Giro route anyone?

iainf72

http://www.tuttosport.com/altri_sport/c ... la+cartina

You'll have to wait til tomorrow for detailed profiles and what not.

andyp

Lots of transfers, the riders won't like that.

iainf72

RCS don't seem to give a toss. Lots of complaints about it this year too.

afx237vi

What's the deal with the Milano stage? A crit?

steephill

iainf72 wrote:

http://www.tuttosport.com/altri_sport/ciclismo/2008/12/11-11979/Il+Giro+del+centenario+è+servito:+guarda+la+cartina

You'll have to wait til tomorrow for detailed profiles and what not.

I have some unofficial profiles and maps up:
http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/

Official mountain profiles will be posted tomorrow after the official announcement in Venice.

steephill

sorry... duplicate

steephill

see above

blazing_saddles

So, it looks like La Stampa got it spot on, well over a month ago. RCS can't keep secrets as well as the ASO.
Some strange stages in an odd looking Giro.

steephill

Blazing Saddles wrote:

So, it looks like La Stampa got it spot on, well over a month ago. RCS can't keep secrets as well as the ASO.
Some strange stages in an odd looking Giro.

"Well over a month ago" as in 50 days ago. La Stampa's version was about 75% correct. Not bad considering all the stage negotiations weren't yet finished.

blazing_saddles

I will be watching the presentation on RaiTre in just under the hour.
Let's hope the 100th anniversary delivers the field it promises and
that Cadel makes the right decision.
Something to lighten the Christmas shopping blues.....

blazing_saddles

I think this edition is going to throw up some explosive surprises.
My first impression was that the race wasn't stacked with the usual climb fest.
There isn't a Plan de Corones type stage, nor the Gavia or Stelvio stella climb.
The Col d'Izard is an early rendezvous with the Cima Coppi, yet it appears on the final Dolomite/Alp stage.
Some of these early stages are extremely long, several over 240kms, including climbing.

The profile then appears much flatter......but it isn't.

Stage 12's 61.7km ITT is extremely tough and is anything but flat.

The following stages seem to be a rollercoaster ride along the mountainous spine of Italy, with hardly a flat in sight. 9 climbs on the first Apennine MTF.
Block Haus is a short, but brutal stage.
Could it all erupt on Versuvius? :shock: 8)

FJS

Crickey, that's an original 3 week route, as always the Giro outshines the Tour in excentricity. The inclusion of a large number of more selective than decisive mountain stages seems a trend though. And it seems the fashion started by the Vuelta some years ago to only have mostly short stages is pretty much over.

That 61k TT has some serious climbs in it; close to 1.5 hours of TT-ing (just a guess), sounds like something out of the Anquetil era.

Pettachi wasn't looking too happy with the route, for a reason

iainf72

Funny that Ballan and Cunego were not at the presentation. It seems Saronni objects to the Giro being portrayed as the Basso and Armstrong show....

Looks like a lovely route. No obviously brutal but I suspect it's a lot harder than it looks on paper.

andyp

You don't think it looks brutal? It does to me. Six mountain top finishes and another five or so stages with significant climbs in. Plus all those transfers. Brutal.

I still think Armstrong is going to suffer when it comes to recovery, as he's had 3 years off with regards to cycling specific training. The Italians will be ambushing him at every opportunity to test him and a route like this may see him falter.

blazing_saddles

The Tour climbs a fake volcano, so the Giro climbs a real one!
The profile maps don't do justice to the difficulty of some of these climbs.
They use an identical route to Faenza, back in '03 and it blew the race to pieces.

afx237vi

Full stage profiles on cyclingnews:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009//giro09/?id=stages

Love the fact you have a 237km mental mountain stage on stage 16 and then a short, sharp blast up Block Haus the very next day.

A 61km TT is mad. But potentially interesting.

andyp

There's a 250 km mountain stage with 5 cols too. Jesus wept.

andyp

The 61 km TT is over twisting, turning hilly roads which definitely don't suit your average TTer.

I can see why Iain thinks Basso will win.

teagar

Basso definitely has it in the bag if he can learn to descend!

The 79km stage up to Blockhaus really stood out for me! As a mass start (I did check, I am right, right?)!!! I can't believe it!

I like that plenty of the finishes are after descents. Maybe the organisers wanted to put Basso through it!

Edit: Looks like a seriously exciting route. They're really outdoing the ASO! Last year was certainly better and this year looks great too.

Edit: I'm liking the recent trend of the organisers being ballsy with the route

iainf72

Ok, looking at it again it does make me feel a bit tired.

I think it's the lack of obvious show-piece like they've done the last few years means it didn't leap out at me.

How I love the Giro!

dave_1

I see Charmichael saying LA's lab test numbers going in "the right direction"...my guess is LA will take the TT by a margin like Indurain's 92, Ullrich 96 and 97 TTs..61km and Giro will be over

blazing_saddles

Di Luce has said that the 62km ITT will produce "unrecoverable" time gaps, while Jonny Vaughters thinks it's perfect for Vandevelde's engine.
Winning time will be in the low 40's kph, with 1100 metres of climbing.

The real beauty of this race is the sheer difficulty of controlling the race with the train, in the stages that follow this ITT. So many attacking options. Climbs, decents and heavy, narrow roads everywhere.
So unlike the Vuelta, that produces endless dull stages, because all the climbing is at the start of a stage, then end with 100kms of pan flat.

GroupOfOne MkII

The sprinters (particularly Petacchi and Bennati) must be a bit miffed, as there seems a serious lack of sprint finishes for them

Quite a few of the 'flat' stages, like St3 to Valdobbiadene or St20 to Anagni, seem to have little hills at the finish, so wrecking the chances of a bunch gallop. There also seem to be a couple of 'flat' stages will hills not far before the finish, perfect for ambushes, so the sprinters teams really are going to have to be on the ball. Or just not bother sending a sprinter!

Also when was the last time a GT held a circuit race mid-Tour, like with the one in Milan?

iainf72

The weather must be a concern - Very early to be in the north of Italy.

Basso's still the man for this Giro.

craigenty

andyp wrote:

There's a 250 km mountain stage with 5 cols too. Jesus wept.

Made me shudder too looking at the profile of stage 10 :shock: . Shame there's a 65km descent at the end.

craigenty

andyp
Hey, did you manage to sort a bike out this summer for The ventoux?

andyp

craigenty wrote:

andyp
Hey, did you manage to sort a bike out this summer for The ventoux?

I meant to email you and says thanks for the offer, but time caught up with me. I didn't hire a bike in the end, we decided to do some decent walks instead in the Luberon.

I still plan to head back and ride some of those roads in the area though.

victorponf

I miss some clasicals climbs, but for sure is going to be the best route of the 3 GC