A speedy sprint stage to Switzerland. Normally this kind of stage sandwiched between the mountain stages would be reserved for the fast men but there are not many sure-fire sprinters left in the race and many riders will fancy their chances in a breakaway.
Is it the name? Mortirolo sounds like morte, death in Italian, and certainly more appropriate than the foppish Passo della Foppa name that is also given to the pass. A relentless climb and one of the few ascents to become famous without being a “summit” finish. Here’s a closer look.
The racing resumes with a monster of a mountain stage with the fearsome Mortirolo climb the highlight of the day.
The rules for the points competition in the 2015 Tour de France have changed. Since the route was unveiled last October there was an announcement to reward the sprint finish specialists. Now the new points scale can be unveiled.
It’s sprinter friendly with lots more points awarded to the winner of a flat sprint stage and fewer points to stage winners on hillier days. An anti-Sagan system?
Have Astana settled for second place? Their pacing on Sunday suggests so. The fast but steady tempo towed Fabio Aru and Mikel Landa up to Madonna di Campiglio and with Alberto Contador riding pillion. If Astana wanted to contest Contador’s maglia rosa they would have surely taken turns to attack and put the isolated team leader under pressure. Barring major upsets and minor incidents the race seems settled now.
“Pantani, Debunking The Murder Myth” by Andrea Rossini, translated by Matt Rendell
The Giro finishes in Madonna di Campiglio today. While we’re all interested in the climb to the finish this is the tale Marco Pantani’s fall from grace which began here, taking him from a national icon to an isolated crack addict found dead in a hotel.
The first Alpine stage of this year’s Giro and a tough summit finish following one of the hardest climbs and the trickiest descents in the race. Yesterday’s time trial has shaken up the pecking order, now what will happen in the mountains?
This year’s Giro might have only one solo time trial but today’s stage compensates with a route so long and challenging that it’s worth two time trials, one flat 30km effort followed by another 30km in the hills.
If the overall classification is still a jumble of jigsaw pieces waiting to be put into place this will give us a better picture. The Alps start tomorrow.
For years Jacques Anquetil didn’t know what to do. As much as he’d win he couldn’t beat the popularity of Raymond Poulidor. The more Anquetil beat Poulidor, the more popular “Pou-Pou” became. The public love an underdog and sometimes Poulidor wasn’t beaten by a superior rider, he was undone by misfortune. He would have won where it not for some random incident like a puncture or a crash. While Anquetil avoided potholes or stayed upright his rival was wiping out but also becoming increasingly popular.
Decade after decade cycling has celebrated the “moral winner”, the rider who should have won but was thwarted by the cruelty of sport.
If a picture says a thousand words the profile above says enough: a day for the sprinters as the race heads to the seaside resort of Jesolo. But this Giro brings a surprise every day and the odds on a breakaway surviving are higher than usual. The biggest obstacle is the tricky finish, described in the roadbook as “sprinkled” with roundabouts.