Giro d'Italia 2017 rumours - Il Centesimo

[SafeBet]

Venice would be an underwhelming choice. I understand its immense touristic value but the 100th Giro should finish in Milano.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

The route looks extremely back loaded so far

Mountain wise yes, you could say so, but the first week has Terminillo, a few hilly stages and Stage 9 has potential to be really interesting. I imagine some sterrato to be thrown in somewhere, and the Messina stage could include Etna somewhere (I know Eshnar said there weren't any rumours, but it I wouldn't be surprised if they do). If there actually are two ITTs in the second week that would be fantastic. Puts the climbers far back for Oropa and Bergamo, on which there could be fireworks. A similar stage to this year's Lombardia would be very tricky for even a Sky Tour team to control. The last week is nice - Stelvio MTF is disappointing, Piancavallo could be used as a pass still, and Tre Cime is absolutely fine as an MTF, in fact I'd say it's probably one of the the best and most significant in the Giro. Stage 20 could be absolutely epic. A bit backloaded, but should be good nonetheless. Finish should be in Milan.

Al of this ofc is depending on this actually being the route.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Ah ok, I thought it was already set in stone that Piancavallo and Pordoi would turn out to be MTFs. Lets hope thats not the case now that Stelvio is.

 

[Brullnux]

Pordoi should be a MTF, Piancavallo shouldn't. Fedaia-Canazei-Pordoi is better than Fedaia-Canazei-Pordoi with a finish in Arabba IMO. Pordoi isn't that hard a climb, only like 12km at 6-7% I think. Not enough to hinder attacks on Fedaia at least, by no means. A descent into Arabba adds little, really. And much less from a cultural/historical sense.

 

[Gigs_98]

I generally don't have a problem with mtf's, but the number of them which is rumored right now is just too high. And I think the fact that all the mtf's which are already rumored are actually on passes makes it even worse. Sella Leonessa (Terminillo), Oropa, Stelvio, Piancavallo and Pordoi. At least the last of these mtf's (Pordoi) is a relatively easy one, but although Fedaia-Pordoi is good the difference of difficulty between the last two climbs isn't as big as for example with Mortirolo-Aprica or Finestre-Sestriere.

 

[Brullnux]

Tre Cime is a dead end, and Oropa may as well be a MTF, it's not really been used as a pass very much, wouldn't expect it now. Stelvio for me is the most disappointing one by far. Terminillo like Oropa is a classic Appenine MTF (like Blockhaus) so that's ok for a centenary Giro. Piancavallo could still be a pass with the finish in Maniago.

 

[railxmig]

1 Alghero - Olbia *****
2 Olbia - Tormoli' *****
3 Tormoli' - Cagliari *****
rest
4 ??? - Messina ***
5 ??? - Terme Luigiane ***
6 Terme Luigiane? - Alberobello ***
7 Molfetta - Peschici **
8 ??? - Terminillo ***
9 ??? - Pistoia ***
rest
10 ??? - Gualdo Tesino? ITT? **
11 Perugia - Bagno di Romagna ***
12 Forli' - Reggio Emilia ***
13 ??? - Tortona ITT? ****
14 Castellania - Oropa ****
15 Andorno - Bergamo ****
rest
16 ??? - Stelvio ****
17 ??? - Piancavallo ****
18 Pordenone - Treviso? **
19 Sedico - Tre Cime? **
20 ??? - Pordoi ****
21 Venezia ITT? **

Interesting info about Alberobello. I was playing with Puglia quite some time ago and of course i did visit Alberobello, but sadly i couldn't find any good finishing place there. The terrain is flat which means it should be a sprint stage. Only hills worth noticing are these in Terra delle Gravine but they're good 20km south of the city. I'm not against sprint stages but i couldn't find any SAFE place for a sprint finish in the city. Via Barsento is a bit too short (200m straight), Via Indipendenza and the main street - Largo Martellotta are not very straight at all. I didn't check out the north part of the city though, so maybe there are some good places.

I personally would try for an uphill finish in Ostuni (the white city). It's only 30km east of Alberobello (which could be an intermediate sprint) and it could try for a very dramatic finish. I'm thinking of a finish on the old city's walls (Viale Oronzo Quaranta). It's obviously not very straight but it's a quite serious uphill finish (only 300m, but definitely over 10% and previous couple of kms are uphill too, but not serious) so the road's shape is not as important. Besides it's really wide for an on-walls road (i don't know how to call such roads). A possible finish line could be placed in this place. The run-in could be from Via Francesco Tanzarella Vitale.

I think Tuscany has much more to offer cycling and especially tourist wise than Pistoia. I still would try for nearby Lucca considering it's colorful history with Giro. Still, a finish in Pistoia could be from the nearby Monte Albano (i guess it will be approached from the south). Bergamo is a bit of a letdown too. I would prefer a finish in Como. I think the terrain is much better, Giro Lombardia ends there and i think it would look much better for Il Centesimo than Bergamo. I guess a possible grand finale in Venezia could be fine, but i think Milano should be kept for rather obvious reasons.

