Rogers well placed

Michael Rogers has been talking up his form in the weeks leading up tothe Giro and today he finds himself and his Columbia team in an idealposition.

Michael Rogers has been talking up his form in the weeks leading up to the Giro and today he finds himself and his Columbia team in an ideal position.

His British teammate Mark Cavendish will wear the leader's jersey when stage two gets underway, but more significantly, Rogers will enjoy a psychological edge over his main rivals when the Giro hits the open road.

Scan the General Classification and you'll find Rogers as the best placed Aussie and the best placed of the overall contendors.

He heads Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong, Denis Menchov, Ivan Basso, Damiano Cunego and Carlos Sastre, just to name a few.

Rogers certainly looked the part wearing the green and gold jersey as Australia's reigning time trial champion and morale will be lifted when Cav slips into pink.

For Cavendish to be first across the line when the team came home was a clever directive from team management.

Why? Because man from the Isle of Man is likely to win his share of stages when the sprints get underway in earnest - and stay in the maglia rosa at least until the roads start to tilt skywards in stage four.

It's been a long, hard road to redemption for Rogers.

After his heartbreaking mishap at the 2007 Tour de France when his race ended after crashing into a ditch, he deserves a break.

Here's hoping good luck is on his side in his first appearance in a Grand Tour in almost two years.

Sure, there's a long way to go before the Rome finish on May 31 and as we've seen in big races of the past, it's never over till it's over.

However, already the signs are encouraging and I, for one, am hoping Rogers can build on his advantage.