Giro d’Italia

Wielerleaks, when a leak is better than a drip

Tour presentation

Yesterday saw the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia routes leaked on to the internet. Conspiracy or cock-up?

Both races like to unveil the route at a set-piece presentation, the chance to showcase the event, to explain the route and construct a narrative around the route to unite the stages into a three week story. For example in 2010 we had the celebration of the Col du Tourmalet and the Pyrenees in general, 2011 saw the same in the Alps thanks to the Col du Galibier. This year’s Giro d’Italia celebrated 150 years of Italian unity. We’ll see what the message for 2012 is on Sunday for the Giro and the following Tuesday for the Tour.

Read more

What next for the Giro d’Italia?

The Giro, never again.

So says Alberto Contador. You can probably hear the prosecco corks popping in the Nibali household. Despite winning the Italian tour this year, the Spaniard says he’s never going back to the race. But “never say never” is valuable advice for those making statements in public and we’ll see what the future brings.

It’s the future of the race that is due to change with the race organiser Angelo Zomegnan getting ejected from the role following behind-the-scenes issues with cancelled stages and more, although Zomegnan is staying on to advise. Michele Acquarone is the new boss. The 2011 race was something many riders don’t want to repeat. Stage 15 of this year’s race featured more vertical metres than Switzerland’s week-long Tour of Romandie. Several riders admitted to being scared of the race.

Read more

Giro Keyring Competition, Part II

I ran a competition last week to win a keyring and it proved popular. I’m using one myself but Mick and Andy from British bike shop Prendas Ciclismo were kind enough to send four. So one more is up for grabs.

Prendas Giro Key ring

This time please pick who will finish last on Stage 18 from Morbegno to San Pellegrino on Thursday. Once again, it’s not the winner but the last rider. Put your pick in the comments below.

Read more

Esta Thé review

Esta Thé

If you’ve been watching the Giro d’Italia then you might have noticed maglia rosa sponsor Esta Thé, especially if you’ve been following via the RAI or Gazzetta.tv internet streams.

Esta Thé is a sweet tea soft drink. It’s made by Ferrero, the Italian food giant that makes Nutella and more. It’s name is a play on words, estate is Italian for summer, Esta Thé is pronouned the same way and té means tea, hinting at “summer tea”. It comes in three flavours, lemon, peach and green tea.

Read more

Giro Stage 16 preview

Giro stage 16

The “further, higher, faster” nature of the Giro d’Italia is on pause today. Stage 16 is 12,7km and if it’s a mountain time trial, the first 5,000m are about rolling out of town before the actual climb to the Nevegal plateau and ski station starts and even then, the final part eases up. It’s not at all like the Plan de Corones course used in previous years when riders winched themselves up a tricky road. The middle part of the course includes some tougher gradients, with 10% for a while and sections at 12% and one short ramp at 14%.

Read more

A rest day still means riding

Team Sky rest day ride

It’s a rest day in the Giro d’Italia today. With two weeks of racing you’d imagine there are some tired riders by now but yesterday saw riders doing seven to eight hours across the mountains, with 6,500 vertical metres in one go. I think it was the most mountainous stage of any race ever seen at pro level.

Add in the cold weather to mean even more calories get burned up, not to mention the previous day’s leg busting climb of the Zoncolan and if there was every a welcome day of rest it’s today.

But what do the riders do? It varies. Many simply have nothing to do. Used to a daily routine of eating, racing, travelling and sleeping, suddenly there’s a change, a lot of time to waste. It’s welcome but can feel awkward too as time can pass slowly, stuck in a sleepy hotel in a ski resort normally that’s more at ease in winter.

Read more

A long week ahead in the Giro for riders and fans alike

Contador and Rujano

If Monte Crostis is off the menu following a ruling from the race jury last night, today still sees the climb up Monte Zoncolan. This is probably the hardest climb used in any major race. It’s just 10km long but averages 12% and has sustained sections of over 20%. But for all it’s difficulty, it looks like Alberto Contador and José Rujano are on a higher level than the other contenders.

There’s still over a week to go in the Giro and as exciting as today’s stage looks on paper, I worry the result is a foregone conclusion. The climb up Etna saw Alberto Contador take the lead, with José Rujano clinging to his wheel. Yesterday saw the same scenario, with Contador attacking and only Rujano could follow. In the end Contador appeared to gift the win to the Venezuelan.

Read more

Sprinters quit the Giro d’Italia

Cavendish
Finished line

Yesterday saw the last flat stage for the sprinters in the Giro and predictably Mark Cavendish won. Perhaps equally predictably several sprinters have left the race overnight, Cavendish included. Every single remaining stage of the Giro now contains some serious climbing… except the final time trial stage in Milan.

Blunt truth
What’s most surprising for me is not the departure but the open way riders talked about this. Sprinters are unsuited to the high mountains in the same way mountain climbers struggle with cobbles. But there’s long been a tradition of waiting to be eliminated by the broom wagon or, whisper it, citing illness or injury. The TV interviews with Cavendish and Alessandro Petacchi were quite different with both saying “I’m going home this evening”.

Read more

The official Giro song

The clip above is of Italian singer Paolo Belli, supported by the band QBeta, and his song “Faccio Festa” (“I party”) which is the official song of the Giro d’Italia. If you’ve been watching the free live coverage by Italian broadcaster RAI on the internet then you’ll have heard it.

Read more

+ More