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I'm super happy with the Bergamo stage, even if my hope was that they would do Valpiana immediately after Valcava like in the 80's.
They did it in Lombardia last year.
The next time either Ortisei or Selva di Gardena is hosting a stage finish, they should really do a Fedaia - Sella combo and descent finish. Preferable as on of the last mountain stages. Something like stage 18, 19 or 20.
Upper sections used to be gravel but it's been completely paved since 2020. It's a fantastic inclusion but I have to say I'm slightly worried about the usual Giro cancellation drama. In 2021 the upper parts still had snow till mid June, the descent (proper north face) apparently still has questionable seconds with gravel on the paved road, I hope they properly clean it.
Yeah, but how that is ok while Sormano is now somehow a dangerous descent is a mystery to me. Oh well, I like having this one in the race.
Only way to get Sormano back is if Evenepoel crashes down Valpiani, and that continues until they run out of descents.
Optional training wheels for him and we get back Sormano?
If cyclingcols is correct it's 5kms at 14.5% vs the Zoncolan's 5kms at 15.5%, so Zoncolan is harder. So this time I can actually say that I've climbed worse.
Giro's own website has this profile:If cyclingcols is correct it's 5kms at 14.5% vs the Zoncolan's 5kms at 15.5%, so Zoncolan is harder. So this time I can actually say that I've climbed worse.
Zoncolan is the worst climb that I've done because the hard part is so long, in an actual race the old road to Oberbozen with 1km at 21% and 3kms at 17.4% is probably worse, but if you climb it on a training ride you can take it easy on the 8-10% sections afterwards. The hardest part is the hardest thing I've ever ridden, but with it being at the start of the climb it makes the overall climb less hard than the Zoncolan on a training ride (would probably make for better racing and produce bigger gaps because everything explodes right after you hit the climb). That climb is also a horror in the summer, the super steep part is exposed to the sun (surrounded by Vineyards) and Bozen is often one of the hottest cities in Italy, you hit that climb with well over 35° in the afternoon. For reference it's this climb minus the final 600m: https://www.cronoescalada.com/puertos/viewProfile/3411
You have 300m on a private road, that's why the sign calls it a dead end road.
As long as they don't randomly make the stages worse like they did last year!
The updated and final route was announced in March: https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threads/rate-the-2023-giro-ditalia-route.38455/page-5#post-2813118Bump!
I just came to check if there were any more changes to the route. I thought that the Tre-Cime stage had changed by looking at cycling stats but I could be mistaken.
We should start the Giro thread soon just to start the warm up talk. The pre-race talk is the nicest talk because we talk about our fantasies and potential strategies that usually don't happen! LOL. But it is always nice to talk about it.
I miss a couple of absolute top notch pure climbers in cycling in general and especially in the Giro. Someone similar to Bernal or Quintana or even Aru in their prime. The only one close to this profile right now is perhaps Enric Mas (and Jai Hindley) and he doesn't do the Giro. In addition the route is pretty meh, so I really hope for a course of action that forces one or two of the top GC contenders to close big gaps in the last 2-3 mountain stages.
Gaudu is a pure climber isn't he?
Yeah, but Gaudu isn't on level with the others I mentioned. Four GT winners and a very potential GT winner (Mas).
Your post made me feel nostalgic about the Italian armada. Giro was so good with italian gt riders. Miss Garzelli, Simoni, Ricco, Basso, Di Luca, Cunego. Those were the days of golden cycling in the Giro.
With all the Roglic vs Evenepoel hype it would be truly hilarious if Thomas ends up winning. All the newer, exciting gc contenders really make you forget there is still a pretty good argument for GT being a top 5 gc rider. Still feels wrong to me.With Haig, Vlasov, Thomas, Roglic and Evenepoel on the startlist, to be honest, the Giro 2023 is the Grand Tour of 2023 to which I am looking forward most, in 2023.
Crashes, injuries, illnesses, Covid and stuff like these frequently cause disappointments for us as cycling fans. Plus, in the Giro, you always have to be prepared for disappointments such as late course changes due to snowfall or similar issues. But if all goes well, this Giro 2023 should become a very, very interesting race.
So I‘m looking forward to a nice start of this 2023 season, a beautiful spring, and a great Giro as the highlight…
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