challenge with Mr. Safford’s Earthlink team. They were a local team in my Southern California area, and I was excited and up for the challenge."

VelocioSports: Specialized-lululemon doubled up in Gatineau this weekend to win both the time trial event and the road race. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg won GP Gatineau on Monday in a bunch sprint from Rochelle Gilmore and Alona Andruk.

BikeRumor: Packed in the 2012 Charge Mixer is the Shimano Alfine 11-speed internal hub, the bike’s showstopper. It creates clean lines and a virtually maintenance-free system.

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "Amazing comfort for such a stiff frame and a very rewarding ride."

road.cc: A day when the race could be lost and a day for someone who can climb and descend… Geraint Thomas has a name.

VeloNation: Final Olympic gauntlets to be thrown down in Idaho stage race.

VeloNation: 2008 Olympic medallist takes up McEwen's slot on Australian team.

BicycleRetailer: Ridley Bicycle is recalling about 105 carbon fiber threadless temps because they can crack or break. So far the company has received one report of a stem breaking in use, resulting in minor injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

VeloNation: Video interview after long distance break succeeds in reaching finish.

CyclingIQ: Former Giro d’Italia stage runner-up Maximiliano Richeze presented Team Nippo its first Tour of Japan stage win from a clean bunch sprint in Mino city (Gifu Prefecture) today, following the calculated capture of a plucky local duo who gave their utmost to run away with the spoils.

CyclingNews: Lars Bak's win in the twelfth stage of the Giro d'Italia has turned the Lotto Beilsol rider into a much-sought-after man. Bjarne Riis has said that his young Team Saxo Bank riders can learn something from Bak, while Team Sky has admitted it would have liked to have signed him.

BikeRumor: Ok, power lovers, imagine this: what if there was a power meter that was accurate, light weight, fit any of your wheels, you were able to switch back and forth between bikes, and was fairly inexpensive? Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, that’s exactly what Laser Spoke creator Gennady Lubarsky is envisioning with his laser based power meter. Yes, lasers.

VeloNews: When it comes to improving performance, it’s easy to focus on training and equipment. But to neglect nutrition is to assure failure. Dr. Stacy Sims has consulted with Lance Armstrong and Andy Schleck on nutrition, and recently launched her new company, Osmo Nutrition.

road.cc: Go-faster steel all-rounder unveiled.

Off The Beaten Path: Even though Daniel Rebour retired almost 40 years ago, his drawings remain recognizable to many cyclists today. Rebour’s drawings distilled the essence of components and bicycles better than photographs ever can. He managed to make even the most mundane bicycle appealing, and his drawings greatly added to the allure of the wonderful machines made by the great constructeurs.

CompetitiveCyclist: "After mentioning a few weeks back that I was on the hunt for a steel road frame and fork, I went ahead and ordered a Dave Kirk. I'll keep folks posted here about the purchase process. My last email to Dave revealed that there are plenty of questions for us to answer."

TwistedSpoke: This morning Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Bici reports that RadioShack Nissan-Trek manager Johan Bruyneel has terminated the contracts of all the team riders except for classics superstar Fabian Cancellara.

VeloNation: Swiss rider ready to return after bad collarbone break.

Lee Rodgers: "The people hollered and cheered as we careened through the capital’s streets, an invited army in trade colors, various colored helmets and shoes of brilliant hues — some bodies black and some gone blue, yet still we shocked those looking on, so mighty was the sheer speed of our roaring phalanx, rising to over 60km per hour on the weary, battered road. Vibrant. Alive. Hurting."

CyclingNews: For the first time since the Index’s inception, Philippe Gilbert (BMC) has been knocked off the top spot by Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha), the current leader of the 2012 Giro d’Italia. However with only 126 points separating the top three positions, nothing is secure as the Giro heads into the Dolomites and Gilbert lines up for the Tour of Belgium – a race he won in 2011.

InnerRing: How important is cycling to you? You might enjoy riding and following the pro races but what if cycling prevented a civil war? What if two cyclists formed the greatest sporting rivalry of all time? What if cycling was inseparable from politics, religion, the economy and society? Welcome to Italy, at least to various points in Italian history were these claims have been made.

Cyclismas: William Fotheringham answers some questions about his biography of Eddy Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike. Along the way we consider attitudes to doping, the longevity (or not) of cycling marriages, the 1970s critérium circuit and more.

BikeRumor: Extralite has just released their new Ultrapost, a 3D CNC machined alloy post that comes in as light as 99g for the 31.6 x 250mm. There’s also a 300mm length at 138g, both of which rival (or best in many cases) carbon fiber posts in weight.

BikeRadar: It's that time of year again where next year's products precipitously flood into the office and these new Ritchey Superlogic road components from do nothing to stem the tide.

PEZ: Thomson Bike Tours is firmly established as a leading provider of performance cycling tours to the mountains of Europe. Peter Thomson, co-founder of Thomson Bike Tours , has been riding Europe’s most spectacular routes for over 25 years. This season he will lead two trips through the majestic Vuelta á España terrain.

VeloNation: Luxembourg champion has “let the team down” says RadioShack-Nissan manager; no one is guaranteed a Tour spot.