Giro 2018 Route Rumours

[railxmig]

Knowing the Quatar tour, the 3rd stage could be tricky. If i remember correctly Quatar is discontinued(?), so i guess next year Oman might be quite important for Giro prep, as i don;t know if there are any other spring races featuring desert roads.

 

[Nirvana]

Seems confirmermed that the finish in Umbria isn't Gualdo Tadino but a MTF above (Rifugio Valsorda).
http://corrieredellumbria.corr.it/news/altri-sport/291084/il-giro-d-italia-2018-partira-in-israele-e-passera-di-nuovo-in-umbria.html

 

[Gerrard Slipped haha]

When will the rest of the route be announced?

 

[Netserk]

Usually, the day after Lombardia.

 

[BigShoes]

Phenomenally stupid idea.

Expect to see some of the riders pull sickies to avoid participation in this PR stroke for the Israeli government. Israel, like it or not, is a toxic brand and is seen, particularly in Europe, as the South Africa of this millennium. Literally no good will come of this and I will be not altogether surprised if for security reasons it doesn't happen.

 

[Netserk]

It's hardly a worse country than the US.

 

[May0maniac]

It is worse, it's pretty much a full blown apartheid state.
Back to the race, the route looks ok, at least they try to stay out of occupied territory and the fact that Bartali theme is at least a nice tribute to a great man, even if we all know that RCS is just starting there because of money.

 

[Robert5091]

Canada's Adams family (fill in your own joke there) are rich.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hsb...ed-by-several-canadian-billionaires-1.2955651

The HSBC documents reveal that Sylvan Adams was the beneficial owner of an account with a staggering balance: over $800 million US. That account was in the name of "Summit International Bank," a private bank formed by the Adams family in Barbados in 2006. Their bank’s website says it was "founded to manage the wealth of a Canadian family," but without disclosing the name.

According to Summit’s web site, the bank holds assets of over $1 billion and offers its wealth management services "to a select group of wealthy families, individuals and institutions."

 

[Robert5091]

Expect more of these articles before the Giro's start -

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/24/israel-giro-ditalia-race-conflict-2018-start-cycling

Israelis are now turning their attention to a new kind of construction: image. Despite the occupation and condemnation from the international community, Israel is ready to project its pride at what it has built and paint over the canvas of conflict. Holding the brush is Sylvan Adams, an ebullient 58-year-old property billionaire who emigrated from Canada in 2016.

“‘Normal Israel’ is the phrase that I’ve coined; it’s the regular daily life which somehow is not an interesting enough story to be told to the rest of the world. All they want to do is talk about conflict and terrorism but that’s a very, very small part of life in Israel,” he says.

Adams’s subject is cosmopolitan Israel: a charming country of ancient heritage and modern cities, of warm seas and warm people. Next May his chosen colour will be pink, synonymous with the Giro d’Italia, in his position as honorary president of the organising committee of the race’s ‘Big Start’ in Jerusalem.
...
Yet calls for a boycott will remain until next May, with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement claiming the event represents a “sports-washing of Israel’s occupation and apartheid”.

“Starting the Giro in Israel to all intents rewards Israel for its decades-long human rights abuses against the Palestinian people, including athletes,” says Sharaf Qutaifan of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.

Organisers and ministers from here and Italy responded in unison that they would be in Israel to “do sport, not politics”, but as they huddled together behind the Giro’s Trofeo Senza Fine, the trophy without end, the absence of Palestinian faces in the room laid the politics of this event bare.

No amount of pomp, pink and “Normal Israel” can hide it.

 

[The Shadow]

The Giro can f*** o** next year. Disgrace.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Yeah *** Israel. We can have big races in a country which has annexed a country and violently suppresses political dissidents and cultural and religious minorities (China) or countries which enslave migrant workers, are strongly suspected to have financed terrorist organisations, kill homosexuals, blasphemers, apostates adulterers etc. (Qatar; but bruh Quickstep killing it in the echelons every year is epic!). But *** Israel, they're the worst and most evilest country in the world. God forbid our beautiful sport in any way associates itself with such an awful country!

 

[Eshnar]

some updates. Atm the focus is on the second week, since the first and last are more or less known. To summarize, we have:

- Israel x3
- Sicily x3
- A stage in Calabria (very unclear where)
- Montevergine
Here start the doubts. Francavilla seems very unlikely, since stage 9 should start in Avellino. Furthermore, recent rumours claim the region of Abruzzo will not be included in the route at all. A possible alternative for stage 9 (was rumoured a while ago) is Terracina. Either way, we really don't know.

As I said, the 2nd week is the problem. We have stage 10 pretty much set to Gualdo Tadino, but then there is only fog of war. Different sources claim different things. All in all, we can expect 2 stages between Marche and Emilia-Romagna... As of today, there have been rumours of stages to Filottrano, S.Marino, Imola, Fano - Pesaro ITT.
Stage 13 should end in Veneto, in the area near Vittorio Veneto but not necessarily there, and it could involve Monte Grappa.
Stage 14 fixed, Zoncolan.
Stage 15 not really fixed, but probably Sappada. There are some political issues related to the town so it's not crazy to believe that the stage could go elsewhere.

