Crostis under review

rick_chasey

I refuse to believe that a tiny narrow descent on gravel which makes ski-netting and crash-pads necessary will be raced down.

Riders won't have it - they'll go slow till the Zoncolan.

inkyfingers

Rick Chasey wrote:

I refuse to believe that a tiny narrow descent on gravel which makes ski-netting and crash-pads necessary will be raced down.

Riders won't have it - they'll go slow till the Zoncolan.

Which brings us back to the start point, which is that any race is only as dangerious as the riders make it. That descent is too far from the finish with the Zoncolan still to come to make it likely that we'll see any balls out racing. It will be a talking point and will provide some cracking TV pictures and probably not much else.

afx237vi

Rick Chasey wrote:

I refuse to believe that a tiny narrow descent on gravel which makes ski-netting and crash-pads necessary will be raced down.

Riders won't have it - they'll go slow till the Zoncolan.

I hope you're right. I'm not sure how anyone can look at the photos posted by StefanP and say there are descents like that in every GT. There aren't.

The dirt roads on stage 5 weren't as bad as the ones here, but we still saw riders with their back wheels sliding everywhere... and Cataldo sliding head first off the road. I wouldn't fancy being a cameraman on this stage either.

Pross

afx237vi wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

I refuse to believe that a tiny narrow descent on gravel which makes ski-netting and crash-pads necessary will be raced down.

Riders won't have it - they'll go slow till the Zoncolan.

I hope you're right. I'm not sure how anyone can look at the photos posted by StefanP and say there are descents like that in every GT. There aren't.

The dirt roads on stage 5 weren't as bad as the ones here, but we still saw riders with their back wheels sliding everywhere... and Cataldo sliding head first off the road. I wouldn't fancy being a cameraman on this stage either.

That is a big point - the riders have control of how fast they decide to go and taking a balance between risk and reward but the camera bikes have to go at the pace the riders set.

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

I refuse to believe that a tiny narrow descent on gravel which makes ski-netting and crash-pads necessary will be raced down.

Riders won't have it - they'll go slow till the Zoncolan.

Apparently, Zomegan got five of the most influencial riders* together and showed the video to try and convince them it was OK. They seem to have been reassured enough to get the race on (for now).


(*In case you were wondering: Contador, Nibali, Garzelli, Cioni and Millar.)

jimmythecuckoo

Ms Tree wrote:

That's horrible. I don't think I'd even want to walk it but then I don't have a head for heights - I'd be clinging to the cliff.

+1
:?

Pross

RichN95 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

I refuse to believe that a tiny narrow descent on gravel which makes ski-netting and crash-pads necessary will be raced down.

Riders won't have it - they'll go slow till the Zoncolan.

Apparently, Zomegan got five of the most influencial riders* together and showed the video to try and convince them it was OK. They seem to have been reassured enough to get the race on (for now).


(*In case you were wondering: Contador, Nibali, Garzelli, Cioni and Millar.)

Cioni? Isn't that a bit like the list of great Universities in that Blackadder episode (Oxford, Cambridge and Hull)?

andyp

afx237vi wrote:

I hope you're right. I'm not sure how anyone can look at the photos posted by StefanP and say there are descents like that in every GT. There aren't.

The dirt roads on stage 5 weren't as bad as the ones here, but we still saw riders with their back wheels sliding everywhere... and Cataldo sliding head first off the road. I wouldn't fancy being a cameraman on this stage either.

Is the descent on dirt though? I understood that there was some gravel sections on the ascent and the descent is tarmac, as the pictures I posted show.

RichN95.

Pross wrote:

Cioni? Isn't that a bit like the list of great Universities in that Blackadder episode (Oxford, Cambridge and Hull)?

Oxford's a complete dump.

Cioni is the riders' rep on some sort of committee.

eh

I don't see how anyone can comment,based on a few dodgy pictures that may or may not be the course and not even knowing whether they are up or downhill!

For instance if those pics above are of the uphill then thats no big deal at all.

inkyfingers

Cioni is also an ex moutain biker so probably les likely to be phased by that descent.

rick_chasey

eh wrote:

I don't see how anyone can comment,based on a few dodgy pictures that may or may not be the course and not even knowing whether they are up or downhill!

For instance if those pics above are of the uphill then thats no big deal at all.

There's a video on the inner ring.

pedro118118

I don't think those pictures provide a particularly balanced view. The YouTube descent doesn't look like gravel road?! That said, still looks scary!

frenchfighter

Apparently it is only the false flat on the final part of the ascent that is unpaved. The decent is paved recently.

eh

The Youtube vid does show a pretty crappy road surface, but with the descent being so narrow I'm not sure how fast it will be anyway as the corners will need to be taken quite slowly. You'll certainly want to be careful though, and it is borderline acceptable for a GT.

rick_chasey

You have to wonder what the value added is if they all creep down like a geriatric down a long flight of stairs.

Cleat Eastwood

Rick Chasey wrote:

You have to wonder what the value added is if they all creep down like a geriatric down a long flight of stairs.

true, but just look at the interest just one stage has generated.

rick_chasey

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

You have to wonder what the value added is if they all creep down like a geriatric down a long flight of stairs.

true, but just look at the interest just one stage has generated.

I'm only writing because it was a rest day followed by a dull sprint stage....

verylonglegs

Rick Chasey wrote:

You have to wonder what the value added is if they all creep down like a geriatric down a long flight of stairs.

That's the crux of it for me, people should be watching it because it's tough competitive racing, not because it's bloody dangerous. I'm not suggesting trying to make something risk free is the way to go, it's unachievable anyway, but to introduce more risk in hope of making something more interesting is not what any sport should be doing. If the riders aren't going to race on it then it shouldn't be there.

StefanP

Here we are, I found another photo.



I think it may have been taken with a wide angle lens which distorts things a bit.

Cleat Eastwood

StefanP wrote:

Here we are, I found another photo.



I think it may have been taken with a wide angle lens which distorts things a bit.

if you look closely you can just see cav getting a tow.

RichN95.

It's not that dangerous. This is the time trial course:

airwise

I rode it today. It's insane. Whoever decided it was suitable for a Grand Tour is utterly barking and deserves a medal.

They are putting netting and pads everywhere - still working on it.

It's only the false flat that is really unsurfaced but the exposure is horrendous and the surface very loose where they have tried filling it in. Front wheel can dig in.

Once on the road, the descent proper starts. Watch the race. You'll be amazed. The big issue for me is that there are long stretches that have been resurfaced and are billiard table smooth. As these are often on a 10% + gradient you pick up speed very very quickly only to round a right angle corner and hit the old surface - full of patched pot holes and covered in loose gravel. As you are braking from high speed it's sketchy to say the least.

But hey I made it down in one piece so it can't be that bad. I'm just glad I didn't have to do it whilst stuck in the middle of a large bunch of vey fast cyclists.

The climb itself will get the legs nicely warm for the Zoncolan but it's not in the same league as that monster.

knedlicky

cogidubnus

Lovely metal bars to hit on those temporary fences. I just hope the riders take it sensibly and no mentalists go on the attack down there

rick_chasey

Cogidubnus wrote:

Lovely metal bars to hit on those temporary fences. I just hope the riders take it sensibly and no mentalists go on the attack down there

No chance.

lucybears

latest video Uploaded by SportOrientamento on 19 May 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2gv_Yr- ... r_embedded

andyp

Thanks for posting that, it's a good video.

I still don't understand the fuss, that's no more dangerous than any number of descents regularly used in both the Giro and the Tour.

iainf72

Looks like it's off tomorrow and the race will be re-routed.

iainf72

Confirmed. The race will not climb or descent the Crostis.