Race Design Challenge

[Brullnux]

LA CENTESIMA ORVIETO - SIENA 225.1km

The sterrato stage. It contains 40km of it. 7 in the last 20, including 800m in the last 5km. The longest sector measures 20km, and the shortest is the aforementioned 800m.

The day starts in Orvieto, in Umbria, right next to the border to Lazio and to Tuscany. We do not start on the incredible hill fortress, though, the riders will start from below it, in the town's lower reaches. Because of this strateigical place, it has only been conquered twice in all recorded history. Once by the Romans, in the 4th century BC, before annexing it, and once again by the Romans by Julius Caesar. After that, never again. It featured as a stage finish in 2011 in an exciting strade bianche stage, so I thought it right to honour it again with a sterrato stage. Nibali lit that stage up, and Danilo Di Luca lost fans by expressing:

“The Giro d’Italia is a road race, so we should ride on the road.”

WRONG Danilo. Oh so very wrong. The Giro d'Italia is bike race, therefore you should race on bicycles. The name Strade Bianche too means 'White Roads'. Roads. See that Danilo? Roads. There you go. Happy now? ****head. Anyway, enough about Di Luca trying to deprive fans of happiness, and back to the stage at hand.

The tuff on volcanic rock. Little wonder there is a funicular to reach the city.

There is a small bump early on, the first of 5 3rd category climbs. Not particularly hard, it is 4.6km @ 6 and a half percent. Then comes a long descent a bit of flat before the biggest climbing test of the day, Monte Amiata. It is 17.6km at 6%, so just about meriting a 1st category certificate. That and its irregularity. It goes from 1km at 1% to 3 at 9%, so that will be very much enjoyed by the peloton.

STERRATO SECTION 1: **** 7.5km
Downhill for half of it, so will be exceptionally nervous, especially if it rains. Not technical if you ignore the gravel. The other half contains a a very steep kick-up at 15% for a very short distance, and another less steep one too.

Another short descent precedes a 3km hill at 5.5%. In another race this would have been categorised, but this is the Giro, and categorising climbs is a random procedure.

STERRATO SECTION 2: **** 7.9km
Uphill, at a very gradual 3.6% but uphill nonetheless. The road surface here is worse, and punctures will be a given, even if we are 110km from the finish. No attacks yet I expect, but splits in the group are certain. During the long climb there are constant irregularities, the climb can hit 9% at times, but then go back to being flat.

After the sterrato ends we still climb for a short while, and the 3rd category climb sprint is at the top of the Ragnaie climb 2km after the paved road begins, before a fairly short, technical, paved descent and -

STERRATO SECTION 3: * 20.1km
Here we go. The longest sterrato section today. Includes the Nacciarello climb (3km @6.7%), a descent, 2 flat sections and the start of the Campopalazzi climb. This will empty the tanks of the riders quite a bit, as the gravel is truly difficult, more so than the last two. This is a road that is very rarely used, and for the most part cannot even be accessed by a race designers favorite tool, google street view. The gravel is almost dirt. For the French riders it will remind them why they should not do Tro-Bro Leon. The riders will pass over it with considerable fear, of crashing, losing time and/or puncturing or having a mechanical. The beauty of these climbs too is the irregularity if them. One moment it is 2%, the next 10%. Every climb today will be very irregular, and prohibit the riders of getting any rhythm.

That is the last sterrato for a while. After finishing the last two climbs of the day, we race over bumpy terrain, and it is over 40km before our next portion of white roads. By now, we have coincided with the Strade Bianche route. This is a race that has gained serious prestige over the last few years, starting in 1997 as a Gran Fondo (Eroica) and progressing into a pro race in 2007, and in those 8 years it has become one of the most important races in the Europe Tour. We will be going over the most famous of those sectors.

STERRATO SECTION 4:MONTE SANTE MARIA **** 11.3km
The only named sector. Very much borrowed from Strade Bianche,this sector is incerdibly difficult and very famous. It often makes the first selection in the race. Today, finishing just 30km from the finish, it could see the deciding move.

After a short respite, it's time for MOAR STERRATO!!

STERRATO SECTION 5: ** 1.8km
Much shorter section of sterrato, but the gravel is pretty bad here too.

More bumpy hills on narrow roads in the next couple of kilometres.

STERRATO SECTION 6: ***3.2km
Longer, and winding section. A couple of steep rises will provide attcaks, and the gravelhere is slightly better than before.

STERRATO SECTION7: * 800 meters
Last section. Short, but with 9% rise.

The run in to Siena is different, but still uphill. It is fairly gradual, peaking out at 8-9% in places. This is so the sterrato section is closer to the end, so has a more deciding role. Like yesterday, small groups will fight it out int he town of the oldest bank in the world.

 

[Billie]

Giro d'Italia - Stage 9: Latina - Vesuvio (203 km)

After Saturdays visit to Rome the riders will head further South on Sunday starting in Latina which is mainly know for it's Piazza del Popolo. From there the route will head southwards through Lazio and Campania untill reaching Napoli. Campania is the flattest region in Italy and hence where agriculture is most important. Napoli is one of the most-populous urban areas in all of Europe but only has one soccer team. In fact it's the biggest city in Europe that only has one team and thus the Partonopei are immensely supported by the whole city. We won't pass the Stadio San Paolo though as we have to go a bit further south of Napoli to Monte Vesuvio.

The Vesuvio is ofcourse mainly known for the eruption now almost 2000 years ago that destroyed Pompeii. The climb to the top of Monte Vesuvio (13.2 km @7.2%) is not that long nor is it very high but quite steep. It was used once before in il Giro in 2009 when Sastre was victorious.

 

[barmaher]

Giro di Barmaher

Stage 9 Loreto to Pian di Molino 192km

So we arrive in the high mountains. Despite the very difficult Monte Scuro in Stage 2, and a number of testing, hilly stages during the first week, there has not been a real Category 1 (by Italian standards) climb in the last 80km of a stage yet. Today we have three. And in Monte Catria, Monte Petrano and Monte Nerone, we have a trio of very well connected climbs. These climbs have been seen in the Giro before, but I have linked them differently to the Sastre Stage in Giro 2009, and avoided a summit finish. My Giro, like other Giri has many uphill finishes, which I think is fine, but I want to give an incentive to those who can handle themselves on a tough, fast descent like we will see from the top of the final col to the finish.

