Philip Deignan, above, has celebrated the start of the Giro with an old shot of himself on TV in a pair of jocks!
Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche get their 2016 Giro d'Italia underway tomorrow when the race kicks off with a time trial.
However, before that 9.8km test in Apeldoorn gets underway, Deignan has taken to social media to reminisce about Giro's past.
And he's done that in quite an unusual way; by sharing an old photo of himself in a pair of underpants taken from a TV behind-the-scenes item recorded when he rode the Giro for Cervélo in 2009.
Joking aside, both Deignan and Roche have shown some absolutely fantastic form of late and both have won Grand Tour stages before; Roche two at the Vuelta and Deignan one stage in the same event.
Advertisement
Both Irishmen will be working hard for team leader Mikel Landa, who goes into this race as Team Sky's main man for the overall standings and one of the hot favourites to win the event.
Related News
However, Deignan has been climbing out of his skin as has Roche, who was 2nd on the final stage and 2nd overall at the Tour de Yorkshire last weekend.
And given the form they are in and their performances in past Grand Tours, it would be no surprise at all to see them winning a stage.
As ever, the possibility of getting a chance to ride for themselves may be limited because of team duties.
But if Team Sky's general classification hopes fade or either Irishman gets up the road to mark a breakaway, they would definitely have the firepower to take Ireland's first stage win at the Giro since 1987.
Stephen Roche's time trial win on stage 22 of the 1987 Giro was the last time an Irishman won a stage on the race; Roche winning all three individual time trials in the race that year on his way to claiming overall victory.
Giro d'Underpants
Philip Deignan on a behind the scenes TV item during the Giro he rode with Cervélo; great tan lines and even better jocks!
Topics