Last week seems pretty much done. Rovereto ITT, a stage for sprinters in Lombardia, Prato Nevoso or thereabouts, Jafferau, Cervinia, Rome/Milan.

 

[May0maniac]

Eshnar, is the rumour about the delayed presentation true?

 

[OlavEH]

Shi*, another disappointing route. Montevergine is boring. "One climb stages" like Jaffrau and Pratonevoso. No proper Dolomite stage. The only hope here is for a good Zoncolan stage and that the classification forces GC contenders to attack early (on Saint Panthaleon) on the Cervinia stage.

Btw: any rumours about some proper medium mountain stages?

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

Eshnar, is the rumour about the delayed presentation true?

no official word about that yet. No clue.

Shi*, another disappointing route. Montevergine is boring. "One climb stages" like Jaffrau and Pratonevoso. No proper Dolomite stage. The only hope here is for a good Zoncolan stage and that the classification forces GC contenders to attack early (on Saint Panthaleon) on the Cervinia stage.

Btw: any rumours about some proper medium mountain stages?

If Jafferau has Finestre and Sestriere before it (as rumoured), it's hardly a one climb stage...
Medium mountain stages likely stage 9, 10 (with hilltop finish), Imola if it is there, Filottrano if it is there, the one in Veneto too, probably. But no details yet.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

If Jafferau has Finestre and Sestriere before it (as rumoured), it's hardly a one climb stage...
Medium mountain stages likely stage 9, 10 (with hilltop finish), Imola if it is there, Filottrano if it is there, the one in Veneto too, probably. But no details yet.

Well, there is about 70 km from the top of Finestre to Jaffrau and 35 km downhill/flat after Sestriere before the start of Jaffrau. It would suprise me if there there was much action already on Finestre.

Btw, what's the reason for all the stages in the Aosta and Piemonte (and French) mountains the last years? Someone who's paying for it? If these rumours are true, we'll have Jaffrau x2, Cervinia x 2, Risoul, Galibier, Vinadio, Pratonevoso and Sestriere during a five year period since 2013. I haven't checked the years before that, but can't remember it being that many climbs in this region.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Can't they climb the Montevergine massif from a different road for a change? On the map it looks like there are several routes possible. Using a different route there would be a bunch of flat before reaching the Santuario, but that shouldn't be a problem. Some of the roads look a bit narrow and not in a great condition, but they look passable with maybe a bit of patching up. The roads going up further to the north look a bit steeper than the one we always get now.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

Btw, what's the reason for all the stages in the Aosta and Piemonte (and French) mountains the last years? Someone who's paying for it?

what else can it possibly be?

Can't they climb the Montevergine massif from a different road for a change? On the map it looks like there are several routes possible. Using a different route there would be a bunch of flat before reaching the Santuario, but that shouldn't be a problem. Some of the roads look a bit narrow and not in a great condition, but they look passable with maybe a bit of patching up. The roads going up further to the north look a bit steeper than the one we always get now.

I think those roads would need to be resurfaced, and with the main road being available I don't think anybody has any interest in paying for doing so.

 

[Eshnar]

Still no official words yet, so it's fair to say that the presentation is not happening the day after Lombardia.
The main issue seems to be the final stage, as the negotiations with Rome are taking a long time.
No new rumours about the route. Still wondering about the second week.

 

[mikii4567]

Do we know if there's any particular reason why, other than potential problems with stage city deals (like Rome)? I don't think we've really been this unsure about the exact route on this day before... (then again, I haven't been following these threads for that long)

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

Do we know if there's any particular reason why, other than potential problems with stage city deals (like Rome)? I don't think we've really been this unsure about the exact route on this day before... (then again, I haven't been following these threads for that long)

I don't think there are any other reasons.

 

[Valv.Piti]

The route isn't even published and yet the Giro is still managing to be very underwhelming. I had looked forward to the route presentation, its one of my favourite things on the cycling calendar.

 

[portugal11]

Re:

The route isn't even published and yet the Giro is still managing to be very underwhelming. I had looked forward to the route presentation, its one of my favourite things on the cycling calendar.

me too... without a doubt, il giro is the most beautiful race in the world

 

[hazaran]

So we're going to have the Tour presentation before the Giro? Surely not, organizing the Tour is 100x the difficulty.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

So we're going to have the Tour presentation before the Giro? Surely not, organizing the Tour is 100x the difficulty.

Not really

- calls one of 21 mayors on speed dial

"Yo, same stage (design/finish, pick one) as the one (1, 2, 3, 5 pick one) years ago?"
"....."
"$$$$$"