Giro d'Italia 2016 Rumours

[Eshnar]

Re:

I do not really like this route. It seems there aren't stahe with hard combo like Finestre-Sestriere or Mortirolo-Aprica. I hope they put Fedaia at least.
None hard MTF also.

Bah

The fact that there are no hard MTFs should be celebrated as a victory of cycling.
As for the combos, we need to wait for the dolomitic stage to tell. It does look like there won't be any crazy hard climb, but a possible Fedaia-Pordoi-Campolongo, Tonale-Gavia-Foscagno and Vars-Bonette-Lombarde-S.Anna don't exactly disgust me.

 

[fauniera]

No Fauniera would be a crime. Apart from that there are some good bits (i like the Cividale stage, the Arezzo sterrato and the Chianti time trial), and some hopeful stuff. But we have now three stages above 2.500 meters, and four stages above 2.200 meters? Good luck with that.

 

[Ataraxus]

No Fauniera would be a crime. Apart from that there are some good bits (i like the Cividale stage, the Arezzo sterrato and the Chianti time trial), and some hopeful stuff. But we have now three stages above 2.500 meters, and four stages above 2.200 meters? Good luck with that.

I believe Fauniera-S.Anna will be the selected route for that stage. It marks the 15th anniversary when the stage was initially designed in 2001 (later to be anulled due to rider strikes).
However, to my mind, Lombarde-S.Anna seems much more action-promising on paper.

 

[Eshnar]

The future looks grim for the Fauniera... word is its descent is judged as too dangerous by current standards. That would be the reason of the odd 90%-french-final-mountain-stage of next year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

I do not really like this route. It seems there aren't stahe with hard combo like Finestre-Sestriere or Mortirolo-Aprica. I hope they put Fedaia at least.
None hard MTF also.

Bah

The fact that there are no hard MTFs should be celebrated as a victory of cycling.
As for the combos, we need to wait for the dolomitic stage to tell. It does look like there won't be any crazy hard climb, but a possible Fedaia-Pordoi-Campolongo, Tonale-Gavia-Foscagno and Vars-Bonette-Lombarde-S.Anna don't exactly disgust me.

I think 1 very hard MTF is in its place. I still have absolute dreadful memories of Tour 2012, but then again, it wouldnt have changed the outcome one bit. It would still have been better than Peyregudes tho when all the GC-guys waited for the last climb anyways.

Hoping to Fauniera to come on, but the Vars-Bonette-Lombarde-S.Anna seems epic. I dont like the Gavia combo, have raced it in PCM 06 variants and it seems rather easy

 

[fauniera]

Re:

The future looks grim for the Fauniera... word is its descent is judged as too dangerous by current standards. That would be the reason of the odd 90%-french-final-mountain-stage of next year.

Are the UCI f!uckers behind this? How i hate their guts.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

The future looks grim for the Fauniera... word is its descent is judged as too dangerous by current standards. That would be the reason of the odd 90%-french-final-mountain-stage of next year.

Are the UCI f!uckers behind this? How i hate their guts.

The UCI, the riders and at this point I guess also RCS don't wanna take the responsibility of racing a descent that has been deemed as dangerous.
Ofc, they can still race descents fast and narrow as *** like the ones to Cividale, but being "medium mountain" nobody even takes a look at them...

 

[fauniera]

Well, i am a bad descender myself, but i would think that descending on small roads through woods with a lot of shadows from the trees would be much more uncomfortable than a descent like this, where visibility is great. The road is quite narrow, but nothing unheard of. The surface looks excellent too, but of course there can be bad patches (which can be fixed, though). I really fail to see the problem.

 

[Eshnar]

Well, i am a bad descender myself, but i would think that descending on small roads through woods with a lot of shadows from the trees would be much more uncomfortable than a descent like this, where visibility is great. The road is quite narrow, but nothing unheard of. The surface looks excellent too, but of course there can be bad patches (which can be fixed, though). I really fail to see the problem.

The problem is just the perception. There's nothing really wrong in that descent. Only thing is, it's hard to find somebody willing to pay to resurface the road (that is very bad in some places), since that area is relatively isolated.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

I do not really like this route. It seems there aren't stahe with hard combo like Finestre-Sestriere or Mortirolo-Aprica. I hope they put Fedaia at least.
None hard MTF also.

