Race Design Challenge

[Eshnar]

considering we are late with the schedules, I'd say we postpone the judging day to tomorrow, and stage 19 will come on Wednesday. Sorry for the inconvenience, everybody

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Since the stage results were posted yesterday I thought today was the day for stages. Oops.

Stage 18: Varese - Torino, 178km

Today's stage is a transitional one moving from Lombardia to Piemonte, from the host of the 2008 World Championships won by Alessandro Ballan (the organizers of the championships also in their promotion claimed ownership of Binda, the region's great hero, though his actual hometown was of course honoured yesterday in the time trial) to another of the Giro's original host cities (and which is anticipated to host the finale next year, in fact).

In addition to the 2008 Worlds of course, Varese is a highly storied city in cycling thanks to its ideal location at the foot of the Alps, close to the legendary Lombardia slopes, within striking distance of Milano and Torino, and with the Swiss Alps also close at hand as well as some interesting and testing shorter and medium-sized hills nearby allowing the possibility for almost any type of cyclist to develop here. Local riders to settle here include those from the city itself (eg Garzelli), those from the local provinces (eg Basso, Chiapucci, Binda himself) and those from further afield (eg Bugno). Many of those shorter and medium-sized hills feature in the traditional late-summer Trittico Lombardo, most notably the long-running Tre Valli Varesine, which began in 1919 and has an illustrious list of winners including Coppi, Bartali, Magni, Defilippis, Motta, Merckx, Marino Basso, Moser, Saronni, Bugno, Chiapucci, Rebellin, di Luca and Garzelli; this year it has been moved away from the other Trittico races for reasons that aren't really wholly satisfactory to the traditionalist, leading into Lombardia itself due to the recent changes to the traditional calendar.

Anyway, that's why Varese belongs on the route. The first half of the stage is pan flat as we traverse that cursed Po valley, pan-flat scourge of the course designer, once more, before crossing the river itself shortly after Chivasso, an industrial town with a scenic centre which serves as a transport hub, linking Milan and Turin with the northern cities in the Alps such as Domodossola, Biella and the whole of the Valle d'Aosta.

After this, the riders have a couple of climbs to deal with. I can't find a profile for the first but it includes some very steep gradients at first and looks to by cronoescalada's estimate average 8,4% in 3,6km - their figures are a bit all over the place, however this doesn't seem unrealistic. After this it's a rolling phase with the uncategorized bump to Scialze then a second 4th-category climb - this time with fewer hellish ramps - to the northeastern side of the massif with the Basilica di Supergà on it. The most important part of the stage is, however, the third-category climb to the Basilica itself, which tops out 16km from the finish, because, unlike the silly new version of Milano-Torino, I wish to ape the classic version of the race with the frantic descent back into Turin after the climb. The climb itself is highly inconsistent with some steep ramps and is likely to, if the break takes this as I suspect they may, between the long TT yesterday and the hit for home coming up, break things up completely among them; in addition the more desperate GC contenders have a chance to seek time here as well. The views will be nice, anyway.

The riders then have a slight downhill for a few kilometres, then a steeper stretch, then a fast charge back into Torino to finish. Whereupon I suggest they while away their evening at the iconic Mole Antonelliana:

As, in addition to being able to go through the lift to the viewtower at the top of the city's tallest building, it currently contains the awesome Museo Nazionale del Cinema, with the interior decked out in spectacular fashion which, given the scale of the building, can be jawdropping.

Except the GC contenders and their superdoms, of course. They've got a busy day in store for them.

 

[barmaher]

My next stage was one of two options. Both finales have been used by other competitors over the last few days.

 

[Red Rick]

I fear for Finn's life atm. Dolomiti stage without Fedaia under the watchful eye of Libertine Seguros. That takes cojones.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

I fear for Finn's life atm. Dolomiti stage without Fedaia under the watchful eye of Libertine Seguros. That takes cojones.

They have another chance yet. Stage 19 could be a Fedaia MTT, in which case all is forgiven and I implore each judge to give them a +10000000 bonus point award. As we speak, I'm sharpening my kitten-killing implements.

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

I fear for Finn's life atm. Dolomiti stage without Fedaia under the watchful eye of Libertine Seguros. That takes cojones.

They have another chance yet. Stage 19 could be a Fedaia MTT, in which case all is forgiven and I implore each judge to give them a +10000000 bonus point award. As we speak, I'm sharpening my kitten-killing implements.

Thought it would take Kittel to win Liège for you to really use those!

Great stages everyone, I'm enjoying.

 

[Eshnar]

Judge 1:
Brullnux T: 4/5 C: 3/5 (A nice Pantani tribute stage, not my favourite climb, but still great)
Barmaher T: 3/5 C: 5/5 (Great, finally someone used Pomeiana)
Gigs_98 T: 2/5 C: 4/5
Billie T: 5/5 C: 2/5 (Just an awesome stage)
Finn84 T: 4/5 C: 3/5 (A great mountain stage, i really like it)
Libertine: T: 3/5 C: 4/5 (That's a great stage, should be fun to watch and Torino is an awesome city)
Stromeon T: 2/5 C: 2/5

Judge 2:
Brullnux T: 4/5 C: 5/5 (Oropa is history)
Barmaher T: 3/5 C: 4/5
Gigs_98 T: 2/5 C: 4/5
Billie T: 4/5 C: 2/5
Finn84 T: 5/5 C: 3/5 (great dolomitic stage)
Libertine: T: 3/5 C: 3/5
Stromeon T: 2/5 C: 2/5

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


GC after stage 18:
Libertine 476
Barmaher 471
Gigs 470
Brullnux 459
Stromeon 457
Billie 414
Finn 362

ONLY THREE STAGES TO GO!!!

