Race Design Challenge

[Brullnux]

it seems that everyone is using the Parco Majella region today

Edit: Gigs - Surprised you?

LA CENTESIMA STAGE 7: FIUGGI-BLOCKHAUS 206.6km

The first MTF of the 100th Giro takes place at Blockhaus; arguably the hardest and most famous Appenine climb. Due to logistical problems, it had to be moved from the weekend slot to a Friday. The gaps will hjave already grown out among the GC contenders, after the monster Etna stage, two days by the coast with possible echelons, a tricky stage in Calabria and a difficult, long day to Pompei. With the next 3 stages containing a very difficult medium mountain stage, a sterrato stage with the qualities to become an epic and a very long TT, the pure climbers who might have struggled on some of the windy days and in the TT and sterrato will want to pounce today before they lose time.

The day starts off in Fiuggi has been an arrival city 9 times in the past, most recently this year, where Ulissi won. As a departure city 5 times. Fiuggi is famous as it is claimed that it's water has healing abilities. This started when Pope Boniface VII went there and came back healed of kidney stones. Michelangelo said the same thing, just more poetically, a couple of centuries later. This theory is actually scientifically accredited - it has an ability to dissolve kidney stones and help kidney function. One of the main attractions is where Pope Bonifacio was said to have been healed.

We hit the first climb of the day after 20km of racing. A steady 14.2km at about 6%, we will likely see 2 groups definitively formed at the summit of this climb - the grupetto and the break. The peloton will be still reasonably big. We pass Avezzano for our 1st TV, then we approach the second climb, the easy Forca di Caruso. Hopefully Damiano will be in the break to take the GPM points for his namesake climb.

Everthing is nice and easy before we near the National park of Majella (http://www.cusnapoli.it/cusnapoli/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/majella.jpg). Stupendously beautiful scenery, and even more beautiful animals - bears, wolves it has everything. Hopefully no bear or wolf will interrupt our proceedings today. With the recent polemica about bears in Italy this will bear some current affairs relation. Unfortunately for GoT fans, there are no direwolves here, just normal wolves. The highest peak here is also the second highest in the whole Apennines region, marking significant importance for the region. The Passo San Leonardo is a second category climb that may make a selection in the breakaway and see some GC contenders (Rolland) make a jump for it. More likely it will shed some domestiques and some pretenders, and catch out anyone who has a bad day with top-20 GC aspirations. Not a difficult climb, it maxes out 9%.

Then after a long descent and some flat, we pass near the birthplace of Abbruzean poet Giuseppe Tontodonati, probably the most famous person to come out of this region. Then it's crunch time. We head up the climb that gave a certain, young Eddy Merckx his first ever GT stage win in 1967, and the Milan-San Remo champiom proved that he could climb with the best. The rest, as they say, is history. In 1972, it proved part of a split stage, starting in the same place Gigs' stage did, and ending up at Blockhaus, with José-Manuel Fuente (RIP) annihalting the rest of the field, including beating Eddy Merckx by 2:30 seconds. The great Spanish climber could not take the overall thouhg.. Moreno Argentin won here in 1984, beating Moser by 2 seconds, and most recently Franco Pellizotti crushing Menchov, Di Luca, Basso and Garzelli . Interestingly no one who ahs won here has gone on to take the overall. A punishing climb, 5km of it average 9.7%. From where we are racing it, it is 19km at 8%. Basically the Alpe d'Huez, just 6km longer. One of the most historic and underused climbs in the Giro, it featured in the celebration of the 100 years Giro. The last 7 km are fairly irregular, going from 4% to 10% often. This will no doubt decide who will not be a contender for the overall. You can lose over 2, 3 minutes on this climb.

 

[Billie]

Giro d'Italia - Stage 7: Foligno - Rieti (158 km)

This is about as easy as it gets this Giro. We have to give the sprinters a couple of chances don't we? Not going to spend many words on this cause there isn't much to be said. Quite a hard climb early on after the start in Foligno. The Cancelli (10.4km @ 6.4%) should give some action to form a breakaway but other than that it don't expect anything. From there on it's almost completely flat until Rieti where we should have all the big sprinters fighting it out.

It will get more intresting tomorrow. I promise

 

[Gigs_98]

@Billie:
I am very sure that I have the same stage you will have as stage 8, in the second week

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Blockhaus = BRILLIANT.