Bah

The fact that there are no hard MTFs should be celebrated as a victory of cycling.
As for the combos, we need to wait for the dolomitic stage to tell. It does look like there won't be any crazy hard climb, but a possible Fedaia-Pordoi-Campolongo, Tonale-Gavia-Foscagno and Vars-Bonette-Lombarde-S.Anna don't exactly disgust me.

If it's a good route without any hard MTFs, depends very much on the other climbs of the stage. So far I'm not impressed at all by the rumours about next years route.

What is the probable route for the Risoul stage?

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

I do not really like this route. It seems there aren't stahe with hard combo like Finestre-Sestriere or Mortirolo-Aprica. I hope they put Fedaia at least.
None hard MTF also.

Bah

The fact that there are no hard MTFs should be celebrated as a victory of cycling.
As for the combos, we need to wait for the dolomitic stage to tell. It does look like there won't be any crazy hard climb, but a possible Fedaia-Pordoi-Campolongo, Tonale-Gavia-Foscagno and Vars-Bonette-Lombarde-S.Anna don't exactly disgust me.

If it's a good route without any hard MTFs, depends very much on the other climbs of the stage. So far I'm not impressed at all by the rumours about next years route.

What is the probable route for the Risoul stage?

just Agnello-Risoul

 

[WheelofGear]

So far it looks great! The Giro always has the best stage design.

 

[WheelofGear]

So far it looks great! The Giro always has the best stage design.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

just Agnello-Risoul

Really....

So. Gavia, Agnello and Bonette on 3 different stages. 3 climbs over 2600 m.

2 of the toughest mountain stages mostly takes place in France.

2 mountain stages with a downhill finish where the toughest climb is far from the stage finish.

No all day, 200 km+ mountain stage.

This looks pretty crappy IMO. And risky because of the many high passes.

I hope for signifant changes from the posted rumours when they present the actual route.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

just Agnello-Risoul

Really....

So. Gavia, Agnello and Bonette on 3 different stages. 3 climbs over 2600 m.

2 of the toughest mountain stages mostly takes place in France.

2 mountain stages with a downhill finish where the toughest climb is far from the stage finish.

No all day, 200 km+ mountain stage.

This looks pretty crappy IMO. And risky because of the many high passes.

I hope for signifant changes from the posted rumours when they present the actual route.

risky, yes. Crappy, not at all. It does suck the fact that 2 important stages are in France, I'll give you that.
Btw there can still be a 200+ km stage. The one to Corvara can be. Also the one to Livigno, if they want.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

just Agnello-Risoul

Really....

So. Gavia, Agnello and Bonette on 3 different stages. 3 climbs over 2600 m.

2 of the toughest mountain stages mostly takes place in France.

2 mountain stages with a downhill finish where the toughest climb is far from the stage finish.

No all day, 200 km+ mountain stage.

This looks pretty crappy IMO. And risky because of the many high passes.

I hope for signifant changes from the posted rumours when they present the actual route.

This is the Giro. They race the race from the start to the end. Having a hard MTF in the end is overrated at best and boring at worst.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

risky, yes. Crappy, not at all. It does suck the fact that 2 important stages are in France, I'll give you that.
Btw there can still be a 200+ km stage. The one to Corvara can be. Also the one to Livigno, if they want.

With this route they depend very much that the riders try to attack very far from the stage finish if they want to open up some huge gaps (I like huge gaps and devestating hard stages). You can't do much on Campolongo or Eira. And the rumoured stages in France are both short and (obviously) outside of Italy. This reminds me more of a TDF route and not a Giro route.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

risky, yes. Crappy, not at all. It does suck the fact that 2 important stages are in France, I'll give you that.
Btw there can still be a 200+ km stage. The one to Corvara can be. Also the one to Livigno, if they want.

With this route they depend very much that the riders try to attack very far from the stage finish if they want to open up some huge gaps (I like huge gaps and devestating hard stages). You can't do much on Campolongo or Eira. And the rumoured stages in France are both short and (obviously) outside of Italy. This reminds me more of a TDF route and not a Giro route.

The huge gaps aren't made with MTFs though (Froome aside). Yes, ofc it's down to the riders. But personally I have no intention to witness another Zoncolan '14 in my life.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

This is the Giro. They race the race from the start to the end. Having a hard MTF in the end is overrated at best and boring at worst.

