Race

Denmark will be awash with pink over the next three days as it hosts the start of the 2012 Giro d'Italia in what is the most northerly departure ever undertaken by one of cycling's three Grand Tours. The race also marks the start of our Premium Fantasy Cycling competition, with a Jamis Xenith bike on offer to the winner - head over here to sign up, if you haven't done so already. Here's our guide to what promises as ever to be a thrilling three weeks.

Le Carrefour de l’Arbre is a cobbled farm track which indirectly links the two villages of Camphin-en-Pevele and Gruson, near Lille in northern France. I imagine on most days it would be deserted, alone and unseen from no more than a few metres across the flat agricultural landscape, especially when the crop is high.

As the first Monument of the season, Milan-San Remo is one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the season – doubly so now that it features for the second time in our season-long Fantasy Cycling competition. Geraint Thomas, after a spell on the road in Paris-Nice, is now back on the track as he continues his London 2012 preparations, but as usual the Team Sky star, who raced La Classicissima di Primavera for the first time last year, also has some tips for the race.

Paris-Nice, ‘The Race to the Sun,’ marks a change in gear as the cycling season heads into March. While there’s no shortage of season-opening stage races these days, the arrival of one with real heritage – this is the 70th edition – causes a ripple of excitement among fans and riders alike. Among those racing is Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, switching back to the road from the track, who gives his thoughts on the race in general plus Fantasy Cycling tips on each stage below.

Following Tom Boonen’s victory in the Tour of Qatar last week, Oman today sees the start of the second of the Middle East's multi-stage races on the pro cycling calendar, back for its third edition and, what’s more, making its debut in our Fantasy Cycling game.

Tuesday sees the start of the Santos Tour Down Under and with it the 2012 UCI WorldTour season and, of course, our Fantasy Cycling game, back for its second full season. Here’s our guide to this week’s race, which with its first ever hilltop finish on Stage 5 promises to be an intriguing 14th edition of the event.

Saturday sees the start of the final Grand Tour of 2011, the Vuelta a Espana, and as ever there promises to be an intriguing three weeks of racing on offer, both in terms of the overall title and other jerseys, and as preparation for the UCI Road World Champiosnhips in Copenhagen. Tour de France champion Cadel Evans may be missing, but the top prize in our Fantasy Vuelta competition, brought to you in partnership with Evans Cycles, is a £1,199 BMC BMC Street Racer SR02.

There's just four days to go till the 98th edition of the Tour de France gets under way in the Vendée and as ever there will be twists and turns in the three weeks ahead before the winner climbs on to the podium in Paris… Indeed such is the power of the drama and scandal that has habitually surrounded the world's greatest cycle race that who will be judged to have won the last edition is still the subject of controversy, with defending champion Alberto Contador racing despite his positve test for clenbuterol during last year's race, with an appeal against the decision of the Spanish federation to clear him not being heard until August.

The 2011 Giro d’Italia gets under way in Turin on Saturday, and some very tough stages particularly in the final week or so could see an epic battle develop for the maglia rosa – perhaps even going to the final day’s individual time trial in Milan. Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, who rode the 2008 Giro with Barloworld, isn’t racing, but he’s looking forward to watching the action of what should be a thrilling three weeks’ racing every bit as much as the rest of us. Here’s our stage-by-stage guide to the race together with the British national champion’s expert analysis of the route.

It was quite easy really, across Kent as quick as possible, hot-tilt boogie through the Chunnel and out along the North coast of Europe for not long at all to a romantic dockland suburb of Gent and the even more romantic Fomule 1 hotel where the smell of Death stalks the corridors, or maybe it’s just the critical mass of B.O., for too little sleep and the standard Continental insufficient pre-ride breakfast of bad coffee and Nutella filled rolls.