Giro 2019, Stage 17: Commezzadura - Anterselva/Antholz 180 km *Spoilers*

blazing_saddles

NB: This is the last stage thread from me, as I'm off to Italy for a few days.

Stage 17: Commezzadura - Anterselva/Antholz 180 km

Wednesday, May 29th

START TIME: 12.20 CEST

FINISH TIME: ~17.15 CEST

The 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia travels from Commezzadura in the Val di Sole to Anterselva. The route amounts to 181 kilometres.



The riders will take in a succession of climbs and descents, with categorised summits in Elvas and Terento, leading to the foot of the final climb in Anterselva/Antholz.



The Val di Sole – or Sole Valley – ends on the Tonale Pass before descending to Ponte di Legno, but the riders go the other way in stage 17. The route descends slightly to Lago di Santa Giustina before it goes uphill on the easy side of the Passo della Mendola (8.4 kilometres at 4.5%).



Following a long downhill to Bolzano a prolonged false flat of 45 kilometres runs to a short climb to Elvas (3.4 kilometres at 7.6%).



A gentle descent and it goes back up again to Terento, which is also a climb with a 7.6% gradient, but this one is longer: 6.6 kilometres. The middle part is toughest.



The riders fly down to Brunico before the last 27.5 kilometres are all uphill.
Final kilometres The final climb is very demanding, as the road slopes at an average 8.5% gradient from 5.5 km to the finish until the red flag. After a short ascent, the route reaches the cross-country skiing track at the Biathlon stadium, then drops for 100 metres through the tunnel that passes under the road, to finally enter the stadium. The home straight (110 m) is on 6.5 m wide tarmac, after the shooting range.



Favourites 17th 2019 Giro d’Italia
*** Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa, Vincenzo Nibali
** Miguel Ángel López, Simon Yates,
* Mikel Nieve, Joe Dombrowski, Fausto Masnada, Ben O’Connor


COMMEZZADURA (Val di Sole)

Commezzadura is a town in Trentino (Italy) with 1.020 inhabitants, formed by the separate hamlets of Mestriago (where the city hall is based), Mastellina, Deggiano, Daolasa, Almazzago and Piano. Back in time, the main economical sources of those villages were based on animal farming and forestry: today, Commezzadura has its main focus on tourism, both in Summer and Winter time, mainly targeting active vacation and outdoor sports lovers.



ANTERSELVA/ANTHOLZ

Rasen-Anterselva (Rasen-Antholz in German) is an Italian municipality of 2.903 inhabitants of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in Trentino-Alto Adige, whose altitude varies from 926 m to 3.436 m. The valley is known for years as one of the stops of the biathlon World Cup. The name Rasen means “swamp” and is attested as Resine or Rasine in 1050-1065, Niderräsen in 1353. The German word Antholz means “opposite” (ant) “to the wood” (Holz).
At the end of the Anterselva Valley, in the heart of the Vedrette di Ries-Aurina Nature Park, lies the turquoise and romantic Lake Anterselva. The new nature trail leads around the lake, which, with a depth of 33 meters and an area of about 44 ha, stands as the third largest lake in South Tyrol. In the Anterselva Valley there is the renowned Biathlon and cross-country skiing center Südtirol Arena Alto Adige, often home to the Biathlon World Cup and in 2020 of the World Championship. Surrounded by the peaks of the Vedrette di Ries and in the immediate vicinity of the Lake Anterselva, the landscape has much to show and creates the perfect setting for biathlon athletes and cross-country skiers.



GASTRONOMY

The Valley of Anterselva is famous for its typical South Tyrolean dishes. Tasty and traditional dishes, served in original, typically regional places. You can also taste the traditional and crunchy Schüttelbrot bread, good cheese and smoked bacon, accompanied by a good glass of wine.

rick_chasey

You off to see it?

blazing_saddles

Rick Chasey wrote:

You off to see it?