Riders will roll out of the town of Loreto, after a short transfer from yesterday’s finish. We will start at the piazza, which is home to Loreto’s main sights, the Palazzo Comunale (designed by Bramante), the Jesuit college, an art gallery, but most spectacularly, the famous Basilica della Santa Casa.

This is one of Italy’s most popular places of pilgrimage, containing the house in which the Virgin Mary lived. If you are into that type of thing. Either way, it looks pretty nice, both outside and inside.

Riders will head northwest initially, making a beeline for the town of Chiaravalle for the first TV sprint. We are in Chiaravalle to honour the Woman of the Stage, the famous Maria Montessori. More of her below.



As you can see from the profile, the ride into Chiaravalle is part of a very gentle opening of the stage, as we skirt around some of the hills of Marche. Climbing will take place later.



After Chiaravalle we head west, along flat roads until we hit the town of Colombara, which is where the fun begins. These climbs were taken in Giro stage 16 in 2009, which was won by Carlos Sastre. It was an explosive stage, with riders all over the road. I was not on the forum at this stage, but I guess the eclipse of Leipheimer would have gone down well on here. We are doing that route (more or less) backwards today.

First up we hit the climb of Monte Catria. We approach it from the north, which is the slightly easier side. However, it is very irregular, with pitches of 16% and over 5km at over 9%.

A very fast, moderately technical descent into Cantiano, and then we hit the second climb of the day, another killer, the category 1 Monte Petrano. We don’t use the exact same approach as cyclingcols and climbbybike have from Pontedazzo, so we avoid the downhill section into Moria. It is actually a tougher, shorter route (I checked and the road is fine to climb on) so the climb actually averages 9.9% over 9km.

The descent into Cagli is very technical, with 13 hairpins. Out of Cagli, we have only 4km or so of flat before riders tackle the final climb of the day.

Again this exact approach is not shown in cyclingcols or climbbybike. But most of it is. The last 12.5km are shown in the “East” route in cyclingcols. As you can see, this climb is a real killer. Expect big gaps by the time they get to the top, especially after the tough week Barmaher has given the bunch. It is pretty nice up there, too!

There are a few ways to descend, but I have picked the more technical route (on the better road). A fast 18km drop will take the riders down to Pian di Molino, which is effectively just a hamlet with a couple of houses, a brewery and a restaurant / inn that gets rave reviews on tripadvisor.com. There is enough space and parking for a finish. And boy will the riders be strung out at this stage. The descent alternates between long fast stretches and tight hairpins. The surface is not bad for this area. And the finish is in a very nice valley.

A fitting end I feel to a tough but fair first week. Vai Il Giro. Riders are transferred to Siena for the rest day.

Woman of the Stage

The route diverted to Chiaravalle intentionally, as it is the birthplace of Maria Montessori. Montessori was a renowned physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. Her educational method is in use today in some public and private schools throughout the world. She is probably most famous for her innovative education techniques with disabled children, as well as her development of the Montessori Method.

This is a method of educating young children that stresses development of a child's own initiative and natural abilities, especially through practical play. This method allowed children to develop at their own pace and provided educators with a better understanding of child development The students learn through activities that involve exploration, manipulations, order, repetition, abstraction, and communication.

She was a truly great Italian. She took pride of place on the old Italian 1000 lira note:

Munch for the Bunch

Marche cuisine is so varied, it is very easy to pick a dish to suit any mood. Here though, I go with Vincisgrassi: an epic lasagne.

Le Marche's version of lasagne is a rich, baked pasta dish of epic proportions – 12 layers of soft, slippery pasta sheets are interspersed with veal ragu, chicken liver or lamb sweetbreads, truffles or wild mushrooms, and béchamel sauce. A proper vincisgrassi is (unsurprisingly) reserved for special occasions, and I think the finish of the first week is a fitting occasion.

Riders and team officials are all invited to enjoy vincisgrassi with a glass of Rosso Piceno, a full and fruity red wine made from a blend of local Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes. Or we can go to the brewery for a few cans of lager!

Buona Cena!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

The Vesuvio is ofcourse mainly known for the eruption now almost 2000 years ago that destroyed Pompeii. The climb to the top of Monte Vesuvio (13.2 km @7.2%) is not that long nor is it very high but quite steep. It was used once before in il Giro in 2009 when Sastre was victorious.

Actually, Vesuvio is a bit more historic than you may think. They had an MTT there in 1959 (Charly Gaul won, just as he did the 1956 HTT to San Luca that I cloned), also Eduardo Chozas won a road stage to Monte Vesuvio in 1990 (on stage 3!!!). Chuck Taylor's win was the third time they'd had a finish at Vesuvio (50 years after the first).

 

[Eshnar]

Judge 1:
Brullnux T: 3/5 C 3/5
Barmaher T: 5/5 C: 2/5 (What a great stage!)
Gigs_98 T: 2/5 C: 4/5 (still a good stage)
Billie T: 2/5 C: 4/5 (still a good stage)
Finn84 T: 4/5 C: 5/5 (A TT to Palermo is great and I also like the fact that it's right before a restday)
Libertine: T: 4/5 C: 2/5 (A great stage and I like the fact that you pointed out that it's not only about Pantani, the climb has his own history)
Stromeon T: 3/5 C: 3/5

Judge 2:
Brullnux T:5/5 C:4/5
Barmaher T:3/5 C:5/5
Gigs_98 T:4/5 C:3/5
Billie T:2/5 C:3/5
Finn84 T:2/5 C:2/5
Libertine T:3/5 C:2/5
Stromeon T:4/5 C:4/5

Judge 3:
Brullnux T: 4/5 C 4/5 (Sterrato going down in a GT is unnecessary I think)
Barmaher T: 4/5 C: 3/5
Gigs_98 T: 2/5 C: 2/5 (kinda meh as a stage before the rest day)
Billie T: 2/5 C: 1/5 (didn't you know Vesuvio has been raced more than once? Shame on you )
Finn84 T: 3/5 C: 2/5 (nice TT, could have been longer)
Libertine: T: 3/5 C: 3/5
Stromeon T: 5/5 C: 4/5 (Montalcino as stage 9, with more sterrato before. Great)


GC after stage 9:
Gigs 222
Barmaher 220
Libertine 210
Stromeon 204
Brullnux 198
Billie 184
Finn 158

 

[Stromeon]

Right, I'm back from holiday and it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do! On a brief flick through the stages posted while I was away, I have seen some really great stages and I'm very happy to still be up there in terms of points I'll try and get the write-ups of my two weekend stages done some time this weekend although I'm quite busy at the moment. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the Giri pan out!

