Giro d'Italia: the stages (link)

[Milan.ITALY]

Here is a link to the 21 stages of the Giro d'Italia.

http://digilander.libero.it/giroditalia2009/

The question is: is this Giro more suited for climbers or for TT riders?
Do you like this year's course or you prefer the old style, with the Alps in the last week?
How many are the stages for the sprinters? I think not many...

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Climbers, but barely.

Stages 4 & 5 are going to be interesting, because we'll know then who came to play, and who didn't.

Stage 7 could be interesting because we'll see some people go off the front some 30k or so from the finish, and it may be hard for the entire peloton to reel them in because of the course.

Stage 12's TT is a long one at 61km, but both Lance and Cunego said it's extremely technical. Cunego said so much so he might just ride a regular road bike. This is one of the two most important stages in the Giro. The race may not be won here, but it could easily be lost. Someone not prepared for all the constant curves and bends and short climbs and descents could lose minutes.

Stage 14 has a short but very steep finish that might catch some people unprepared. This is the kind of stage Diluca excelled on in the past.

Stage 17 up the mighty Blockhaus is the other breaker. Just one giant climb over a relatively short stage. Guys will be attacking all the time on it, and the group should get completely splintered. Someone could get in a very key break here and make big gains on GC, or they could miss out and finish minutes behind.

The final stage TT reminds me of 1989 in the Tour. If we have a couple of riders within a minute of each other, this final stage could be dramatic.

Overall, I like it. I've always liked the Giro's planning better than the Tour and usually better than the Vuelta too. Though I think this year's Vuelta is the best course of the three GT's. It entirely skips the Pyranees (!) and their giant climbs, but has numerous climbing stages that will really mix things up. Plus no long transfers of any kind that upset the riders and teams.

 

[LugHugger]

Holy crap The profile to Blockhaus looks brutal! 1500m over the last 20kms. No messing about on this one is there?

The last 40kms of stage 7 to Chiavenna looks like fun though

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

7 stages above 200km.
3 of 240, and 1 of 260.

Is that common for the giro?