giro mountain time trial - heading out

Simmo72
Simmo72 Posts: 262
edited April 2013 in Pro race
I’m off to Italy for a holiday and by amazing coincidence (honest) I pointed out to my wife that the Giro was on and the crucial mountain time trial stage was nearby to where we are staying. Pre-planned….Moi. I was offended by the accusation.

I’m after some advice, is anyone heading out to watch this, or have general advice about watching mountain stages. Its from Mori to Polsa on 23may, the 20KM time trial. I’ll be driving as banned from taking the bike on a family holiday as I’ll disappear all week.

Any ideas on how early you need to get to the route, ie before the roads are closed. I’ve never been to a mountain stage, looking forward to it!

Comments

  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,822
    There are a number of bike shops that you could hire a bike at around Lake Garda - if you do fancy doing that.
    I've stayed in Torbole which is very close to that stage start, as well in some of the other small towns further down the East side of the lake. Once you are off the lake-side road the riding is pretty decent in the area. Head East or West from Mori and it gets pretty hilly I recall : West up to Lago di Cei or East to Passo Folgaria are both tough if my memory is vaguely correct.
  • gpreeves
    gpreeves Posts: 454
    I'm going to be heading out there for this too (plus the two stages after). Like the OP I've also never been to a mountain stage, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    Never been to a mountain TT stage at the Giro, but it's generally much more relaxed than the Tour. Most of the Giro stages I've seen, I got there by bike. But I did see one in '06 on the Pordoi where I drove out, parked up by the side of the road about a third of the way up. TT stage might be different as it's much shorter, but I think if you drive out early in the morning, you should be OK.
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,822
    I went to a mountain TT stage of the Giro a good few years ago - it was when Garzelli lead (?) the team with Pantani as his team-mate - and getting to our chosen spectating point was a pretty relaxed affair. That stage actually took place in France (stared in Briancon) and we didn't aim for a particularly interesting point, the location being chosen more for it's ease of access and we parked maybe a few '00 mtrs from the start - where we could see team buses parked up and some riders warming up, then we wandered up the stage to somewhere that had at least a tiny bit of shade. It was roasting hot that day I recall - something to be aware of as from 1st to last rider passing takes a heck of a long time compared to a normal road stage so you could be stuck in the stage for hours so take any supplies you need with you.

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