 

[barmaher]

Welcome back, Stromeon. I have really, really enjoyed your stages. The Amalfi and Lanciano stages were things of beauty. It is very interesting to see that we have all had a lot of similarities in our routes.

I think Gigs is going to be tough to catch. The man knows his onions. But we will have to keep giving it a go.

 

[barmaher]

Giro di Barmaher

Stage 10 San Gimignano to Siena 200km

So the riders are now in Tuscany. We have a target to visit each and every Italian mainland region in this Giro di Barmaher. And Tuscany is our 10th of 18 regions. Tuscany is an absolutely beautiful region. And today’s stage showcases the Tuscan countryside in a very familiar way.

For the second time after a rest day, the riders are going to be faced with a remake of a famous Italian classic. But this time, it is more an exact replica. I spent a bit of time tinkering with a few Strade Bianche routes, but ultimately I think it is more straightforward to go with the actual full route of the Classic itself. And last year’s route was as good as any (there have only been minor changes in recent years).

Since the days of Stephen Roche, I have always had an interest in cycling, and followed the Indurain and Lance years with just a passing interest in races other than the Tour, the Giro and the WC. This changed when I had kids (so more time at home) and got a Eurosport subscription. And the race that really got me hooked above any other race in the period from 2005 to 2010 was the Strade Bianche. I love it. The scenery, the different riders that can win the race, the beautiful finish, the tactics. Sure the stakes are higher in the monuments, but this race is a thing of beauty, and the Montalcino stage in the Giro showed how well a race on the gravel roads can fit into a Giro.

The riders will make the brief transfer from their accommodation in Siena to the start of the stage in San Gimignano. But they can leave their phone charger in the hotel, as we will be riding back to Siena. But not the easy way! San Gimignano is an achingly beautiful town in its own right, with medieval walls and buildings. The centre of town is another UNESCO World Heritage site. Maybe I should have called this Giro the Giro di UNESCO World Heritage sites!

As I said above, we are not going the easy way to Siena. We are taking a rolling route through the countryside, along the famous white roads.

There are five dirt sections in the first 85km of the race, but this will be about the breakaway being established and riders getting into a rhythm. It is only as we reach the climb at Montalcino for the first TV sprint after around 95km that the peloton will start to be thinned out.

And it is in the subsequent sections (6 and 7) where we will really see the peloton start to be reduced. These sections are both around 10km long, and the second one in particular has a lot of climbing in it. In a classic, we wouldn’t expect the winning move here. But in a Giro, particularly after a rest day, I would expect stronger GC men to really start to test the smaller climbers here.

It will be tough to take one’s eyes off the racing, but for any breaks in the action, there will be chances to see the farmyard buildings south of Siena, and the lovely red shutters on the houses.

We will have an intermediate sprint after 146km in Asciano. Then we get into the business end. Sagan and Kwiatkowski attacked at a beautiful section (sector 8) in last year’s race, and duked it out marvelously for the remaining kilometres.

But we can probably expect things to get really interesting further down the road. I have lifted some of the text below from Pezcyclingnews, who did a great preview of the race last year. As you can all see, I am a plagiarist extraordinaire.

Sector 9 is particularly tough. The first part is a climb, a very difficult climb but less than 1km. The road is in good condition and a switchback through the olive trees marks the most difficult part of it. The second part of this sector is less difficult but the way is always up and down (more up than down), crossing vineyards and other olive trees. This climb was decisive in 2008 when Cancellara broke away together with Ballan, but in that edition this was the very last sector of gravel while now the big shot is reserved for the third and most terrible dirt climb of the day.

Inserted in the route in 2009 Le Tolfe is 1.1km, half of it in descent and half climb. Both well over 12% and it is tough to say which is worse. The climb starts on a large road and it’s difficult to appreciate the real gradient but then turns in the trees and you really feel how hard it is.

Then we hit the stunning town of Siena, where we will hopefully see another slow motion sprint up to the piazza.

And a worthy winner!

Siena is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is one of Italy’s most visited tourist sites. Most cycling fans know this city well. Siena is likely Italy's loveliest medieval city, and a trip worth making even if you are in Tuscany for just a few days. Siena's heart is its central piazza known as Il Campo, known worldwide for the famous Palio run here, a horse race run around the piazza two times every summer. Movie audiences worldwide can see Siena and the Palio in the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

Man of the Stage
What? It is over a week since I have talked about a randy pope? Shame on me. OK, let me sort that out immediately. Today’s man of the stage is the Siennese 15th century primate Pope Pius II.

Pius was a very interesting character indeed. Like most popes around this time, he made himself invaluable to a number of cardinals in Italy at the time, doing their dirty work politically. Pope Pius II (born Enea Silvio Piccolomini) used these diplomatic missions to places like Strasbourg, Scotland to have a bit of fun. He was a renowned womaniser, and fathered at least two children. He was also (bizarrely) the author of an erotic novel that is still read to this day “The Tale of Two Lovers” and also some pretty spicy erotic poems.

In spite of this, Pius was able to put his influencing and diplomatic skills in focus for the Papal conclave, and was elected Pope after only 10 years in Holy Orders. He delayed becoming a priest, as he did not like the idea of chastity.

Munch for the Bunch
With all their decadent lasagne, fancy cheeses, etc., I am starting to worry the riders will get above their station. After all, riding is a sport for peasants.

But peasant food doesn’t have to be horrible. Riders will be dished up a warm bowl of Ribollita after they finish in Siena.

There are many variations but the main ingredients always include leftover bread, cannellini beans and inexpensive vegetables such as carrot, cabbage, beans, silverbeet, cavolo nero, and onion. Its name literally means "reboiled".

Like most Tuscan cuisine, the soup has peasant origins. It was originally made by reheating (i.e. reboiling) the leftover minestrone or vegetable soup from the previous day. Some sources date it back to the Middle Ages, when the servants gathered up food-soaked bread trenchers from feudal lords' banquets and boiled them for their own dinners

 

[Gigs_98]

100th GIRO'ITALIA stage 10: Formia - Roma (201 km)
Although I really really like this challenge, there is this one problem that many people create stages which are very alike. And thats not even surprising. I mean, we get points for the cultural aspect of a stage so it isnt really a surprise everyone uses rome at one point of the race and some people do the Roma Maxima finish. As you might have guessed it, I am one of these persons.