Still, several very high passes. Two mountain stages mostly outside of Italy. And with this design you are very, very dependent on aggressive riding/attacks on Fedaia/Gavia/Agnello/Bonette if you want much action. And this is risky because 3 of these climbs are over 2600m.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

This is the Giro. They race the race from the start to the end. Having a hard MTF in the end is overrated at best and boring at worst.

Still, several very high passes. Two mountain stages mostly outside of Italy. And with this design you are very, very dependent on aggressive riding/attacks on Fedaia/Gavia/Agnello/Bonette if you want much action. And this is risky because 3 of these climbs are over 2600m.

Aren't you dependent on aggressive riders on MTFs too?

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

The huge gaps aren't made with MTFs though (Froome aside). Yes, ofc it's down to the riders. But personally I have no intention to witness another Zoncolan '14 in my life.

No, I don't care much for Zoncolan either. But there is so many other good climbs, or better; combinations of climbs that could be used. I would

 

[Red Rick]

I actually really like what I'm hearing so far. Seems like lots of opportunites to attack from far out.

 

[OlavEH]

Re: Re:

This is the Giro. They race the race from the start to the end. Having a hard MTF in the end is overrated at best and boring at worst.

Still, several very high passes. Two mountain stages mostly outside of Italy. And with this design you are very, very dependent on aggressive riding/attacks on Fedaia/Gavia/Agnello/Bonette if you want much action. And this is risky because 3 of these climbs are over 2600m.

Aren't you dependent on aggressive riders on MTFs too?

Yep, but how often do you see attacks with 50-60-70 kms to the stage finish? Not very often. With this route you are pretty much dependent on this on most of the mountain stages. Foscagno and Pordoi aren't very hard, and Campolongo and Eira are fairly easy. Here they will have to attack on Fedaia or Gavia to create some real action.

From the top of Agnello to the foot of the Risoul climb there is close to 40 km. I will be very suprised if someone attacks before the last climb here.

The St.Anna Vinadio stage is better, but it's still mostly in France. Why not use Italian climbs?

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

This is the Giro. They race the race from the start to the end. Having a hard MTF in the end is overrated at best and boring at worst.

Still, several very high passes. Two mountain stages mostly outside of Italy. And with this design you are very, very dependent on aggressive riding/attacks on Fedaia/Gavia/Agnello/Bonette if you want much action. And this is risky because 3 of these climbs are over 2600m.

Aren't you dependent on aggressive riders on MTFs too?

Yep, but how often do you see attacks with 50-60-70 kms to the stage finish? Not very often. With this route you are pretty much dependent on this on most of the mountain stages. Foscagno and Pordoi aren't very hard, and Campolongo and Eira are fairly easy. Here they will have to attack on Fedaia or Gavia to create some real action.

From the top of Agnello to the foot of the Risoul climb there is close to 40 km. I will be very suprised if someone attacks before the last climb here.

The St.Anna Vinadio stage is better, but it's still mostly in France. Why not use Italian climbs?

But with the number of TT kilometres, it means riders will have to attack. I like the route that forces them to do so instead of just waiting for MTF
Unless everyone will just wait until MTT and then ride defensively after that.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

This is the Giro. They race the race from the start to the end. Having a hard MTF in the end is overrated at best and boring at worst.

Still, several very high passes. Two mountain stages mostly outside of Italy. And with this design you are very, very dependent on aggressive riding/attacks on Fedaia/Gavia/Agnello/Bonette if you want much action. And this is risky because 3 of these climbs are over 2600m.

Aren't you dependent on aggressive riders on MTFs too?

Yep, but how often do you see attacks with 50-60-70 kms to the stage finish? Not very often. With this route you are pretty much dependent on this on most of the mountain stages. Foscagno and Pordoi aren't very hard, and Campolongo and Eira are fairly easy. Here they will have to attack on Fedaia or Gavia to create some real action.

From the top of Agnello to the foot of the Risoul climb there is close to 40 km. I will be very suprised if someone attacks before the last climb here.

The St.Anna Vinadio stage is better, but it's still mostly in France. Why not use Italian climbs?

True. Sadly, how often do climbers need to attack from that far out? If you stack a race with MTFs and not enough TT, that's what you get. I already stated that the TT that has been presented favours climbers too much. Even so, I do not think Risoul alone will be enough for them to recover the loss. Eventually they will be forced to attack from far. They'll probably rape horribly a stage or two, but I'm quite confident we'll see fireworks in at least a couple stages.