 

[Brullnux]

@ Libertine, I need to ask you some questions:
How do you get the grey section for the sterrato? I am trying to find a way but am struggling.
Also, how do you get the links to say a word rather than a url? Once again, I was trying desperately to find the correct way yesterday, but alas, to no avail.

whoever has an answer to either question i would be grateful, i asked Libertine because I saw his post with both of my problems, so I thought it easier to ask both at once

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

@ Libertine, I need to ask you some questions:
How do you get the grey section for the sterrato? I am trying to find a way but am struggling.
Also, how do you get the links to say a word rather than a url? Once again, I was trying desperately to find the correct way yesterday, but alas, to no avail.

whoever has an answer to either question i would be grateful, i asked Libertine because I saw his post with both of my problems, so I thought it easier to ask both at once

Q1: I saved the profile to my system, then highlighted the relevant sections and converted them to greyscale, getting where they were from the map view. It's not an integrated Cronoescalada feature, but as I did it for the cobbles in my Deutschlandtour I repeated the trick here.

Q2: [ url=paste url here ] type words here [ /url ]

 

[Brullnux]

Thanks

 

[Eshnar]

We made it to the first milestone!

Judge 1:
Brullnux T: 4/3 C: 3/3 W: 2/5
Barmaher T: 3/5 C: 4/5 W: 3/5
Gigs98 T: 4/5 C: 1/5 W: 5/5 (excellent first week)
Billie T: 1/5 C: 2/5 W: 4/5 (there are many over the top routes, this one is definitely sensible)
Finn84 T: 3/5 C: 3/5 W: 3/5 (another sensible first week, but it clearly lacks a TT)
Libertine T: 2/5 C: 4/5 W: 2/5 (Individually your stages are very nice, but as a GT first week they don't convince me at all)
Stromeon: T: 5/5 C: 2/5 W: 4/5 (great stage 7)

Judge 2:
Brullnux T: 3/3 C: 3/3 W: 3/5 (great final mountain)
Barmaher T: 4/5 C: 4/5 W: 4/5 (nice stage)
Gigs98 T: 4/5 C: 5/5 W: 5/5 ( good, long iTT with a hilly test)
Billie T: 2/5 C: 2/5 W: 2/5
Finn84 T: 2/5 C: 2/5 W: 2/5
Libertine T: 3/5 C: 4/5 W: 4/5 (could be some great action here)
Stromeon: T: 5/5 C: 3/5 W: 3/5 (really good stage)

Judge 3:
Brullnux T: 3/5 C 4/5 W: 3/5
Barmaher T: 3/5 C: 4/5 W: 5/5
Gigs_98 T: 5/5 C: 3/5 W: 4/5
Billie T: 1/5 C: 2/5 W: 2/5
Finn84 T: 2/5 C: 3/5 W: 2/5 (too many great stages, I had to give you a 2 because of the scoring system, it's still a great stage)
Libertine: T: 4/5 C: 5/5 W: 4/5
Stromeon T: 4/5 C: 2/5 W: 3/5


GC after the first week! (remember that the week rating is multiplied by 3)
Gigs 187
Barmaher 177
Libertine 173
Stromeon 164
Brullnux 150
Billie 146
Finn 127

 

[Finn84]

Stage 8, Catania - Termini Imerese, 218 km

The second day in Sicily is easier than the first one. The biggest difficulty is in the beginning of the stage (7.4 km/5.9%), which added with the lumpy nature of the stage overall (second categorized climb 8.6 km/3.8%), makes it ideal for a breakaway. Starting from Catania, the second-largest city in Sicily, the stage takes the riders to coastal town of Termini Imerese.

But, as you can see from the graphic, the finish isn't at the coast. The final 1.3 kilometres has an average of 4.9%, including even tougher sections.

 

[Billie]

Giro d'Italia - Stage 8: Leonessa - Roma

It's weekend in the Giro so time for something special! Roma has been used rather little compared to Paris and Madrid cause the Giro generally finishes north. Mine will finish North aswell but we'll visit Rome on the first Saturday.

The stage will start in Leonessa and immediately the riders will have to tackle quite a hard climb. The Sella di Leonessa (16.8 km @ 5.7%) is the backside of the Terminillo which has been used surprisingly little in the Giro (only 5 times in the last 40 years).

From Rieti the race will follow a rolling route south through the Parco Naturale Regionale dei Monti Lucritelli. After a less taxing flat section the riders will cross the Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani. 2 tougher hills have to be crossed there: the Spaccata (4.3 km @ 7.2%) and the Rocca Priora (2.2 km @ 6.2%). A descent around the Lago Albano will bring the riders to Frattocchie.