After the second biggest transfer of my giro the first stage of the second week starts in Gaeta. Gaeta is an ancient city famous for its beautiful sand beach. After two little bumps directly after the start the riders already have to face the first categorized climb of the day up to San Nicola. Surely this isnt the most difficult climb but at least its there and its at the beginning so the break might be pretty strong. Before the route flattens out there is another short climb up to Lenola with very very low gradients, so its uncategorized. Here the easiest section of the stage starts which ends after about 87 kilometers with the start of Carpinetana, the most difficult climb of the day. Although the average elevation gain of this ascent is also under 5% its still long enough to be 2nd category. After the descent the second flat section of the day starts, which is more or less alike the first one but this time there is a TV in the middle. This is also the part of the race where I start to use the Roma Maxima route. You might see that better when you look at the last two mountains of my stage which are also the two decisive mountains in Roma Maxima. The first one, Rocca Priora, is longer but flatter with a little descent in the middle of the climb. However the more interesting ascent will probably be Campi di Annibale because this one might cause some attacks by 2nd tier climbers. After a pretty long descent there is one last flat section before the riders arrive on the Piazza Venezia, where the stage will finish. That means we might see a sprint on a cobbled rode with the Colosseo in the background, yep thats nice. However there is the big question if the stage will even end in a sprint. We can be sure that the sprint teams want such a prestigious win but is it possible to control the peloton on such a hilly course without dropping your leader and how much time can you get back from attackers on the flat section at the end, because one thing is for sure. Although the sprinters definitely want to control the race everyone who isnt in a sprint team will want to win in Rome too.
Normally I would talk about the history of the finish town at this point but 1.) if I would write about you the whole history of rome I would miss Christmas eve, and 2.) I think everyone more or less knows how important this city is for, well basically the history of the whole world. As already mentioned Rome also hosted (why hosted, why ) the one day race Roma Maxima and it was part of the giro route several times, like 1909 in the first giro ever. Although Milan is maybe more important for the cycling history of italy I'd say its still a very important place for the history of cycling.

Gaeta:

Roma (finish):

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Welcome back, Stromeon. I have really, really enjoyed your stages. The Amalfi and Lanciano stages were things of beauty. It is very interesting to see that we have all had a lot of similarities in our routes.

I think Gigs is going to be tough to catch. The man knows his onions. But we will have to keep giving it a go.

I don't think I have a big chance to win. I think my second week isnt good enough.
Btw, does anyone want to bet with me if Libertine will do a MTT up the Fedaia

 

[barmaher]

My third week will let me down. Pretty sure of it. I just can't settle on the right flow of stages.

I reckon Libertine's piece de resistance will be a stage linking Fedaia and Fauniera. Riders might need to jump into a bus for a few hours like MSR last year, but it is do-able.

 

[Billie]

Giro d'Italia - Stage 10: Gallarate - Como (191 km)

The rest day gave the race the opportunity to fly all the way north. The race continues in Lombardy where we honour one of Italy's two big monuments: the Giro di Lombardia. Stage 10 starts in Gallarate, birth place of two-time Giro winner Ivan Basso. From there the race goes East following flat roads to Bergamo, one of three recent finish towns if the Autumn classic. An intermediate sprint is placed on the Citta Alta of Bergamo.

The route goes on flat to Lecco, which has also hosted the finish of il Lombardia recently and there the riders will follow the traditional flat alongside lake Como until Visgnola where the Maddona del Ghisallo (10.5km @5.2) starts. A well known climb ofcourse with the Santuario where the Maria appartition has become the Patron Saint of cyclists. The Museo del Ghisallo is home to many cycling memorabilia. The statues of Coppi, Bartali and Binda probably the most well-known.

What follows is a gradual descent towards Como but before entering the city we'll tackle the climb to Civiglio (2.8 @ 6.9%). It's the easy side followed by a technical and steep descent (once bossed by Fränk Schleck). Next up is ofcourse the San Fermo della Battaglia (3km @ 6.5%). The best name for any climb around. The place for the deciding move in il Lombardia and thus also on this stage.

 

[Brullnux]

LA CENTESIMA VICENZA - MONTEBELLUNA 55km ITT

I am the last participant here to have unleashed my first race against the clock, and I believe it is also the longest ITT so far. This is the first half of the 109km of ITT in this race. As you can imagine, a pan-flat Time Trial will cause an earthquake after the rest day. This is a very strategically placed TT. It has just come after a rest day, and all kinds of things can happen after a rest day. It has come after stages where the climbers are expected to thrive: Stage 8 over the Terminillo and other hills; Etna stage; Blockhaus; and the difficult Amalfi stage. The sterrato stage in Stage 9 could have also created time gaps, but the climbers had no advantage over the more all-round GC favourites that day. It gives a serious chance for the better time triallists like Dumoulin (this is in two years time, he can improve his climbing in two years) or Froome (who, let's be honest, is one of the best climbers, definitely the best in a ______/ stage) gain time on Quintana, before the mountains, very very serious mountains start.


The day starts in Vicenza, a town that hosted a stage of the Giro this year, and has done 10 times in the past, and another 8 as a departure stage. It is a staple of the Giro, first featuring in 1932. It is the home of a few saints, Sonia Gandhi and the favourite son of Italian football- Paolo Rossi.

As you can tell from the profile - this is tremendously flat. Purposely so, as you will see later I have a very, very hilly time-trial later, and I wanted to make it a balanced enough Giro. It really is ridiculously flat. The steepest gradient is just over 1%. The total elevation gained is 100m. This will force the favourites to work on their TT-ing skills. If the best time triallists turn up, then it will be a test to see who is the best TT-ist in the world. There are 6 crono points, there are so many so that we don't have to rely on GPS timings.

The finish is in Montebelluna. This is the home of cyclist Oscar Gatto, and the home of Geox, which will be the sponsor of the points jersey. The TT will continue the new found tradition of having TT-s in wine making regions.

 

[Eshnar]

Finn's stage 10:

Stage 10, Teramo - Foligno, 183 km

The rest day was spent in the Adriatic coast. After that, the riders will be probably fresher and ready for next phase of the race.