As for the climbs. I'm propably one of the small group of people, who dislikes Tre Cime. This is hardly a climb, where you can win a GT and considering that (in this rumour) it's supposed to be before possible Giau-Fedaia-Pordoi stage it might be just a filler Vuelta-esque MTF. Better IMO would be to do a harder hilly stage finishing in Cortina d'Ampezzo to give the breakaway artists something proper to work with. I do however have nothing against Stelvio though. It is Il Centesimo and Stelvio is one of the most important Italian passes. Piancavallo is kind of out there though - unnecessary. Still, a bit too many MTF for my liking. One or two less would be fine in my eyes.

 

[Brullnux]

The thing with Tre Cime on the day before such a hard stage is that it all but guarantees some GC action. A downhill finish in Cortina would be quite boring form that PoV, really. It's a filler, just like Zoncolan was a filler in 2011 before that stage to Gardeccia.

 

[May0maniac]

You dislike Tre Cime? Burn the heretic!
Jokes aside, yeah, with a proper Fedaia stage there's no need to also have a Tre Cime stage right before it.

 

[staubsauger]

As it's either Drei Zinnen or Kronplatz apparently it sounds to me like it's gonna be a mtt stage. It's my wishful interpretation of course! But the Drei Zinnen or more exactly the climb to the Auronzo Hütte delivers such fantastic views. It's simply pure earthporn. Put it on anyway. If the riders ain't deliver, the Dolomites certainly do!

Actually the rumors suggest there ain't much tt miles at all. So it seems they really want Aru to become the new Giro champ. His last two seasons ain't convince me. He's always very vulnerable. With could make a mountainous route kinda interesting as it would favor the likes of Landa, Bardet, Kruijswijk, Chaves and Pinot as well to hurt little Aru.

 

[Nirvana]

Mountain finish are too concentrated in the last part of the race, IMHO would be better to put something in the first part (Etna or Vesuvio and Blockhaus) instead Piancavallo or Stelvio and Pordoi. With such climbing friendly route we need a TT above 50 kms.

Seems also that we don't have sterrato next year, they could put something in the stage to Pistoia if they come from south but the Chianti area is far from the finish and doesn't make sense a stage with the sterrato in the first part.

 

[staubsauger]

Re:

Mountain finish are too concentrated in the last part of the race, IMHO would be better to put something in the first part (Etna or Vesuvio and Blockhaus) instead Piancavallo or Stelvio and Pordoi. With such climbing friendly route we need a TT above 50 kms.

Seems also that we don't have sterrato next year, they could put something in the stage to Pistoia if they come from south but the Chianti area is far from the finish and doesn't make sense a stage with the sterrato in the first part.

To be honest I ain't got no clue why there ain't either Blockhaus or Etna on the first weekend. It's way too backloaded with this parcours. The start at Sardinia looks like a pure tourism advertisements eventually.

 

[Gigs_98]

I really like Tre Cime and I generally wouldn't see a problem in making two mountain stages in the dolomites. I still don't like the last mountain stages as they are rumored, because of two reasons. 1.) Pordoi and Tre Cime are extremely close to each other, therefore the climbs which would usually be put before Tre Cime would normally also be expected in a Pordoi stage. Moreover it means that the Pordoi stage is probably rather short since the start of the next stage would probably be close to the Tre Cime. 2.) The fact that the Tre Cime stage is rumored to start in Serdica makes it even worse, since this stage will probably also be rather short. A short Pordoi stage would be okay (we have seen often enough that short mountain stages can be great), but then I want a really long stage on the day before, like with the Aubisque stage before Formigal in this years Vuelta.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Mountain finish are too concentrated in the last part of the race, IMHO would be better to put something in the first part (Etna or Vesuvio and Blockhaus) instead Piancavallo or Stelvio and Pordoi. With such climbing friendly route we need a TT above 50 kms.

Seems also that we don't have sterrato next year, they could put something in the stage to Pistoia if they come from south but the Chianti area is far from the finish and doesn't make sense a stage with the sterrato in the first part.

To be honest I ain't got no clue why there ain't either Blockhaus or Etna on the first weekend. It's way too backloaded with this parcours. The start at Sardinia looks like a pure tourism advertisements eventually.

Terminillo is a decent enough MTF, compares well enough to Blockhaus. I prefer Blockhaus too, but Termininllo makes sense.