There are 30 kms left but they won't be boring cause the race will go throught the Appia Antica park over 3 sectors of the Appia Antica.The Via Appica is ofcourse one of the most well known historic roads in the world. It ran through the South West of Italy all the way to Rome. The roads were in quite bad condition and impossible to ride over for a cycling race.

But part of it has been restaurated with smaller cobbles that are definatly possible to race over!

The first 2 sectors are only about a kilometre long and are mainly to let the riders get accustomed before the final stretch that starts with little over 10 kilomtre left and ends with only 5 km remaining.

Finish will be the same as used in the Roma Maxima which means the riders will ride around the Colloseum and finish on the Via dei Fori Imperiali which gives in incredibly beautiful picture.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 8: Pescara - Monte Terminillo, 187km

It's the weekend, so it's time to introduce the mountains. The intermediate stages thus far will have sorted contenders from pretenders, but now it's time for the climbers to start to look to win back any time lost in the sterrato or the TTT. As is often the case, the first mountain stage is not Unipuerto, but is not a 2011 Rifugio Gardeccia odyssey, as a) we need to keep things realistic, and b) we need to be honouring the right spots. For me, Monte Terminillo was a must from a historical perspective. In 1936, an ITT from Rieti to the ski station was the first real "high altitude mountain finish" in the Giro's history, with Giuseppe Olmo being victorious. The stage was so successful they repeated it each year until 1939, with Bartali winning in 1937 and then back to back victories for Giovanni Valetti. After the war, there were no more time trials on the slopes of Terminillo, however with five further stage finishes from 1987 to 2010 it is the most common true high altitude mountaintop finish in Giro history (more on that later in the route). With victors here including Bartali, Herrera, Tonkov and Garzelli and with further history via the five additional climbs over the Sella Leonessa pass above the ski station, it is a fitting centenary climb. And in May we can expect better conditions than during Nairo Quintana's Tirreno-Adriatico victory on the climb...

Before we get there, however, there's a whole preceding stage. Pescara is a not uncommon Giro host city on the Adriatic coast which is surrounded by hills; while you could make a very good hilly stage around here (a little like in 2013 of course) we're sticking to the valleys at first. There's only the one really big climb preceding the final MTF and it is quite early in the stage, as the riders ascend an Italian icon, the enormous Gran Sasso d'Italia.

The Gran Sasso has featured in the Giro a few times, albeit from various sides and to various destinations. The most common has been the Campo Imperatore ski station first seen in 1971, and last seen in this stage from 1999, a pure climber's feast with the most turbocharged Pantani ever imposing himself for the victory ahead of fellow specialist climber-cum-tragedy José María Jiménez. Elsewhere, the Prati di Tivo ski station now fêted in Tirreno-Adriatico has been used once, in 1971 (both Campo Imperatore and Prati di Tivo were used a week apart that year) when Battaglin triumphed. Here, we do not climb to a summit, instead we climb to the south-eastern tip of the range, the long and isolated path of Vado di Sole.

Coming quite early in the stage, this lengthy climb will hopefully ensure a strong breakaway. It is around 20km long and averages mostly between 5,5% and 6% fairly consistently. The riders then enjoy some false flat around the southwestern side of Gran Sasso before a long and twisty descent which culminates in another small climb before entering L'Aquila, a long-time Giro host which in recent memory is of course best known for the legendary 2010 breakaway that set up that all-time classic final week of that already excellent race.

For the most part, however, the second half of the stage is quite straightforward, although in another race the Valico di Sella di Corno could potentially be categorized. This part of the stage will mostly be about the breakaway consolidating their advantage and the rest of the group preparing for the finale.

As discussed previously, Monte Terminillo is a legendary summit in the Giro, but when talking about the climb itself, we have a noteworthy ascent. Although we're not going all the way to the Sella Leonessa, the pass at the summit of the actual road, and instead as the Giro tends to do when finishing on Monte Terminillo we are stopping at the Campoforogna ski station, we do get to keep all the hardest parts of the climb, which is nearly 20km at a little over 6%, hors catégorie in any language other than Italian:

This one will be where the climbers come out and play, giving us a tough weekend stage steeped in Giro history.