Unfortunately not. Sicily. Hopefully, it won't be raining there.

rick_chasey

Sounds nicer mate. Enjoy. Load up on your Arancini, caponata and obviously Nero d’Avola

lettingthedaysgoby

Well I for one am very disappointed in your lack of preparation. You could have had the threads all pre done ready to post!




(Not really, as ever your GT stage spoiler thread posts have been fantastic and are a must read for me every day. Truly appreciated!)

mididoctors

Nice one .cheers for the threads .top shelf work.

mididoctors

Good opportunity for contador here

archieboy

Cheers BS, have a good un.

rick_chasey

mididoctors wrote:

Good opportunity for contador here

*like*

blazing_saddles

Rick Chasey wrote:

Sounds nicer mate. Enjoy. Load up on your Arancini, caponata and obviously Nero d’Avola

I'll still be around for tomorrow's stage.
That's a deffo on all of the above for me.
Found out this evening that there's a place in town that does a nice line in arancini, which I will also try when I get back.

RichN95.

mididoctors wrote:

Good opportunity for contador here

Is he going to do the threads for the last few stages?

lettingthedaysgoby

RichN95 wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

Good opportunity for contador here

Is he going to do the threads for the last few stages?

blazing_saddles

lettingthedaysgoby wrote:

Well I for one am very disappointed in your lack of preparation. You could have had the threads all pre done ready to post!




(Not really, as ever your GT stage spoiler thread posts have been fantastic and are a must read for me every day. Truly appreciated!)

I tell you what, if I get all the stuff done that has to be done before I depart, I'll try and knock out a thread for stage 20.
It's the only one left that really interests me. No promises mind.

Pross

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

You off to see it?

Unfortunately not. Sicily. Hopefully, it won't be raining there.

Make sure you get back for 8th June!

Pross

RichN95 wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

Good opportunity for contador here

Is he going to do the threads for the last few stages?

Greatest stage thread writer of his generation.

knedlicky

Blazing Saddles wrote:

NB: This is the last stage thread from me, as I'm off to Italy for a few days.

Thanks a lot for the informative thread openings; hope you enjoy a good break in Sicily.
Don't forget to have some Marsala (whether as drink or in a meal = Scaloppine al Marsala) and to try the special type of chocolate Modica is famous for - cocoa beans are slightly warmed, ground to smithereens and then blended with sugar granules (Modica is near the southernmost tip).

Blazing Saddles wrote:

The German word Antholz means “opposite” (ant) “to the wood” (Holz).

Not sure about this; 'Ant' in the sense of 'opposite' only exists in German in the derivation of the word 'Antwort' (= reply), not in any other words.
I would say that the 't' in Antholz is there for reasons of euphony (phonetic change for ease of pronunciation), so the place name is really Anholz, 'an' meaning 'in' or 'at', 'holz meaning 'wood'. So the village name is better translated as 'In the woods'. This also makes sense since ancient records indicate the valley to have once been very heavily forested.
(Another German word which has a 't' added to it for reasons of euphony is 'entlang' = along).

ridgerider

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Sounds nicer mate. Enjoy. Load up on your Arancini, caponata and obviously Nero d’Avola

I'll still be around for tomorrow's stage.
That's a deffo on all of the above for me.
Found out this evening that there's a place in town that does a nice line in arancini, which I will also try when I get back.

Surely you can do a starter thread for each day of your hols...?

ocdupalais

Pross wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

Good opportunity for contador here

Is he going to do the threads for the last few stages?

Greatest stage thread writer of his generation.

Would’ve been - if it wasn’t for that pesky eating tainted arancini incident in one of the later stages.

m.r.m.

knedlicky wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

NB: This is the last stage thread from me, as I'm off to Italy for a few days.

Thanks a lot for the informative thread openings; hope you enjoy a good break in Sicily.
Don't forget to have some Marsala (whether as drink or in a meal = Scaloppine al Marsala) and to try the special type of chocolate Modica is famous for - cocoa beans are slightly warmed, ground to smithereens and then blended with sugar granules (Modica is near the southernmost tip).