I really like Tre Cime and I generally wouldn't see a problem in making two mountain stages in the dolomites. I still don't like the last mountain stages as they are rumored, because of two reasons. 1.) Pordoi and Tre Cime are extremely close to each other, therefore the climbs which would usually be put before Tre Cime would normally also be expected in a Pordoi stage. Moreover it means that the Pordoi stage is probably rather short since the start of the next stage would probably be close to the Tre Cime. 2.) The fact that the Tre Cime stage is rumored to start in Serdica makes it even worse, since this stage will probably also be rather short. A short Pordoi stage would be okay (we have seen often enough that short mountain stages can be great), but then I want a really long stage on the day before, like with the Aubisque stage before Formigal in this years Vuelta.

Agree completely. However, it is not a given that the Tre Cime stage is short, because of the nice detours you can take. Unlikely, but not impossible that we could see a stage like this:

Bit of a waste, though, if the stage after is even tougher.

 

[Nirvana]

I still have doubts about Terminillo after the earthquake in the area. After Peschici they could go to Abruzzo for a mountain stage then a stage near the Adriatic coast of Marche, the stage to Guardo Tadino, Perugia-Bagno di Romagna and Forlì-Pistoia as early rumored make sense.

Anyway also with Terminillo or another climb in central italy is a very bad balanced route with four mountain finishes in six days at the end. Who want to attack in the Stelvio stage with Piancavallo, Tre Cime and Pordoi stages in four days to come? There is a serious risk of GC movements only in the final kilometres of last climbs.

 

[May0maniac]

I haven't heard anything about Tre Cime in the local newspapers or from local guys from Misurina and Auronzo who could know something about a potential MTF, so I don't know if it will happen.
@staubsauger: There are no serious rumours about Kronplatz, they spend a lot of money to promote the new Messner Mountain Museum, so I don't know if they are willing to spend a lot of money for a Giro stage and let's be real, the ugly ski stations on the Kronplatz aren't exactly stunning.

 

[yaco]

Nothing wrong with one or two short mountain stages - They make for good racing.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Nothing wrong with one or two short mountain stages - They make for good racing.

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. The reason why it sometimes works, IMO, is the wear and tear longer and harder stages have put on the riders. It should be mandatory, in every GT, to have 2 +200 km proper mountain stages.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Btw, any rumours of which side from Stelvio? The hard side with Gavia beforehand sounds juicy.

 

[Eshnar]

The Gavia is out, there was a landslide on its descent and it won't be fixed in time for next year. The Stelvio side will be the one from Bormio, unless they do totally crazy (and unlikely) stuff.

 

[GP Blanco]

Re: Re:

How certain are you that the end will be in Venice? Given stage 21 could be a short ITT, would they not be able to go to Milan?

I gave it only two stars. As a matter of fact, could be Venice, Milan or Rome. ITT or road stage. We know nothing.

I thought the Giro would never be visiting Rome in the weekends because of the traffic?

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

I thought the Giro would never be visiting Rome in the weekends because of the traffic?

It's the opposite, they can't visit Rome during working days. If they do, it's on a Sunday, as it is for all big cities.

Rather big (and puzzling) news:

Multiple local sources claim that on May 10th the stage will finish in Messina (starting in the same province), and on May 11th there will be Messina - Catania (nobody mentioning the Etna... yet). However, those are stage 5 and 6, so that means that stage 4 could again be in Sicily, maybe in Palermo. That ofc crushes all my predictions for the first week...

 

[staubsauger]

Maybe they gonna do a long ttt on Sicily. That's like the perfect way to include a decent amount of tt miles while at the same time favor Aru over his opponents with it, because of his strong Astana team.

 

[railxmig]

Re: Re:

I thought the Giro would never be visiting Rome in the weekends because of the traffic?

It's the opposite, they can't visit Rome during working days. If they do, it's on a Sunday, as it is for all big cities.

I know it's offtopic but are there strict rules as to claim, which city is big in RCS eyes and if these rules apply to Saturday too? Sth like over 100 000 population cities are only allowed on sunday/weekend or is it more based on the architecture or transport structure of such city like placement of factories and amount of road bypasses.

BTW, if Tortona is rumoured (apparently an ITT) then it's interesting if the finish won't be uphill - Parco del Castello with finish on Viale Libertà at roughly 750m, 6,5%.

 

[Eshnar]

Re: Re:

I thought the Giro would never be visiting Rome in the weekends because of the traffic?

It's the opposite, they can't visit Rome during working days. If they do, it's on a Sunday, as it is for all big cities.

I know it's offtopic but are there strict rules as to claim, which city is big in RCS eyes and if these rules apply to Saturday too? Sth like over 100 000 population cities are only allowed on sunday/weekend or is it more based on the architecture or transport structure of such city like placement of factories and amount of road bypasses.

BTW, if Tortona is rumoured (apparently an ITT) then it's interesting if the finish won't be uphill - Parco del Castello with finish on Viale Libertà at roughly 750m, 6,5%.

There are a few hills around Tortona, if it's a road stage they will climb some, but it won't be very selective.

The thing about big cities - it's not an official rule or anything. Simply put, many big cities have horrible traffic during working days so they tend to avoid holding a cycling event in there.