 

[barmaher]

Giro Di Barmaher

Stage 8 Pescara to Fermo 176km

Here we are at the 8th stage of the Giro di Barmaher. By now riders will be getting used to the atypical rhythm of the tour. Wake – Breakfast – Sightseeing – Bike ride – Eat Munch for the Bunch – 30 minute video celebrating person of the stage – Dinner - Bed. This stage will see the riders move on from Abruzzo, up the coast toward Marche.

So this is the stage that gave me the most difficulty. I have had at various times a flat stage, a high mountain stage and a repeat of the controversial final road stage in TA 2013 for this day. I finally went with a medium mountain stage, with a tough finish. I only finalised this over the last few days looking at some of the Vuelta finishes that have brought the GC contenders out to play. But rather than a Vuelta-style _______________/ day, I have gone for a moderately tough hilly day, but one that will not produce big GC differences. That is for tomorrow; today’s stage with 2600m climbing, will be exciting in its own right. And will take in some beautiful scenery, along with a tough irregular climb to a historic town to end the day.



Riders will roll out from Pescara at the start of the day. To honour Marco Verratti, Italy’s most extravagantly gifted footballer (and Barmaher’s favourite), the start will take in the Stadio Adriatico, before rolling past the impressive cathedral in Pescara. Pescara is a modern city, with much of the older buildings damaged during the Second World War.

From there, we go along the Marche coast for large chunks of the stage. Every now and then we venture inland for some category 4 climbs, none of which are going to see anybody losing serious time. But they will all add to the fatigue that should make for an interesting finale. As I said, 2600m of climbing is not too tough, but is not to be sniffed at. And I intentinally spaced the climbs out with some long(ish) sectors of flat along the beautiful coast of Marche. I don’t want any kind of rhythm in this stage.



The Marche coastline is one of the more scenic areas of Italy. The Appenines historically cut the area off from the more developed parts to the west of the Italian peninsula. As such, the coastline is relatively unspoiled.

And every time we come inland, we will be met with irregular climbs and pretty hillside villages.

Climbs
Cat 4 Plane Maglierici. 260m altitude. 2.6km @ 8%
Cat 4 Montepagano. 231m altitude. 3.4km @ 5.8%
Cat 4 Montepradano. 252m altitude. 4km @ 5.4%
Cat 3 Ripatransone. 383m altitude. 3.9km @ 6.9% (slight mistake in profile).
Cat 4 Lapdona. 269m altitude. 2.9km @ 7.7%
Cat 3 Fermo (includes short muro). 268m altitude. 3.5km @ 5.3%

Plus a fair few uncategorised rises.

I mentioned the stage in T-A in 2013, which saw rider protests. It is very tempting to draw a route like that around the area, but I think my medium mountain stages are tough enough in their own right, and I don’t want to kill the riders with a day in the high mountains to come tomorrow. As such, we are ignoring the really, really tough gradients in the Fermo area.

Riders will however have a tough enough finale into the historic city of Fermo. The final climb average figures do not tell the full story. There is a short drag at the start, then the Muro di Fermo (12% for 400m). Then following a brief easier section, the final kick up to the line is 700m @ 9.1%. After a very hilly stage, there will be some very tired legs. And hopefully a tough winner.

1.6km @ 3%
0.4km @ 12.3% (maxing out at 18%)
3% for 800m
700m @ 9.1% (maxing out at around 20%)

Fermo is a very interesting spot. It is crammed with interesting sights. The cyclopean walls, the gothic facaded cathedral, the Roman theatre, the Roman cisterns.

Man of the Stage

Code breaking has been a fascination of mine for quite a while. I was pretty thrilled to find that one of the early exponents of code breaking hailed from Fermo. His story is a very interesting one. Born in 1623, he received doctorates in physics, law and theology from Fermo university. These skills, among others, led to Azzolino becoming the principal Vatican decoder; responsible for cracking ciphers used in correspondence. He was also an able investigator. When the Kingdom of Naples was made aware of invasion plans by Henry II, Duke of Guise, it was Azzolino who (in February 1654) concluded that the breach must have come from Camillo Astalli, the Pope's Cardinal-Nephew. Though likely accurate, his conclusion was convenient - Astalli was a rival for power to Azzolino's own patron, Olimpia Maidalchini. There were plenty of spies within the Vatican but that none excelled at the task more than Azzolino.

