anyway my overall thoughts on the route, now that we're though the queen stage and the rest (flat rolling rest day, flat TT, rerouted stage) seems silly to rate.
not a bad one at all after how poor 2019 was. I can take or leave modernity but the best relatively recent change in GTs has been for "classics" parcours on intermediate stages, and there were some very good ones here, even the sprinty ones like stages 2 or 13, without getting into Vuelta or recent Tour-like gimmickry.
Best surprises/things I liked:
- Etna - worried about a shutdown stage with a break fighting it out, but it ended up being the best MTF in years. Granted, a neutral zone crash might have "helped", but hey.
- Mileto - Camigliatello Silano: Loved this stage ever since it was announced, and it did not disappoint. Of the intermediate stages, this was likely the best.
- Stelvio - did not disappoint. fascinating day which left the GC on a knife's edge without ending it. perfect day on the couch
- Piancavallo - I actually don't like Piancavallo as a climb, and was expecting a boring "break wins, someone tries a late attack from the GC group" MTF. A thrilling day from start-to-finish.
Disappointments (which don't involve the local government of Briancon):
- Madonna di Campiglio - Kind of an obvious one. To be fair, this was unlikely to ever have been a seriously decisive stage the day before the Stelvio, but surely there are better finishes for a high mountain stage than that.
- Cesenatico - Actually a fun, miserable day, and the weather might have shut things down, but cmon. Just because a route is following a famous Gran Fondo doesn't mean you need to exactly follow it, and while the "flat following a late climb to make a late attack hard" parcours might make for a fun one-day race, it doesn't really work in a GT.
- Roccaraso - I understand that money might be involved, but there have to be better places to finish a stage in the region than that.
What the hell:
- That first TT. I'd call it bad, but seeing awful Sicilian roads and riders complaining about safety conditions really got me in the Giro mood ,so I can't hate it.