Blazing Saddles wrote:

The German word Antholz means “opposite” (ant) “to the wood” (Holz).

Not sure about this; 'Ant' in the sense of 'opposite' only exists in German in the derivation of the word 'Antwort' (= reply), not in any other words.
I would say that the 't' in Antholz is there for reasons of euphony (phonetic change for ease of pronunciation), so the place name is really Anholz, 'an' meaning 'in' or 'at', 'holz meaning 'wood'. So the village name is better translated as 'In the woods'. This also makes sense since ancient records indicate the valley to have once been very heavily forested.
(Another German word which has a 't' added to it for reasons of euphony is 'entlang' = along).

Thanks Blazing!

That chocolate really isn't that great. It has a somewhat interesting texture, quite similar to some vegan chocolates in it's graininess, but taste wise it's rather sub par. Nowhere near Valrhona Guanaja or even Lindt Les Grandes (dark) for example.

blazing_saddles

Pross wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

You off to see it?

Unfortunately not. Sicily. Hopefully, it won't be raining there.

Make sure you get back for 8th June!

I'll be in touch when we get back.

knedlicky wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

NB: This is the last stage thread from me, as I'm off to Italy for a few days.

Thanks a lot for the informative thread openings; hope you enjoy a good break in Sicily.
Don't forget to have some Marsala (whether as drink or in a meal = Scaloppine al Marsala) and to try the special type of chocolate Modica is famous for - cocoa beans are slightly warmed, ground to smithereens and then blended with sugar granules (Modica is near the southernmost tip).

Modica is in the plans as we are heading in that direction for a few days.

knedlicky

M.R.M. wrote:

knedlicky wrote:

try the special type of chocolate Modica is famous for - cocoa beans are slightly warmed, ground to smithereens and then blended with sugar granules

That chocolate really isn't that great. It has a somewhat interesting texture, quite similar to some vegan chocolates in it's graininess, but taste wise it's rather sub par. Nowhere near Valrhona Guanaja or even Lindt Les Grandes (dark) for example.

You're right, in taste Modica chocolate isn't anywhere near on a par with chocolate like Valrhona Guanaja or Hachez Premier Cru. But I still think it worth experiencing because of its different texture due to its unconventional preparation method.

m.r.m.

Oh absolutely!

rick_chasey

Break of the day

1
1#16PETERS Nans +1:45:14
2#26MASNADA Fausto +26:25
3#28VENDRAME Andrea +1:39:32
4#54MAESTRI Mirco +3:15:40
5#64FORMOLO Davide +11:51
6#71ANTUNES Amaro +1:45:36
7#73DE LA PARTE Víctor +27:46
8#84JUNGELS Bob +51:04
9#98KANGERT Tanel +31:19
10#115NEILANDS Krists +3:06:07
11#124DE GENDT Thomas +1:43:40
12#134CHAVES Esteban +1:17:00
13#172BOUWMAN Koen +1:21:30
14#192BAKELANTS Jan +1:15:56
15#194HAMILTON Chris +1:10:52
16#205CONCI Nicola +2:25:55
17#214CONTI Valerio +37:22

mididoctors

Masnada again.

joe_totale-2

With the gap as it is and the quality of riders in the peloton, this may well be won by the breakway and Formolo could haul himself right into the top 10.

bobmcstuff

The state of Bakelant's socks

KnightOfTheLongTights

Has anyone had to deal with 'Eurosport player not available in this country - try again'?
I am at my wife's parents' place in Hay-on-Wye, though v much on the English side, and being forced to watch the stage in Welsh.

MissedTheBreak

Is there anything going on or are we not expecting today to be very selective?

bobmcstuff

Carthy is doing really well

m.r.m.

Maglia rosa group 5 minutes behind. Not much going on this stage. Smallish attacks, but doesn't seem a big deal for GC today.

rick_chasey

I have never heard of this guy.