He was elevated to cardinal as a thank you from the pope, and was appointed Queen Christina of Sweden’s representative in the Catholic Church. Some have speculated that he and Christina were in love with one anotherm with suggestions that Azzolino was sent to Romania by Pope Alexander in order to avoid public perception that a relationship was ongoing. Christina wrote him many letters during her travels. On 26 January 1667 Christina wrote (in French) that she would never offend God or give Azzolino reason to take offence, but this "does not prevent me from loving you until death, and since piety relieves you from being my lover, then I relieve you from being my servant, for I shall live and die as your slave".

Cardinal Azzolino stayed at her side until she died on 19 April 1689.

Azzolino burnt most of their correspondence; about 80 letters have survived. Some details were written in a code that was decrypted by Carl Bildt, in Rome around 1900. Azzolino inherited many of her artworks, including Correggio's Danaë and Titian's Venus and Adonis.

Munch for the Bunch
Ciauscolo is a variety of Italian salame, typical of the Marche region. Ciauscolo is a smoked and dry-cured sausage, made from pork meat and fat cut from the shoulder and belly. It is spiced with black pepper and garlic, and in some rare cases vincotto. The meat is finely ground, mixed with the spices and cure, stuffed into wide hog middles, and left for a 12- to 24-hour drying period. Once the surface has become tacky, the sausage is cold-smoked over juniper branches for two days, then hung to cure. Although it can be aged for a month or more, it is typically eaten after only a brief two weeks. The result is a very soft, moist sausage which can be spread on bread, in a manner similar to some pâtés

Three sausages per team, with as much ciabatta as they want. I don’t see any rider saying no to this!

 

[Brullnux]

Fermo is a beautiful city, and it's a really beautiful part of Italy. All of my dad's family is from there (Montegiorgio to be exact) so there might be a bit of bias


Also, I very much respect your mention of ciausculo

 

[Gigs_98]

100th GIRO D'ITALIA stage 8: Lanciano - Blockhaus (186 km)

In my opinion the 3rd weekend stage, so normally the 8th stage, is the perfect place for the first mountain top finish. And especially if you want to put a real monster mtf anywhere in a gt it should be somewhere early. Thats because otherwise nobody would take risks when they know that there is one gigantic climb where you can win the race. However if a monster mtf comes early it only motivates the riders who lost lots of time there to attack on the later mountain stages. Well, there are many things you can discuss about, but if Blockhaus is a monster mtf, is not one of these things. Anyone who doubts that just has never heard of the climb or is a troll.

The stages starts in Lanciano where yesterdays TT finished. While the first 20 kilometers are still pretty easy the first climb starts directly afterwards. This climb is about 22 kilometers long but very flat, which basically has the reason that there are some flat or even downhill sections on the way up to Toricella Peligna. There isn't really a descent after the top is reached, only a short flat section followed by an uncategorized bump. After the descent from this bump the second 3rd category climb follows. This one has a more steady incline but it is pretty short. Here the riders reach a plateau of 15 flat kilometers before the next downhill section starts. This section is followed by the penultimate climb of the day, and also the first pass of this stage most of you might know, (at least after saturday were the climb was used in other giro's) the Passo San Leonardo. This ascent also isnt that steep but it is a very long climb. However we wont see much action here because nobody will want to waste energy before Blockhaus. At least a team can try to make the race as hard as possible and maybe isolate other leaders if they set a very high pace here.

After a pretty long descent with a tiny ascent in the middle, the final climb starts without any flat between the downhill and the uphill sections. The climb is about 27 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.5%. That basically means that the riders have to ride up 2 Hors Category climbs in a row without any flat or descent between. It shouldnt be surprising that this climb became really famous because watching riders going up such a monster stays in your mind for a long time, and for good reason because anything can happen here. Weaker riders might attack early on, on one of the steeper sections which are also part of the Passo Lanciano, top tier riders might attack later although its of course also possible that a team goes all out to isolate a leader if this rider already has a good advantage from the ITT and the first mountain stage. The time could be measured in minutes and some pre race favorites can already loose the whole giro here. Ofc I also shouldnt forget to talk about the historical relevance of this climb in the cycling history. 1967 Eddy Mercx had his first mtf victory of his career on this climb which was used for the first time in the giro history in that year. Afterwards it was only used 3 more times, in 1968, 1972 and 1984. It should have been used in 2009 too but the road was to narrow for big television trucks to be passed. However 2017 I am the organizer and I don't give a **** . I just think if the Vuelta organizers can make finishes on any tiny street of the giro should be able to do so too. Blockhaus isnt one of these climbs which is famous for being overused, no it is famous for being extremely hard and so underused that every time it is part of a giro route the anticipation gets even bigger.

