La paura. It means fear in Italian and I’m detecting a few riders expressing the feeling right now. Normally riders sound confident, at least in public, with statements like “I’m ready” or the Italian line about being “calm” or “serene”. Only with the Giro ways things are sounding different.
Let’s play word association. When I say “Switzerland”, what do you think of? Punctual trains, chocolate, hard currency and secret bank accounts? Cheese, cows and yodelling? I bet mountains are an obvious thought, whether for the skiing or the postcard images of lush Alpine pastures. So when you think of the Tour of Romandie, you tend to think of a stage race for climbers. Romandie is the French-speaking area and like the whole Swiss confederation it has plenty of mountain passes.
More precisely the 2011 Tour of Romandie has 6,100 vertical metres of climbing (~21,000 feet). Despite several first category cols and plenty more other climbing, whether categorised or not, this is not the most mountainous edition of the race. Still, there are six days of racing with the prologue and you can’t escape the hills. But all this is less than one single day of mountain madness in the upcoming Giro d’Italia.
With the Giro d’Italia, the Tour of Italy, less than two weeks away, I’m going to be taking a look at a few things linked to Italian cycling over the coming days. This year’s edition has a fearsome route, with more climbing than ever before; the sprinters cannot count on more than five flat stage finishes.
I’ve trying not to be biased as I have some Italian relations but for me, there’s no finer country for cycling than Italy. Belgium has some great races, the weather on a variety of Spanish islands is consistently good and Switzerland is Europe’s best kept secret. France has some superb terrain… but it also has some dull areas so as a whole it’s doesn’t win.
Details on two races for the future.
First up the Giro d’Italia will start in Herning, Denmark in 2012. If the nordic Kingdom is flat, the Giro organisers appear to be compensating elsewhere with the inclusion of the “Zoncolan of the south”, a road near Salerno in Italy’s Campania region – famous for its buffalo mozzarella – that climbs up to the Rifugio Calvanico 1320m.
Tuesday’s item on TV broadcasts and pirate internet streams generated plenty of comments and reaction. It became clear fans around the world appreciate any kind of video. Did you know many race organisers pay for TV coverage? Whilst events like the Tour de France or Giro d’Italia can name their price in front of the … Read more
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, known as il Risorgimento, “the Resurgence”. 150 years ago this week the citadel of Gaeta, about halfway between Rome and Naples, surrendered after a two month siege and King Vittorio Emanuele II proclaimed the nation unified. The 2011 edition of the Giro d’Italia promises to … Read more
I’m not a fan of all those end of year reviews, the countless lists and retrospectives. So it’s with a bit of contradiction that I want to revisit what was my best day’s racing of 2010 and during the week, a few look backs at other events. My only justification is that what’s below isn’t … Read more
I’ve been waiting to use the above photo for some time. Sent in by a reader some weeks ago, it’s graffiti from last summer’s Tour de France. So when I saw some headlines about Basso aiming to win the Tour de France, I thought the time had come. He had to be joking, right? Only … Read more
I was talking to a mountain guide over the weekend. He’s been on expeditions to the Himalayas and was saying that as a career it’s hard work. Not just because of hypoxia at 8,000 metres, nor falling ice and rock, not even the primitive living conditions. No, his biggest worry was finding money to fund … Read more
A long read coming up but it’s about the way our sport is organised at the top level. Cycling might be about aching legs, fitness and fun. But at the top there’s also lot of money changing hands so it also involves planning, agreement and meetings. Just as a rider needs to train right and … Read more