IMHO Fedaia never should be the last climb again, but always the penultimate one like in 1998!
This will be difficult if the stage finish is in Canazei.IMHO Fedaia never should be the last climb again, but always the penultimate one like in 1998!
Once you are in Edolo you should just really use Mortirolo from south. It may not be as hard as the one from Mazzo, but it still is way better than a false flat like Aprica.Btw, I mapped the Livigno stage.
Given a start in Manerba del Garba, climbing of Colle San Zeno and then via Edolo and Aprica to Livigno, this will be over 220km. Therefore it seems not likely they will do something more like adding Trivigno before descending to Tirano and starting the last climb to Forcola di Livigno.
While it's possible to add more or to "improve" such a stage, I think it's at the point where such improvements are better used in other stages.The article Amatti linked places the start in Nozza, going up over the climb of Lodrino, then crossing the next mountain through this pass:
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Then they would go via Aprica over to Tirano before the Forcola do Livigno towards the finish.
Mentioned as alternatives are the Mortirolo from the wrong side to replace Aprica and Passo Maniva (which would be quite a detour to replace San Zeno with a harder climb)
I think I actually misread the article and the start is as @OlavEH mentioned in Manerba di Garda which makes the stage over 220 kilometers even without the Mortirolo detour.While it's possible to add more or to "improve" such a stage, I think it's at the point where such improvements are better used in other stages.
This looks great to me, and not at all obvious that adding more to it would improve it one bit: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44550978
Sella Ronda is great (I actually rode it myself less than three weeks ago), but it's not very hard. Going clockwise, I think nothing much will happen before Pordoi. Gardena from west and Campolongo is too easy for that. Counter clockwise would be better. Gardena is far tougher from the east and Sella from Plan de Gralba is tough enough to create som gaps.Maybe the finish in Canazei is after one whole lap of the Sella Ronda. Would be great for wild and attacking racing.
Wouldn't mind a 2008 Fedaia style stage, with a decent finish. That would mean they use the harder side of the Giau.Sella Ronda is great (I actually rode it myself less than three weeks ago), but it's not very hard. Going clockwise, I think nothing much will happen before Pordoi. Gardena from west and Campolongo is too easy for that. Counter clockwise would be better. Gardena is far tougher from the east and Sella from Plan de Gralba is tough enough to create som gaps.
But I still think Fedaia is the best option. Throw in Giau before in addition to Valparola and either Erbe or Gardena, and it would be a brutal stage.
Sella Ronda with Sella as the last climb is possibly the second best option. Add San Pellegrino and Fedaia before Sella Ronda.
But they should really make this a queen stage. Livigino as rumoured won't be that with only a cat 2 (Aprica), cat 1 (San Zeno) and cat HC climb (Forcola di Livigino) and not much more. And the last mountain stage to Bassano del Grappa should be tough but not queen stage material.
Wouldn't mind a 2008 Fedaia style stage, with a decent finish. That would mean they use the harder side of the Giau.
Brush, when did the riders ever cry because a stage was too hard? Yes, there was a rider protest this year, but that was not, because the stage was deemed for being too hard. And although that stage is brutal, I doubt it would create good racing these days. If afterwards there is a descent to Canazei, which becomes false flat towards the end, there could be decent racing for 20 minutes.The riders will simply whine if there is that type of stage ever included again, and the stage will be cut in half
If the finish is only inside the area of the community of Canazei, it could be a MTF at Pordoi or Sella, with the Fedaia beforehand. That might depend on the agreement between town and organizer. If the region or the valley community pays, they may prefer epic racing, whilst the town of Canazei might prefer a finish in town.Sella-Pordoi would still be a nice stage and technically Finish in Canazei
https://www.cronoescalada.com/tracks/view/46040
Sounds about right to me.Doubt that they just do Fedaia, as it is not actually part of the Val di Fassa skiarea. If they do Fedaia i think the finish is either at Pordoi or Sella. If we get one of those two as the last climb we might see a finish in town.
I tried to find the source of the Canazei rumour, but Canazei is not mentioned in this article: https://messaggeroveneto.gelocal.it...24_maggio_tappa_mortegliano-sappada-13236909/The article that mentions Sappada as stage 19 and potentially Grappa on stage 20 also mentions stage 18 potentially finishing in Canazei.
Fedaia, Sella or Pordoi downhill Finish?
For gods sake, let's hope so! Starting somewhere around Trento and doing at least 2-3 climbs before Fedaia, this would be a queen stage!If they do Fedaia i think the finish is either at Pordoi or Sella.
Say you want to go through Canazei in the middle of the stage and not do Pordoi twice, then this could be a plausible option:For gods sake, let's hope so! Starting somewhere around Trento and doing at least 2-3 climbs before Fedaia, this would be a queen stage!
Looks like they have actually changed the wording in the article, there was talks about rising chances of Canazei hosting a stage finish.I tried to find the source of the Canazei rumour, but Canazei is not mentioned in this article: https://messaggeroveneto.gelocal.it...24_maggio_tappa_mortegliano-sappada-13236909/
Tbf this also has a lot to do with the towns that have bid for finishes in this period. Val di Fassa has only hosted the race in 2011 (Gardeccia after Fedaia, pretty similar combo) and 2017 (long transitional stage into Canazei, Fedaia would never have been able to fit) in this period. Arabba hasn't hosted at all. Alta Badia only hosted in 2002 (Corvara, via Fedaia-Pordoi-Campolongo) 2016 (Corvara again, the Giau-Valparola combination used there is better than Fedaia-Pordoi-Campolongo anyway). That only leaves the 2005 and 2017 Ortisei stages, where admittedly Fedaia-Sella would have been far better than the stupid Pontives finale they insisted on both times. So, while Fedaia as the penultimate major climb has been somewhat neglected as an option, they haven't actually had all that many chances to use it as such since the last Pordoi finish.It's actually crazy that we haven't had a Fedaia/Pordoi finish since 2001, or a Fedaia/Sella combo since 2000.
OK, I found the source for the rumour again:I tried to find the source of the Canazei rumour, but Canazei is not mentioned in this article: https://messaggeroveneto.gelocal.it...24_maggio_tappa_mortegliano-sappada-13236909/
You mean this part?OK, I found the source for the rumour again:
https://corrierealpi.gelocal.it/spo...pada_partenza_in_alpago-13341473/?ref=pay_amp
Yeah, but after San Pellegrino you'd probably finish in Moena, Not in Canazei...You mean this part?
"Il nome della cittadina fassana sta rimbalzando in queste ore come possibile traguardo della tappa di giovedì 23 maggio, una tappa che potrebbe interessare per diversi chilometri (interessanti dal punto di vista altimetrico) il Bellunese. Certezze in merito non ce ne sono, anche gli addeti ai lavori indicano per probabile un passaggio sul Passo Brocon."
Couldn't that very well be a San Pellegrino descent finish?