Because elevations of over 2000 meters aren't very common in this part of italy you also have a beautiful view of the region:

 

[lemon cheese cake]

@Billie: Via Appia Antica can't be much worse than this invention by Fauniera in the RDT:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=1739131#p1739131

 

[Eshnar]

Stromeon's stage 8:

Giro di Stromeon Stage 8: Chieti - Castelraimondo 238km

Write-up coming after I'm back!

For the record, s/he'll be back after stage 9.

 

[Brullnux]

LA CENTESIMA STAGE 8: L'AQUILA - SPOLETO 188.3km

Stage 8 of my Giro takes us from Abruzzo to Umbria, over the Terminillo and plenty of other hills. I wanted to make a stage similar to Stage 9 of this year's Giro, which was IMO the best stage of this year's Giro. The day starts in l'Aquila, ravaged by an earthquake a few years ago. It is a very beautiful city that was home to Italo-Argentine captain of the Italy rugby team, the best number 8 in Europe: Sergio Parisse. Also home of Celestine V.l'Aquila has been home to many a giro stage, featuring 19 times in the past, both as departure and arrival city. Di Luca won in 2005, and in 2010, the best GT this decade, Petrov won from THAT break. I thought it was fitting to visit the end of a chaotic stage of a chaotic GT.

After 20km gently downhill, we encounter our first bump on the way, Montereale. It is split into three parts: 2km at 7.5%, then a 2km downhill, 1.5km at 7.5% again, before a 0.5km downhill, before 2.5km at a very gentle 3.4%. No drama at all should happen on this climb, maybe a selection of a large breakaway into a smaller one, but no more. After 77.9km, comes the biggest test of the day. Libertine used as a MTF, but I am using it as a mountain pass. The crest is still 90km from the finish but if a team goes crazy on the climb then we could have a reduced peloton of only 15-20 riders, or even some attacks from 3rd tier GC guys. The climb contains a 12km at 8%, and is a true monster.

After a 15km descent, we see our second TV of the day. Ten kilometres later, we start the very hilly part of our stage. A 20km long series of uncategorised bumps will for sure hurt the riders after an MTF like yesterday's, and the tiredness will be seeping into the legs already. The first is 2.2km at 5%, then the second is a four kilometres long drag at 4%. A harmful 1km long kick-up is followed by a swift descent and the hardest of these bumps, 1.5km at 9.5%. A long descent follows before a very steep, difficult climb with decent length comes along. Colle Soglio is 6.5km in length and has an average gradient of 7.4%. This, however, is deceitful. The climb in fact contains a 1km of false flat at under 2.5%, and another kilometre at the top at just 3%. The opening 2.5km of the climb are actually a brutally steep 12%, and the penultimate kilometre is 14%, with a 700m stretch a 16%. This is the climb which I suspect will blow the race wide apart. If a team drives a destructive pace up the first half of the climb, then the group will be left even more shattered. However, I don't expect a team to have the strength in numbers or in, well, just strength to push a high pace after the Terminllo and the small but leg-sapping bump. And because this climb is so irregular and narrow, it will be very difficult to find a rhythm like you do on the Zoncolan or Angliru, or other really steep climbs.

A long steady descent may bunch the group up again, but it gives a chance for the escapees to use their better strength to push away. The next climb is much gentler 5 km drag at 4% - put in any attacks now. Whoever is the strongest on this climb will extend their lead on the 10km descent, which is not very technical and for whoever is stronger.

Note we are missing the first 2km of the climb, missing the steep bit

We have our uphill finish in Spoleto, home of the Giro 4 times previously. It is a twisty, narrow, uphill finish into the Piazza del Duomo. The road is narrow and in parts cobbles, and also very steep in places, there are 50m stretches at 18%, before dropping back to 5 or 6. These irregularities will open up gaps. I expect the gaps between the top 4 or 5 to be small, less than 20 seconds, but the top 20 to be covered by 5 minutes or so. If the riders race it conservatively then don't blame me. But this is the Giro, so that will never happen

Last 5 (well, 4.6 to be exact) km

 

[barmaher]

I can't get into cronoescalada today. Hope it is just temporary. Anybody else struggling to log in?

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

I can't get into cronoescalada today. Hope it is just temporary. Anybody else struggling to log in?