A lumpy stage over two mountains which are at least 1000 metres over the sea level. The first one is easy, the latter part being just 4.8% over 6.2 kilometres. The latter one is 6.8% over 13.7 kilometres, including last few kilometres which are over 8%. Fast speed in the climb may drop some of the sprinters far away, which means that reduced group sprint is possible for this stage. Probably more likely result is, however, win for the breakaway. Two intermediate sprints are this time near each other and at the latter part of the stage, so those hungry for points need to have endurance.

---

 

[Stromeon]

Giro di Stromeon Stage 10: San Gimignano - Firenze ITT 56km

Like Brullnux I have opted to bring the riders straight back into the action after the rest day with a long TT. I find TTs reasonably interesting, but not as much as a good road stage, and so for me it makes sense to put road stages with a good chance of action - the hilly Tirreno - Adriatico tribute stage to Castelraimondo followed by the Strade Bianche stage to Montalcino on the weekend, and then have the time-trial after the rest day. Not only is this time-trial long, as befits any good GT route in my opinion, but it is also spectacular, showcasing the very best of the beautiful Tuscan countryside before heading in to the historic city centre of Florence. We start in the famous and wonderfully picturesque town of San Gimignano, with its distinct tower houses and Italian medieval architecture, by a strange quirk the fourth hill-top stage-start town in a row, after Trivento, Chieti and Assisi (I do love my Italian hilltop towns as you can probably tell) before rolling through the undulating countryside - nothing enough to be a categorised climb but this is by no means pan-flat, in the mould of the recent long time-trials we have been having in the Giro.

After sampling the rolling hills of Tuscany, and indeed perhaps the local wine, we head into Florence, birthplace of the legendary Gino Bartali, for a spectacular city finish to rival that of the finish of the first time-trial of the race in Rome. A technical section is to be navigated as we turn onto the famous Ponte Vecchio, before passing the Piazza della Repubblica and finishing in front of Florence's famous cathedral, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.

The outcome of this time-trial will be absolutely vital to the outcome in the whole race, and it will be important for the stronger time-triallists to gain time over the climbers as there are a fair few mountains between the riders at this stage of the race and the end (although I haven't gone overboard with the mountains, I've tried to keep it realistic). Certainly a stage steeped in history, both cultural and cycling, with Florence having played a big role as a host town in the Giro in the past (including in the first edition) and also as the host of the Worlds recently, and Tuscany being such a beautiful region anyway regardless of cycling!

San Gimignano:

Firenze:

PS have now updated my original post with the profiles for the first week stages, as we come out of the first rest day it's a good time to take an overview of how the route is developing.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 10: Cesena - San Marino Città, 38,7km (ITT)

It seems I am the first person to use up one of their options to have a stage outside the confines of Italy, by entering into one of the local microstates. It seems putting an ITT on stage 10 is very popular (I have quite a serious tendency to put the ITT on stage 10 in my Grand Tour routes. Here, I'm putting stage 10 before the first rest day, which will come on the Tuesday. There will only be five stages before the second rest day, which will be on the Monday. This is a shorter ITT than in other routes (the longer one comes later), and also a hillier one (but then I've had fewer killer mountain stages in week 1 than most as well).

The world's oldest Republic, or at least so their self-definition goes, San Marino is of course a microstate entirely surrounded by Italy, and consists mainly of a mountainous outcrop and its surroundings. In fact, because every route that leads to a finish in San Marino Città is uphill, it can be considered depending on your definition to be the most commonly used "mountaintop finish" in the Giro's history, with no fewer than 11 stage finishes in the city; also the microstate hosted the Grande Partenza in 1965. It was introduced to the sport in 1951, with the first of several ITTs to cross the border and finish in the Republic, a 24km route from Rimini to a mountaintop finish in San Marino won by Giancarlo Astrua. Further ITTs in 1956 and 1958 followed, before the first road stage to finish up at the castle in 1959 when Nino Defilippis took the stage. In 1968 a lengthy ITT from Cesenatico with a flat first half and then a mountain climb crossing the border was introduced, which was won by the legendary Felice Gimondi. A year later there was both a mountaintop finish (won by Franco Bitossi) and a repeat of the previous year's ITT (won by Eddy Merckx).

The minuscule Republic fell out of favour with the Giro's organizers in the 70s, but in 1979 the ITT was back, this time a shorter route from Rimini once more, from which the above Moser picture is taken. Moser led at the checkpoint at the border, but Giuseppe Saronni powered past his compatriot on the climb to take the stage win en route to overall victory. Another important GC battle was seen in the 1987 stage, when over 46km the maglia rosa, Stephen Roche, lost his jersey to teammate and local favourite Roberto Visentini with just a week left to race in that epic and heated battle.

Another decade off the Giro's routes followed for San Marino, at least as a stage finish, but in 1997 it was back for a short week 1 ITT that was won by reigning champion Pavel Tonkov, with which he took the lead which he would hold for nearly two weeks before Ivan Gotti's classic Valdostan raid. A year later Andrea Noè won a road stage, and then for the last 17 years no stage finishes have been hosted - though the Republic has seen the Giro pass through its borders since, most notably in 2008 when it was a cat.2 climb in a week 2 intermediate stage.

Over the years there have been eight ITTs to finish with a climb into San Marino Città, with stage winners including Giro winners and legends of the sport; it was, to my mind, therefore a must in the route. Cesena is the choice of stage start due to the appropriate distances and also because of being the birthplace of Marco Pantani, who the Giro's organizers love to lionise as I mentioned in my previous stage's summary. The stage itself is mostly very flat and non-technical within the Po Valley, and will of course absolutely favour the power specialists for the first 31km. There is a bit of uphill false flat, but absolutely still within the remit of the pure TTers out there. It is only with the crossing of the border at Gualdicciolo that the route turns uphill; climbbybike records the climb at 7,6km @ 5,9% although as you can see the first kilometre is mostly false flat there. An initial slope of around 2,5km @ 7% yields some false flat before it ramps up to 10%, and 3km at 8% lead to the finish on the attractive slopes of the old walled city of San Marino, so the climbers will need to hope the wind isn't blowing and they can keep enough in reserve without losing too much before getting to attempt to limit their losses on this final cat.3 ramp. This will be a beautifully scenic city to finish with some stunning vistas in as well as a very historic Giro spot as the finish on Via Piana outside the castle gives us a nice camera opportunity.

