- Sep 20, 2017
- 13,654
- 25,669
- 28,180
The first road stage of the week is a tricky day through the lower slopes of the Apennines. This is one of the better designs in this year’s route, will the riders make it count?
Map and profile
Start
The riders are still in Tuscany (Toscana), perhaps the region with the highest density of visually attractive places to host a bike race in the world. So naturally, we are starting from… an industrial area used for paper manufacturing. Paper manufacturing in Lucca and surroundings dates back to the 16th century, but the large plants in the exurb of Porcari, where we are starting, were only established in the 1960s. The history of the town itself actually goes back quite a bit further – a good-sized village, if not a small town, had emerged by the start of the 11th century, and the now-demolished castle saw multiple battles in the Middle Ages. Its military significance waned during the Renaissance, but Porcari seems to have slowly expanded, as evidenced by the repeated reconstructions of its church culminating in the 19th century construction of the clock tower that dominates its skyline. The town has never hosted the men’s race before, although the women’s edition did have a finish here in 1995.
(picture by Lucarelli at Wikimedia Commons)
The route
The first part of the stage mostly concerns itself with avoiding places. The route starts by straddling the edge of Lucca through its suburbs, then tackles a long false flat up to the pass at Montemagno. On the other side of this pass is the town of Camaiore, birthplace of 2002 U23 world champion Francesco Chicchi. The riders now enter the same narrow coastal strip which was used for the previous day’s time trial. In Massa, they at last pass through the city centre, only a kilometre away from the final time check in that stage. The next place on the route is the previously-discussed marble mining town Carrara, birthplace of legendary goalkeeper (as well as the player with the appearance record both in the Serie A and for the Italian national squad) Gianluigi Buffon. The route then crosses the Ligurian border for the intermediate sprint in Luni, the main port in the region in Roman times. Nowadays, that function is fulfilled by La Spezia, which is reached after the 2.5k at 5.5% climb to Pieve dei Santi Stefano e Margherita. Aside from being Italy’s main naval base, it is also the hometown of Alessandro Petacchi, who I don’t think requires introduction on a forum like this.
La Spezia sits at the very end of that coastal strip the riders have been traversing. Northwest of here, the Apennines rise directly from the sea, and thus the character of the route changes dramatically. The fun begins on the outskirts of the city, with the uncategorised climb to La Foce, which corresponds to the first 4.2k (averaging 5.4%) of the profile below.
After an undulating, but mostly downhill section, the riders hit another uncategorised climb, to Trezzo (2.0k at 7.2%). They do the entirety of the profile below, the actual climb is 2.1k at 7.0%.
The briefest of descents then gives way to the day’s first KOM, Passo del Termine (7.8k at 4.7%). This climb takes the riders into the Cinque Terre, famous for its UNESCO-inscribed landscape but perhaps better remembered on this forum for the monstrous 2009 time trial that won Denis Menchov the race. Sadly, we are only passing through the northern part today. The profile below is mislabeled as Colle di Gritta (which we will pass through on the descent), but otherwise correct.
Passo del Termine is a climb with many sides, and the somewhat technical one descended here is the one that featured as a climb in that TT. This descent takes us out of the Cinque Terre and directly on to the next climb, Colle di Guaitarola. It’s the sole cat. 2 of the day, but there are steeper slopes to come.
A ridge road links this climb to the historic Passo del Bracco, which is then descended. Although we are on the main road here, it’s a twisty affair. The descent ends in Sestri Levante, but the riders are not afforded the luxury of a trip to the town centre on the coast. Instead, the route turns inland the moment we enter town, and very soon it’s time for the next KOM. The official statistics of Colla dei Scioli are unimpressive, but that’s only because the final third of the false flat that separates it from the previous descent is categorised for some reason. Removing those first 1.5 kilometres, we are left with a climb of 4.2k at 8.0% that turns into a proper little wall in its second half.
The ensuing descent is short, but also steep, narrow and sinuous. The riders are then granted a reprieve in the form of eight kilometres of downhill false flat through the valley, before the last real climb of the day, up to the bonus sprint in Cogorno. Once again, the official statistics only tell part of the story, partially because the KOM is located on the tiny stretch of ridge road after the summit (the actual climb is 4.25k at 7.1%), partially because the climb is pretty irregular. The climb itself comes with 13.0k to go.
Finish
One last technical descent takes the riders back to the coast. It ends with 6.6k left to race. This section could have been shorter, but the Giro is doing the ‘use as many roads as possible in the finish town’ thing it sometimes does (it’s possible that any of RCS, the UCI or the CPA took the terrible view that the descent was too close to the line otherwise). One effect of this is that we have a last little hill to deal with, although as you can see from the profile below, the gradients are unimpressive.
