Italy

Padania, the flag and the tour

I am away so it’s time to reprise and old item from October 2010 but relevant to the sport today…

Followers of cycling will note that the finish of a race often sees many flags and banners being waved. My favourite is the “Dirk Hoffman Motorhomes” board, a common sight in Belgian classics. It’s inevitable, the finish line is filmed in detail and the images are repeated on news broadcasts. In other words, it’s valuable airtime.

I’ve written before about the Lion of Flanders flags and how these are often openly political symbols. Well the same is true in Italy too. Anyone watching the arrival of the Tour of Lombardy can’t have missed the giant Padania flags waving over the finish line.

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Banning riders with doping histories

Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso: no more Mr Nice Guy

The Italian cycling federation has announced it will prevent riders with a doping conviction from participating in the upcoming national championships, including those who have already served a full ban and are allowed to race elsewhere.

It’ll be controversial given a rider is supposedly clear to ride again after completing their ban but a race organiser often retains the right to invite who they like. Note this is not new, for example British rider David Millar is banned from the Olympic Games by his home federation and other races have said “no” to certain riders.

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Giro Stage 2 preview

I won’t be doing a preview every day but today’s stage is on roads I know and two regions that I appreciate.

The riders will have pockets stuffed with energy bars and gels because today is the longest stage of the Giro at 244km. But the route passes through some great places for food and whether by design or accident is a tribute to the giants of Italian agribusiness.

Giro stage 2

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Girophobia: fear and stage racing in Italy

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.

Drop your flashlight in the pain cave
Dropped your flashlight in the pain cave?

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The Giro d’Italia is bigger than Everest

Swiss scenery

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.

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Italian Cycling, Part I: The Ape

Piaggio Ape

You might have heard of Piaggio, the Italian scooter manufacturer and its “Vespa” model. Two wheeled transport is very popular in Italy, especially with smaller 50 and 125cc engines. The countryside is often hilly, towns and villages are never far away, and frequent good weather all combine to make this mode of transport very practical and suitable.

If vespa is Italian for wasp, then note ape means bee, you say “ah-peh”. It’s this that gives its name to the Piaggio Ape, a three wheeled scooter with a flatbed at the back. These are quintessential Italian. Modern pizza is everywhere and partly an American invention; talking with big hand gestures is common all round the Mediterranean. No, I think the Ape is something you’ll find in Italy and nowhere else.

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Italian Cycling

Giro Merckx

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.

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Follow the money

La Polizia
Faster than Ferrari?

If it’s been hard to nail riders and their “doctors” for doping because they’ve often been one step ahead of the testers, constantly refining techniques to avoid detection, one area where people might slip up is the money. Shady riders, teams and doctors might be good at cycling or doping but they are probably so pro when it comes to money laundering. In this instance, it’s quite possible that experienced investigators have a substantial edge on those involved.

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Etna, the hottest destination

Sapienza Etna

Italian pro team Liquigas have had a semi-permanent base on the slopes of Mount Etna this year. Etna is an active volcano in Sicily, the large island at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. It’s black slopes often contrast with a snowy peak and at times, the infernal glow of lava.

Liquigas’s mountain HQ is the Rifugio Giovanni Sapienza, a mountain lodge also the choice of the Astana team. A pumice stone’s throw away lies the Hotel Corsaro, as used by two more teams, Lampre and Katusha.

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Grid girls

Is this a first for cycling? We have “grid girls” on the start line of Tirreno-Adriatico. Note this is in Italy. Often it feels like no presentation on the Giro is complete without a blond model and the Giro picks a woman every year as its madrina, a woman tasked with blessing the race in … Read more

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