Have the problem too, but that happens regularly. Normally it works again fast

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

I can't get into cronoescalada today. Hope it is just temporary. Anybody else struggling to log in?

Have the problem too, but that happens regularly. Normally it works again fast

Yep me too. When will the results be out?

 

[Eshnar]

Sorry I'm late

Judge 1:
Brullnux T: 3/5 C 5/5 (Very nice, that should be fun to watch)
Barmaher T: 5/5 C: 2/5 (After stage 7 it could be harder than one would think, great stage)
Gigs_98 T: 4/5 C: 3/5 (Very good, after a long ITT it could be a very hard stage for many riders)
Billie T: 2/5 C: 4/5 (Still a good stage, just like all the other stages but I don't like that stage on a saturday)
Finn84 T: 2/5 C: 2/5 (Still a good stage)
Libertine: T: 4/5 C: 4/5 (A nice MTF on the first saturday is always good)
Stromeon T: 3/5 C: 3/5 (Another great stage, I really like it)

Judge 2:
Brullnux T:3/5 C:5/5 (decent stage at this time)
Barmaher T:3/5 C:4/5 (Good hilly stage)
Gigs98 T:4/5 C:2/5 (Blockhaus is a beast)
Billie T:5/5 C:4/5 (should be plenty of action)
Finn84 T:2/5 C:2/5 (at least its not a flat out sprint)
Libertine T:4/5 C:3/5 (nice MTF)
Stromeon T: 2/5 C:3/5 (good stage for a breakaway)

Judge 3:
Brullnux T: 4/5 C:5/5
Barmaher T: 3/5 C:4/5
Gigs98 T: 3/5 C:2/5
Billie T: 5/5 C:4/5[/b
Finn84 T: 2/5 C:3/5
Libertine T: 2/5 C:3/5
Stromeon T: 4/5 C:2/5

GC after stage 8:

Gigs 205
Barmaher 198
Libertine 193
Stromeon 181
Brullnux 175
Billie 170
Finn 140

 

[Gigs_98]

100th GIRO D'ITALIA stage 9: Sulmona - Vesuvio (237 km)

Directly after the first mountain top finish on the Blockhaus we arrive at the second one, this time on the Vesuvio. Normally I am not a fan of back to back mountain top finishes but in this case it shouldnt be a big problem because Blockhaus is such a monster (If the harder mtf comes before the more easy one there is still action because the riders can use the the monster climb to get a lot of time on their rivals. On the second one however there is also action because the riders don't have to hold anything back). Moreover I just had to use both climbs, because they are two of the most famous italian climbs south the alps.
The start of the stage is located in Sulmona. This historical town full of churches, and once known for its Goldsmiths, already hosted an intermediate sprint on stage 8. I put the start there because I wanted to use the first 3 climbs of this stage. Some of you might already know why, because Libertine has has used them out of the same reason. Roccaraso (2nd category), Rionero Sannitico (4th category) and Valico di Macerone (4th category) were the first 3 mountain passes ever used in the Giro. To be honest the town Roccaraso actually gets passed at the other end of the flat section after the first GPM and Rionero Sannitico is probably not even a 4th category climb from this side, but this whole giro is based on the first giro route from 1909 so it just wanted to return to these 3 climbs which are so important for the history of the Giro. After the descent from Valico di Macerone the next ascent goes up to Monterudini a rather flat but long 2nd category climb. After the top there isnt another descent, but a hilly section which ends with the 4th cat. climb on the Lago di Matese. After a pretty technical descent the riders arrive in Piedimonte Matese, where the first intermediate sprint of the day will be held. Here the profile of the stage will completely change. While the first 150 kilometers were a steady up and down the next about 75 kilometers are almost completely flat with only two little bumps in the middle and another intermediate sprint in Caserta. The points there will be given on a street besides the Reggia di Caserta, a castle in the north of Napoli. This palace which is called the "Versailles of Italy" is one of the most important sights in this part of the country.

However at about 15 kilometers to go the stage suddenly gets brutal again, with the start of the Vesuvio. There is a little downhill section after the first few kilometers of climbing but the last 11 kilometers are steadily uphill, and the gradients will be brutal. The first few kilometers on the climbbybike profile are a little bit different but the crucial part will be at the end with the last 1.5 kilometers clearly over 10% and some other very steep sections earlier. As far as I know the climb has only been used once in the giro history, which happened in the year of 2009. And although it has only been used once, the climb already is very famous because it is one of the hardest mtf's in the area and also one of the most scenic climbs of italy. In the year of 79 there was a gigantic eruption of the Vesuvio. Due to this eruption the whole city Pompeji was buried under lava and ash. Today its still possible to see the persons which died in this natural disaster. Btw, as I already mentioned quite some times, this giro is based on the original giro route from 1909, which would normally mean that one stage has to include Naples. However I decided to not do that becauase it just doesnt fit in. Moreover there is the stage up to the Vesuvio which is a little bit like the home mountain of the city, so Naples gets represented and there is also the rest day which will be spent in Naples.