Although Chiavari was settled by the 8th century BC and a small town had emerged by Roman times, it dwindled badly during the Early Middle Ages and thus its subsequent history can almost be treated separately. Probably in the 11th or 12th century, the Republic of Genoa (Genova) took control of the area, and in the 12th century, they built walls around what was at the time a small town and constructed a castle overlooking it. Aside from some interruptions in the 13th century, Chiavari would remain a part of the Republic until its end came at the hands of revolutionary France. Much like its historic rival Venice, the by then ailing republic was not restored after the fall of Napoleon, instead being given to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia that would take control of the whole peninsula during Italian unification.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Until the late 14th century, Genoa was, together with Venice, one of the two great trading powers of the Mediterranean, and this generally benefited Chiavari, which progressively expanded during this period. In 1380, Genoa suffered a crushing naval defeat to Venice at the Battle of Chioggia, and was thereafter unable to retain its military and trading power at sea. This caused a period of drastic decline, culminating in decades of French occupation in the early 16th century. Genoa regained its independence with the help of the Habsburgs, and rose again as one of the dominant financial centres of Europe. It was now closely tied to the Spanish Empire, and prospered greatly from its role as the effective paymaster of what was the most powerful country in the world. However, when things came crashing down for Spain in the 17th century, Genoa went down with the ship. By the time it was annexed by France in 1797, the Republic was a shadow of its former self, having lost all of its overseas territories. The last of these was Corsica, which after five centuries under Genoese rule was annexed by France in 1768. It’s quite the sliding doors moment – if Genoa had held onto Corsica for a little longer, then how could Napoleon have ended up where he did?
Chiavari itself actually enjoyed a period of growth in the 18th century, and served as the administrative capital of a department that reached as far as La Spezia under French occupation. Genoan independence was very briefly restored during the first exile of Napoleon in 1814, but the following year, the Congress of Vienna decided that it was to be annexed by Piedmont-Sardinia. Chiavari now became the capital of the smaller Province of Chiavari, which was merged into that of Genoa during the Fascist era and never restored. In the 19th century, the town was known for the production of chairs, but as is the case in the rest of the region, the economy has turned more and more towards tourism since then. Although the population has slowly declined for half a century, it also remains one of the main economic centres of the long stretch of coast between Genoa and La Spezia. This will be the fourth Giro to visit the town, the most recent instance being the start of the chaotic 2015 La Spezia stage won by Davide Formolo.
(picture by Dapa19 at Wikimedia Commons)
What to expect?
This is the first stage of the race that feels like it should be a gimme for the breakaway. Having said that, the GC riders will need to be on their toes, because things could go from zero to 100 pretty fast on the climbs and perhaps even more so the descents here.
Map and profile
Start
The riders are still in Tuscany (Toscana), perhaps the region with the highest density of visually attractive places to host a bike race in the world. So naturally, we are starting from… an industrial area used for paper manufacturing. Paper manufacturing in Lucca and surroundings dates back to the 16th century, but the large plants in the exurb of Porcari, where we are starting, were only established in the 1960s. The history of the town itself actually goes back quite a bit further – a good-sized village, if not a small town, had emerged by the start of the 11th century, and the now-demolished castle saw multiple battles in the Middle Ages. Its military significance waned during the Renaissance, but Porcari seems to have slowly expanded, as evidenced by the repeated reconstructions of its church culminating in the 19th century construction of the clock tower that dominates its skyline. The town has never hosted the men’s race before, although the women’s edition did have a finish here in 1995.
(picture by Lucarelli at Wikimedia Commons)
The route
The first part of the stage mostly concerns itself with avoiding places. The route starts by straddling the edge of Lucca through its suburbs, then tackles a long false flat up to the pass at Montemagno. On the other side of this pass is the town of Camaiore, birthplace of 2002 U23 world champion Francesco Chicchi. The riders now enter the same narrow coastal strip which was used for the previous day’s time trial. In Massa, they at last pass through the city centre, only a kilometre away from the final time check in that stage. The next place on the route is the previously-discussed marble mining town Carrara, birthplace of legendary goalkeeper (as well as the player with the appearance record both in the Serie A and for the Italian national squad) Gianluigi Buffon. The route then crosses the Ligurian border for the intermediate sprint in Luni, the main port in the region in Roman times. Nowadays, that function is fulfilled by La Spezia, which is reached after the 2.5k at 5.5% climb to Pieve dei Santi Stefano e Margherita. Aside from being Italy’s main naval base, it is also the hometown of Alessandro Petacchi, who I don’t think requires introduction on a forum like this.
La Spezia sits at the very end of that coastal strip the riders have been traversing. Northwest of here, the Apennines rise directly from the sea, and thus the character of the route changes dramatically. The fun begins on the outskirts of the city, with the uncategorised climb to La Foce, which corresponds to the first 4.2k (averaging 5.4%) of the profile below.
After an undulating, but mostly downhill section, the riders hit another uncategorised climb, to Trezzo (2.0k at 7.2%). They do the entirety of the profile below, the actual climb is 2.1k at 7.0%.