 

[Eshnar]

Judge 1:
Brullnux T:3/5 C:2/5 - good length iTT
Barmaher T:5/5 C:4/5 - love the S-B route
Gigs98 T:2/5 C:4/5 - like the location
Billie T:4/5 C:3/5 A nice tribute to Lombardi
Finn84 T:2/5 C:2/5 Fair breakaway stage
Libertine T:4/5 C:3/5 a very good iT
Stromeon T:3/5 C:5/5 nice length iTT in great location

Judge 2:
Brullnux T: 5/5 C 3/5
Barmaher T: 3/5 C: 4/5
Gigs_98 T: 2/5 C: 4/5
Billie T: 3/5 C: 2/5
Finn84 T: 2/5 C: 2/5
Libertine: T: 4/5 C: 5/5
Stromeon T: 4/5 C: 3/5

Judge 3:
Brullnux T: 4/5 C: 2/5 (finally a long ITT)
Barmaher T: 4/5 C: 4/5
Gigs98 T: 3/5 C: 4/5
Billie T: 2/5 C: 3/5
Finn84 T: 2/5 C: 2/5
Libertine T: 3/5 C: 3/5
Stromeon T: 5/5 C: 5/5 (This was the ITT day apparently... and this is by far the best, route and location)


GC after stage 10:
Barmaher 244
Gigs 241
Libertine 232
Stromeon 229
Brullnux 217
Billie 201
Finn 170

 

[Gigs_98]

100th GIRO D'ITALIA stage 11: Rieti - Terminillo (23 km)

It seems like I missed the day of the TT's by one day but as an excuse you get the first real MTT. When I wrote about the Vesuvio I also wrote that there were three climbs south the alps which I wanted to use: Blockhaus because its a beast, Vesuvio because it is scenic and an important place for the history of italy and last but not least Terminillo, simply because its a legend. Ofc there are lots of famous climbs south the alps I don't use like Etna, but Terminillo was important for me. It was used 9 times in the giro, and the last time it was used was in 2010 when Chris Anker Sorensen won. Moreover it was used in some Tirreno Adriatico editions like this year when Quintana decided the race on this climb with an attack on the snowy Monte Terminillo. However the reason why Terminillo was a must is that this is the town which hosted the first real mtf in the giro, in the year of 1936 and because it also was a TT I decided to pay tribute to the giro history and decided to make a MTT up there again. Terminillo is actually located on a pass, the Sella di Leonessa. Normally I think its a waste to make a mtf on a pass but in this case its meaningful because of the historic aspect of the finish. The pass was last used in 2007 on this stage:

IMO that would have been great as the penultimate stage of the giro 2009 but at least they didnt make it too difficult to design a better jubilee giro .
Terminillo is definitely one of the hardest italian climbs south the alps. One which is definitely harder is already used (Blockhaus), so there isnt that much left which beats this mtf in terms of difficulty. The climb is 16.1 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.3%. However there is a little flat section in the middle of the climb which is only 4% steep so the rest has an average gradient of about 8% and thats a lot (steeper than Alp d'Huez). The first quarter is the steepest one, with slopes up to 12%, however as you can see thats not much more than the average gradient so the climb is very consistent. That might make it easier to find a good rhythm to time trial up there.
Terminillo:

This stage is marks an interesting point in my giro route. Until now we had only one downhill finish but two 1st category mtf's, a long ITT, a hill top finish and now this MTT. That means that there will already be huge time gaps in the gc. Just imagine how froome would have bossed this until now with his tdf shape. Thats also because until now, the tactics were always pretty easy. "Bring your leader to the final climb and let him attack there" and time trials don't even need a real tactic. That will completely change from now on. The mtf's will get easier, the penultimate climbs will become monsters and we will see tricky downhill finishes and sterrato. The first half was there to order the gc, the second one to completely mash it up again.
ps: The distance between rieti and the finish yesterday is a little bit more than 75 kilometers but because Eshnar wrote to Stromeon that its okay to make one excuse I did one too. I hope it isnt a big problem, and I am sorry that I haven't asked before I posted this

 

[Eshnar]

Finn's stage 11:

Stage 11, Perugia - Firenze, 196 km

Another intermediate stage which ends in historic city. The main difficulties along the route are two climbs, first of which is 4.9% over 12.7 kilometres and second which is 4.0% over 17.5 kilometres, however with a flatter section in-between.

Breakaway win may be likely, but with all the history involved in Firenze, this may well be a very much wanted one. The finish line will be at Viale Antonio Cramsci.

 

[Brullnux]

LA CENTESIMA VALDOBBIADENE - MONTE GRAPPA 143.9km

The first Alpine stage (and MTF) comes on stage 11. It is one stage after the ITT, so it will give climbers a good chance to regain time lost. It is by no means the hardest mountain stage of this Giro, but it will not be easy either. There are 3 categorised climbs, Passo Praderadego, Passo Foza and Monte Grappa. The first two, I don't expect anything to happen, other than a break forming and maybe a high pace being forced by one team and dropping domestiques and tiring out favourites. All GC action should happen on the final climb.

The day starts in Valdobbiadene, home of the Giro two times previously, 2003 and 2014. It is the home of Pope Benedict XI. After just 19.3km, we hit our first climb of the day. Praderadego is a very difficult climb, albeit short, connecting the Province of Treviso and Belluno. It is a very famous climb in the area, and has never been used in the Giro as it was unpaved until a couple of years ago. The bellunese side is more difficult, although the Treviso side doesn't kid about either, reaching 15.8% in one place.

After a difficult descent we have a long section in the fiume piave valley, before our first TV of the day, in Feltre, a town most famous for a rather unfortunate reason, crisis talks between Hitler and Mussolini were called here to talk about the battles over land in north Africa, and thereof lack of lands for the Axis in North Africa. Then we hit our second climb of the day, Passo Foza. Long and steady, it peaks out at 11.8%, and has a 5km section at 7.4%, making it fairly hard and liable to a very hard pace being set and shredding domestiques.

Finally, we hit Monte Grappa. We go up by the hardest side naturally, from Semenzotto. This road was built during WW1 by a Cadorna general. The whole road takes a longer and easier route, while we cut it shorter, and steeper. the road we use is the same as the road used for the 2014 ITT. The scared mountain has only ever featured 5 times in the Giro, but it never fails to deliver. In 2010, it was part of an assault by liquigas on everyone else, Nibali descending away to take the victory. It is a seriously hard climb. Irregular, long steep. The first 12km average 7.4%, the next 7km average almost 9%. It has a whole kilometre at 12% and the last 2km are at 10% too. It is a climb that can cause large gaps if it is raced full out. The next day is flat, so I see no reason the favourites shouldn't go all out.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Stage 11: Ravenna - Montebelluna, 172km

(note typo on profile)

I always finish my races before I start posting them, on the basis that they need to have the right flow before I can start because what if you then have to tweak it earlier because you have too few TT miles for what you're planning to do, or have to leave out a section you desperately want in? If I'd been designing as the race went on, however, I wouldn't have bothered with this stage: flat stages won't gain you any points, since they are typically dull and uninteresting, however they are an essential part of racing, and if I unleashed upon you the 21 days of Zomegnan porn that I may want from a race, the riders would drop like flies and be protesting my every move. So we come to this, a completely pan-flat stage in the Po valley. On the plus side, the vast majority of the stage is on the Adriatic coast and with vast flat lands to the west for wind to come in from, so if there are any crosswinds we could have some utter carnage as we're staying almost entirely flat here. This is Tour of Qatar flat for the most part, although the last 30km do see the altitude rise slightly. Especially if the wind blows, any intrigue for the points competition could add to interest as the intermediate sprint points could become valuable meaning a high pace is forced should any key names be caught behind any splits in the wind. The main issue is that the rest of the days from here until the second rest day are tough, so the riders need a bit of a bone thrown to them, since the rolling Rome stage and the Napoli stage that had a couple of late hills have been the only opportunities for the sprinters so far (and there's only really one more real sprinters' stage to come).

From a cultural perspective, there's at least something to say. The stage begins in one of the most historic and culturally significant cities in Italy, Ravenna. With no fewer than eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in its municipal boundaries, this legendary city took over as the capital of the western Roman Empire when Rome was sacked, holding this status from 402 to 476AD. The Ostrogoths then held it until the Byzantine Empire recaptured it, before falling to the Lombards in the eigth century. It is famous for its incredible Roman and immediately post-Roman architecture, early Christian artwork and stunning assembly of mosaics.

In addition to this, while he may have been from Firenze, Italy's most famous writer, Dante Alighieri, is interred in Ravenna, and the tomb built for him many centuries after his death is another important tourist site.

The route continues along the coast through scenic spots like Lido di Spina and the island city of Chioggia before heading to a finish at Montebelluna. The city has been described earlier in the thread by Brullnux, who pointed to its being the home of Geox, and also of Oscar Gatto. Another much earlier cyclist called Montebelluna his home, that being pre-war powerhouse Carlo Moretti, a strong gregario whose best GC in the Giro was 6th in 1933, but in 1930 he won the classification for Independents, back when that was still a thing, so a shout out to those days is a nod to the race in years gone by.

Montebelluna also sits at the foot of Montello, a hill with a large number of parallel routes up its ribs with a further nodal route along its spine, and which hosted the World Championships in 1985, then won by the legendary Joop Zoetemelk, who at 38 was among the oldest ever victors in the event. You can see highlights here. Lech Piasecki, at the time reigning Peace Race champion, took the amateur race to cap a year of racing so dominant that the Poles agreed to trade him to Western Europe to turn professional (almost unthinkable at the time) in exchange for a number of state of the art professional bikes from the Colnago squad, bikes that went on to be part of the successes of Zbigniew Spruch and Zenon Jaskuła in the late pre-Wende days. The women's event was the first of Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli's five rainbow jerseys. I did think to put a ceremonial ascent of Montello late on, and this would be an excellent cultural piece, but having already utilized a similar style of stage into Napoli and with similar designs later in the race I elected to leave us with a pure sprinters' stage today.

 

[Stromeon]

Giro di Stromeon Stage 11: Firenze - Cesena 190km

Although it might not produce significant GC action, I feel every GT needs this sort of stage, where you typically get a large breakaway group forming and then watch as the fight for the stage victory unfolds from this group, and because it's a break everyone seems just that little bit more daring. So it is today, as we cross back over the Apennines after spending three days in Tuscany, heading from Florence, where yesterday's stage finished, to Cesena, an important stop-off in the 100th Giro as we honour the legendary Marco Pantani, a man who needs no introduction I'm sure, by visiting his birthplace. Pantani means a lot to the Italian tifosi, and he seems to mean a lot to the Giro organisers, who have put on stages to Oropa, Montecampione and Madonna di Campiglio recently seemingly in honour of his famous performances on those mountains. So thus we continue the Pantani-honouring trend by finishing in Cesena.

While it's not really a Pantani stage today, it is still quite difficult and could be very interesting if raced well. The riders must first tackle two long and gradual passes, the Passo Croce a Mori and the Passo della Calla, which could possibly merit 1st category status but I think is better as 2nd given its position in the stage. These should thin out both the pack and the breakaway fairly considerably as we cross over into Emilia-Romagna. After this we have a trio of short, but steep climbs. The first, the Valico della Faggia, has an average gradient of 7.3% but this masks the true nature of the climb as it is very inconsistent, with the second kilometre of the climb at 15% and the penultimate at 12%, with some downhill in between. The second, Monte Finocchio, is the easiest of the three but packs a punch, and the difficulty of the last climb, Barbotto, is again underestimated by the seemingly harmless average gradient. The first 5km are at 8.4%, before it flattens out before a final kick up to the summit.

After tackling these three climbs, the road flattens out as we head into Cesena, but there's one last obstacle to tackle before we reach the finish, a small hill to the hamlet of Cesuola-rio Dell'eremo just to the south of Cesena, with about 1km at 7%, before heading back to the finish in the town. This should provide a good little launchpad not too far from the finish for an attack in case it looks like heading to a reduced sprint. My money's on the breakaway but it's the sort of stage where anything can happen.

Cesena:

 

[barmaher]

Giro di Barmaher

Stage 11 Castiglione del Lago to Florence 215km

Riders will make a 74km (check if you want, race jury!) transfer from Siena to Castiglione del Lago, on the shores of Lago Trasimeno in Umbria. Here we will see the start of a standard Giro transitional stage northwards. This is a flat stage, albeit there is some difficulty as we near our finish in Florence. This Giro does not offer too many chances for the sprinters, so I expect the finish to be won by a sprinter, albeit Marcel Kittel and his ilk would struggle.