Sulmona:

Vesuvio:

 

[Eshnar]

Stromeon's stage 9:

Giro di Stromeon Stage 9: Assisi - Montalcino 177km

Write-up coming after I'm back! (and apologies in advance for plagiarism )

 

[Eshnar]

... and Finn's

Stage 9, Termini Imerese - Palermo, 39 km (ITT)

Third day in Sicily and it's the day some riders look forward, some riders want it to be over as soon as possible. This time trial is pretty much flat, but a big part of it is near the coastline so wind may be an issue. The prologue was just five kilometres but this is almost 40, so big gaps will happen here. The rider who wants to win the Giro has to be good on this stage.

On the evening, the riders will take the plane and fly to...that will be seen when next stage is published. Anyway, it's a well-deserved rest day before 10th stage.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 9: Spoleto - Carpegna, 184km

Directly off the back of the MTF at Monte Terminillo, we have something that sits between an intermediate and a mountain stage, which uses the iconic Cippo di Carpegna, because frankly the Italians don't seem like they're going to get tired of venerating Il Pirata any time soon. Therefore, as we head up the spine of the Apennines, it is perhaps only fitting and fair that we should include a stage that features his home - and most favourite - climb. Starting from the ancient city of Spoleto, however, there's plenty of scenery to begin with.

The first half of the stage is more or less flat, although there is a brief rise as the riders take in the legendary city of Assisi with its spectacular setting that many of you have already used in your routes (and I have in one of my previous Giri in the RDT). While I want my Giro to be spectacular, I also want it to be believable, and so the true monster stages remain lying in wait. The stage only comes to life really after the first intermediate sprint, in another ancient city, Città di Castello. The second half features a few climbs to warm the legs before the final closing salvo.

Although it isn't especially hard (a mostly consistent 14,5km @ 5%), the Bocca di Trabaria, up first, has some scenic switchbacks:

The technical descent is followed by a shorter climb, the narrow but relatively shallow Passo della Spugna. Then comes the main historic part of the stage. If you include the initial ramps into Carpegna itself, Monte Carpegna is 15km @ just over 6%. But it's got those stats in much the same way as, say, the Coll de Pradell, because you have a few fairly consistent kilometres, then three kilometres of flat (into which I've stuck an intermediate sprint to add a bit of spice into the points classification, on the first occasion that they cross the line). And then, se armò un zapatiesto.

The last 6km uphill are at hellish slopes of over 10%, with precious little let-up. And with the climb cresting just 9,3km from the line, riders will definitely be able to make this count. There's going to be pain. The scenery is pretty spectacular, however the monuments, the signs, and the fans will make it clear that the romance of this climb to the Giro is forever linked to one man; truly, questo è il cielo del Pirata.

However, we should not pretend that Carpegna's iconic status begins and ends with Marco. Truly, he cemented its legacy as an icon of Italian cycling. But it had already produced some historic contributions to the Giro. After a hilly stage included its near neighbour the Passo della Cantoniera in 1969, it featured in a tough intermediate stage in 1973, with the same finish as my stage. None other than the great Eddy Merckx imposed himself on the stage, putting 4 minutes into everybody but Battaglin. Here is some footage. A year later, the same finish was back. The 1974 Giro is renowned as one of the greatest, in a large part due to the epic battle between the glorious pure climbing of José Manuel Fuente and the all-round skills of Merckx. On Monte Carpegna, Fuente, already in the maglia rosa, attacked from the base, eventually getting away after repeated attempts, and finally shedding the Cannibal to take the stage by over a minute from his adversary. It lay long-forgotten - even during Pantani's era - but has had a bit of a resurgence of late, albeit not in particularly interesting ways (e.g. the breakaway stage of the 2008 Giro). The 2014 stage to Montecopiolo was much more like it, though Carpegna wasn't as central to it as many may have wished. Here, Il Cippo is restored to the central battlefield of the stage...