The briefest of descents then gives way to the day’s first KOM, Passo del Termine (7.8k at 4.7%). This climb takes the riders into the Cinque Terre, famous for its UNESCO-inscribed landscape but perhaps better remembered on this forum for the monstrous 2009 time trial that won Denis Menchov the race. Sadly, we are only passing through the northern part today. The profile below is mislabeled as Colle di Gritta (which we will pass through on the descent), but otherwise correct.
Passo del Termine is a climb with many sides, and the somewhat technical one descended here is the one that featured as a climb in that TT. This descent takes us out of the Cinque Terre and directly on to the next climb, Colle di Guaitarola. It’s the sole cat. 2 of the day, but there are steeper slopes to come.
A ridge road links this climb to the historic Passo del Bracco, which is then descended. Although we are on the main road here, it’s a twisty affair. The descent ends in Sestri Levante, but the riders are not afforded the luxury of a trip to the town centre on the coast. Instead, the route turns inland the moment we enter town, and very soon it’s time for the next KOM. The official statistics of Colla dei Scioli are unimpressive, but that’s only because the final third of the false flat that separates it from the previous descent is categorised for some reason. Removing those first 1.5 kilometres, we are left with a climb of 4.2k at 8.0% that turns into a proper little wall in its second half.
The ensuing descent is short, but also steep, narrow and sinuous. The riders are then granted a reprieve in the form of eight kilometres of downhill false flat through the valley, before the last real climb of the day, up to the bonus sprint in Cogorno. Once again, the official statistics only tell part of the story, partially because the KOM is located on the tiny stretch of ridge road after the summit (the actual climb is 4.25k at 7.1%), partially because the climb is pretty irregular. The climb itself comes with 13.0k to go.
Finish
One last technical descent takes the riders back to the coast. It ends with 6.6k left to race. This section could have been shorter, but the Giro is doing the ‘use as many roads as possible in the finish town’ thing it sometimes does (it’s possible that any of RCS, the UCI or the CPA took the terrible view that the descent was too close to the line otherwise). One effect of this is that we have a last little hill to deal with, although as you can see from the profile below, the gradients are unimpressive.
Although Chiavari was settled by the 8th century BC and a small town had emerged by Roman times, it dwindled badly during the Early Middle Ages and thus its subsequent history can almost be treated separately. Probably in the 11th or 12th century, the Republic of Genoa (Genova) took control of the area, and in the 12th century, they built walls around what was at the time a small town and constructed a castle overlooking it. Aside from some interruptions in the 13th century, Chiavari would remain a part of the Republic until its end came at the hands of revolutionary France. Much like its historic rival Venice, the by then ailing republic was not restored after the fall of Napoleon, instead being given to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia that would take control of the whole peninsula during Italian unification.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Until the late 14th century, Genoa was, together with Venice, one of the two great trading powers of the Mediterranean, and this generally benefited Chiavari, which progressively expanded during this period. In 1380, Genoa suffered a crushing naval defeat to Venice at the Battle of Chioggia, and was thereafter unable to retain its military and trading power at sea. This caused a period of drastic decline, culminating in decades of French occupation in the early 16th century. Genoa regained its independence with the help of the Habsburgs, and rose again as one of the dominant financial centres of Europe. It was now closely tied to the Spanish Empire, and prospered greatly from its role as the effective paymaster of what was the most powerful country in the world. However, when things came crashing down for Spain in the 17th century, Genoa went down with the ship. By the time it was annexed by France in 1797, the Republic was a shadow of its former self, having lost all of its overseas territories. The last of these was Corsica, which after five centuries under Genoese rule was annexed by France in 1768. It’s quite the sliding doors moment – if Genoa had held onto Corsica for a little longer, then how could Napoleon have ended up where he did?
Chiavari itself actually enjoyed a period of growth in the 18th century, and served as the administrative capital of a department that reached as far as La Spezia under French occupation. Genoan independence was very briefly restored during the first exile of Napoleon in 1814, but the following year, the Congress of Vienna decided that it was to be annexed by Piedmont-Sardinia. Chiavari now became the capital of the smaller Province of Chiavari, which was merged into that of Genoa during the Fascist era and never restored. In the 19th century, the town was known for the production of chairs, but as is the case in the rest of the region, the economy has turned more and more towards tourism since then. Although the population has slowly declined for half a century, it also remains one of the main economic centres of the long stretch of coast between Genoa and La Spezia. This will be the fourth Giro to visit the town, the most recent instance being the start of the chaotic 2015 La Spezia stage won by Davide Formolo.
(picture by Dapa19 at Wikimedia Commons)
What to expect?
This is the first stage of the race that feels like it should be a gimme for the breakaway. Having said that, the GC riders will need to be on their toes, because things could go from zero to 100 pretty fast on the climbs and perhaps even more so the descents here.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram