Italy

Tirreno-Adriatico Preview

Tirreno Adriatico

With daily previews of Paris-Nice and other features on here, covering Tirreno-Adriatico looked like a step too far but at the same time it’s an unmissable race with a stellar start list, whether the overall contenders or for the sprinters and classics contenders.

So this week I’m teaming up with Mikkel Condé of C-Cycling to supply him with Paris-Nice previews whilst in return this site will be showcasing his Tirren0-Adriatico analysis. His previews are excellent… and often bolder than mine with sharp picks for the wins. So without delay, here’s the first of the daily Tirreno-Adriatico C-Cycling previews, starting with the overall contenders for the race. I’ve added details on TV coverage at the end.

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Roads to Ride: Strade Bianche + Race Preview

Strade Bianche race

As the tenth part of a series to explore the famous roads of cycling, here is one of the sections of the Strade Bianche or “white roads” in Italy’s central Tuscany region. The idea is to discover the road and its place in the world, whether as part of cycling’s history or to look at the route on a day without racing and it is open to all.

The white roads are unsealed roads that can be found in many parts of Italy but local geology in this region provides a greyish rock which, when ground, produces a white dust. These roads are old but have been seized in modern times for cycling, whether the retro L’Eroica ride or the Strade Bianche race.

Here is both a look at the roads with a preview and analysis of Saturday’s race added with TV schedules, weather and more.

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A Team With a Difference

Saturday sees the Trofeo Laigueglia race, now the season-opening race in Italy now the GP Etruschi has vanished. Only it’s not just the start of the Italian season but also the arrival of a new team from Africa MTN-Qhubeka. Each term has a story to tell behind the kit and branding but this one stands out.

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Roads to Ride: The Stelvio

Stelvio Trafoi

As part of a series to explore the famous roads of cycling, here is the Passo dello Stelvio in the Italian Alps. The idea is to discover the road and its place in the world, whether as part of cycling’s history or to look at the route on a day without racing and it is open to all.

The Stelvio is Europe’s second highest paved mountain pass but superior in legend to the Col de l’Iseran thanks to history, pedigree and the sheer experience of climbing and descending this giant.

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Review: Coppi – Inside the Legend of the Campionissimo

Coppi Sykes book

Herbie Sykes promised never to write about Fausto Coppi. Visitors to Italy will find even village tobacconists sell magazines and books and these include often many cycling books, especially biographies of past Italian riders from the region. A resident of the Piemonte, the home of Coppi, Sykes had seen too many books about the man, a palimpsest of texts had obscured the past. But this is different.

This is a collection of photos accompanied by short accounts from 21 riders who were contemporaries of Coppi. The photography is excellent and surpasses the normal sports clichés. If there are one or two podium photos, there’s not one image of a victory salute.

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Roads to Ride: The Ghisallo

Colle Ghisallo

As the second part in a series exploring the famous roads of cycling, here is the Madonna del Ghisallo climb in Italy. The idea with this weekly series is to discover the road and its place in the world, whether its part in cycling’s folklore or to explore what it is like on a normal day without a race.

The Madonna del Ghisallo was described as “the poor man’s spaceship” by Italian writer Gianni Brera for the way it allowed someone with a bicycle to copy Neil Armstrong and go up to the heavens. It’s not the highest of climbs, perhaps the chapel at the top, a Catholic shrine to cycling, plays its part.

Some places can be significant in sport because of history but this is a climb that raises sports fanaticism to the exponential, propelling memorabilia and history into relics and spiritualism thanks to the chapel, the Pope and aided by sporting history and the stunning views.

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The Last Kilometer Film Review

The Last Kilometer is a documentary film featuring Davide Rebellin and Ignazio Moser, two riders with over 20 years of age in between them. It also features press room legend Gianni Mura, sometimes known as one of the few journalists to still use a typewriter but hopefully better known for his prose and knowledge.

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Euro Café Culture

Coffee cycling

A piece by Cyclingtips discussed the rise and fall of café culture in Melbourne, Australia. There the café is a big part in the local cycling scene, a destination for many rides. Similarly Matt Seaton writes the of “mysterious affinity between cafes, coffee and cycling” in Britain.

If coffee, cafés, cakes and cycling often go together they rarely connect in Europe. In countries like Italy, Belgium or France, a coffee is consumed quickly and a café stop rarely features on the ride, if it does it is usually incidental.

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DIY Dracula

Leonardo Bertagnolli

It’s Halloween so what better day to cover the story of self-administered blood transfusions in the pro peloton? It’s more sinister than the tale of Britons burning a giant effigy of Lance Armstrong.

But if the tale is ghoulish and rightly frightening, there’s no fancy dress costumes or children’s games. Hell, there’s not even team doctor on hand. It’s real.

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Saturday Shorts

Here’s the Pinocchio, the official mascot of the 2013 world championships. He’s the wooden puppet who dreams of being a boy but he’s also known famous because his nose grows longer when he lies. As Wikipedia puts it “he has also been used as a character who is prone to telling lies and fabricating stories,” and no many are laughing when he’s linked to pro cycling.

But things are not as they seem. Famous as a liar, the puppet is also a symbol of hope in Italy. This and more stories below.

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