The route is a very pretty one. Riders will roll out from the Fortress of the Lion, which gives beautiful views over the lake. This fortress and the nearby Palazzo have not been rebuilt much since their original creation in the 13th and 16th centuries respectively. The fortress was built to give strategic primacy over the lake and its environs.

Climbs:
Cat 2 Col di Selva. Altitude 776m. 8.5km @ 5.9%
Cat 3 Passo di Pierle. Altitude 636m 4.1km @ 7.8%.
Cat 4 San Donato. Altitude 381m. 2.7km @ 4.7%.


The first (approx.) 40 kilometres will see the riders rider anti-clockwise around the lake, taking in some nice scenery.

Then it is a detour eastwards to Perugia, where the riders will take in a TV sprint to celebrate this Umbrian capital. Some nice shots of the cathedral of San Lorenzo are obligatory here.

We then go northwest, towards Florence. I have decided to put in two climbs not long after Perugia. The first climb is reasonably difficult, with 8.5km at around 6% and the first couple of kilometres at 8%. Then a shorter, steeper climb should ensure that the breakaway has no dead weight. On we go towards Florence, and I have kept it simple. We will go through the town of Arezzo, where we will take in the Piazza Grande. This is a sloping medieval square, with Romanesque building surrounding it.

And just because I can, I have decided to put in a minor difficulty for the sprinters. 16km from the finish, there is a minor Category 4 climb. However, the gradient averages under 5%, and there are not many steep pitches (500m @ 7%) so I think we can safely say that all the field will be in contention coming into Florence, unless the break stays away.

And what can one say about Florence? One of the most historic cities in the world. The birthplace of the renaissance, the home of some of the world’s most spectacular works of art, hub of the Age of Discovery where Florentine bankers financed Henry the Navigator. Many of the world’s most creative, brilliant people called Florence their home. Galileo, Donatello, Dante. There are many, many things to see here. Particularly if you love art. Riders will finish in front of the cathedral. They will need to rest well. Tough day tomorrow!

Man of the Stage

Tactics may not pay too much of a part in this stage, where I would expect a bunch gallop to be the outcome. However, if there is some cat and mouse in a breakaway, expect riders to be evoking the spirit of Niccolo Machiavelli as they try to gain the upper hand.

Niccolò Machiavelli was a diplomat for 14 years in Italy's Florentine Republic during the Medici family's exile. When the Medici family returned to power in 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed and briefly jailed. He then wrote The Prince, a handbook for politicians on the use of ruthless, self-serving cunning, inspiring the term "Machiavellian" and establishing Machiavelli as the "father of modern political theory." The main theme of this short work about monarchal rule and survival is man's capacity for determining his own destiny in opposition to the power of fate, which has been interpreted as the political philosophy that one may resort to any means in order to establish and preserve total authority.

Pope Clement VIII condemned The Prince for its endorsement of rule by deceit and fear. One excerpt from the book reads: "Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved."

Munch for the Bunch
We are in Umbria for a large part of the stage. So what else can we eat but spaghetti with black truffles, strangozzi tartufo. I have only had real fresh Italian black truffles once, and it was absolutely beautiful. With something this tasty, simplicity is best. So dishing it up with a plate of pasta is your only man.

 

[Billie]

Giro d'Italia - Stage 11: Delebio - Santa Catarina Valfurva (162 km)

Finally we get real mountains! So far my Giro has been mainly tackling the hills but that is about to change with the first serious mountain stage. Start will be in Delebio, a small village in the Valtellina before heading East to Santa Catarina Valfurva after 4500 metres in altitude gain.

The Triangia is a small climb on the outskirt of Sondrio. 7.2 km @ 7.2 % is the perfect appetizer for what is yet to come.

The Valico di Santa Cristina is the first serious climb of the day. Starting in Tresenda, it measures 13.7 km @ 7.7% followed by another 4 km @ 4.5 % to Trivigno. In the 90's the Valico Santa Cristina was traditionally climbed between the double Aprica ascent on the Mortirolo stage. Thus it was part of some epic raids. Last 3 riders to get first over the top here in the Giro were Heras, Pantani and Chioccoli. 3 incredible climbers and that is exactly what this climb deserves. I placed it before the Mortirolo to tire out the legs.

Next up is the beast itself. The Passo della Foppa is known to most as the Mortirolo. I'm ofcourse going over the North side starting from Mazzo (12.5 km @ 10.7 %).
The story of it's introduction is an intresting one: after the Gavia stage in '88 was completely snowed out and cancelled a year later, the organisers searched a new (lower) road to link the Valtellina and the Val Camonica. They found the Mortirolo, first used in 1990. I wonder how many riders would rather do the Gavia in the snow then go over the Mortirolo.
In 1994 the flanks of the Mortirolo is where Marco Pantani first showed his true class. In his remembrance there is now a special monument on the side of the Mortirolo aswel as a Cima Pantani price to the first rider over the top.

One more climb to tackle before descending towards the finish. It's the Cima Coppi this year: the Passo di Gavia. The South side starting in Ponte di Legno is the steeper single track road that averages 7.9% over 17.3 km. The Gavia's main moment is ofcourse the incredible snow storm in '88. The finish will be halfway down the descent to Bormio in Santa Catarina Vulfarva. A mountain resort that hosts an annual FIS world cup race.

All in all this stage should give us some fireworks. It's quite early in my Giro for this type of stage but with one TT already done and another one to come later this week the climbers will need to go for it already. The Mortirolo is quite far from the finish but combined with the Gavia followed by a short descent I feel that we should be in for an incredible final 70 kms.

 

[fauniera]

Re:

Giro d'Italia - Stage 12: Delebio - Santa Catarina Valfurva (162 km)

I like that one! I would put the start to a bigger town like Morbegno or Sondrio, but the combo of Santa Cristina, Mortirolo and Gavia is excellent, and i always wanted to see a downhill finish into Santa Catarina Valfurva. Should be a weekend stage, though.

Other favorites so far: The San Luca and San Marino time trials, and the first sterrato stage from barmaher (even though i'm not sure if all sections are rideable). Two sterrato stages in a row is too mad however, even for my standards.

Edit: Sorry, i meant the sterrato stage from Brullnux.