 

[Gigs_98]

I am actually surprised that until now its impossible to say who will win. I mean, how great is it that 5 out of 7 people still have almost the same chances to win and that we can be sure that we wont know the winner until the last day.

Btw, I have a question. Is judge 1, judge 2, judge 3 always the same person or do the numbers change? For example I found out that I almost always agree with judge number 3, no matter if he gives me many or few points. F.e. I actually agree that my last two sunday stages were pretty bad, and IMO the technical rating of the other two judges were too high. At this point I also want to say that thats completely objective so the other designers might completely disagree and say that judge 3 is the worst or whatever .

 

[Eshnar]

I put the numbers randomly everytime. They're not the same person

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

I put the numbers randomly everytime. They're not the same person

Then its just a funny coincidence

 

[Billie]

Giro d'Italia - Stage 19: Valgrana - Demonte (53 km)

Only 3 stages left and it's the 4th and final ride against the clock. Unlike the previous timetrials this one favours the climbers as we're going over the Colle della Fauniera.

Start is in Valgrana, a small town in the Valle Grana. First there are 15 kms of false flat roads before the first intermediate check where we start climbing for real. Halfway up the climb we have a second check right after passing the Santuario di San Magno.

Starting form Pradlèves, the climb is 22 km at 7.5% for 1689 metres of altitude gain. The climb is also known as the Colle dei Morti stemming form a fierce fight between Piemontese and Franco-Spanish troops on it's flanks in the 18th century.

Atop the climb there is a sculpture portraying Marco Pantani. It was placed there to honour il Pirata's attack on the climb during the 1999 Giro, the only time the Fauniera was used in the Giro upto now after the 2001 stage was annuled because of snow. But it was not Pantani who won that stage cause Savoldelli put in an incredible descent to storm to victory.

And so we have arrived to the final part of the timetrial. Unlike almost all other MTT's, in my design the riders will have to do the descent aswel. This is very intresting cause everyone will have to take risks to keep the time they gained uphill or gain back some time for the lesser climbers. 23 kilometres that will require top notch concentration before the finish in Demonte.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Superb thread, I absolutely love all the work done by you guys. I havent got through all stages, but I like the idea of keeping the 'true' sprint stages down to a minimum since that generally goes hands in hands with a good, proper race throughout.. And Italy is without a doubt the best country when it comes to that

Is pretty hard to get a full image of all stages 1-21 since the stages basically are one big clusterfuck at this point (of really interesting stages), so I am curious whether it is possible either now or by the end of the competition to see all the stages done, listing them from 1-21 to get a better overview of the race since I find it kinda difficult at this point (which also is why I think its hard to grade the stages when you dont know whats coming next...)

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

Superb thread, I absolutely love all the work done by you guys. I havent got through all stages, but I like the idea of keeping the 'true' sprint stages down to a minimum since that generally goes hands in hands with a good, proper race throughout.. And Italy is without a doubt the best country when it comes to that

Is pretty hard to get a full image of all stages 1-21 since the stages basically are one big clusterfuck at this point (of really interesting stages), so I am curious whether it is possible either now or by the end of the competition to see all the stages done, listing them from 1-21 to get a better overview of the race since I find it kinda difficult at this point (which also is why I think its hard to grade the stages when you dont know whats coming next...)

That was the plan, everybody started to keep a library for the first 3 stages... then either forgot or realized it was too much of a work. Once this is finished, I'll try to do it myself.

 

[barmaher]

Giro di Barmaher

Stage 19 Garessio to Pinerolo 194km

So here we are in the last triptych of stages, which will decide the Giro di Barmaher.

In case anybody has been following, you will notice that we need to get closer to Aosta, which is the only Italian mainland region this Giro has yet to visit. We won’t get all the way there, but as you can see we get a good way there



So we have a trip northwards, but this is anything but a transitional stage. There is over 3500m of climbing, before a descent finish into Pinerolo. Tomorrow is going to be a multi-mountain stage with a mountain-top finish. So there is a chance that this stage won’t see a GC battle. But the road is there for the riders, should they choose to use it. There are three climbs in the last 55km. And two of those have very steep pitches. The descents are far from straightforward.

I expect to see a breakaway take the stage win. The breakaway will need to be strong, as riders will tackle a tough climb from the kick-off. Not just stage-hunters, but domestiques of GC-men will make up the break. It may be handy to have a helper up the road for later. If the race is blown to pieces, or if there is even one or two attacks from the group of favourites, having safety in numbers could be crucial.



Climbs
Cat 2 Colla di Casotto 1344m altitude. 10km @ 7.1%
Cat 1 Montoso 1252m altitude. 9.3km @ 9.4%
Cat 2 Bivio (Santa Caterina) 835m altitude. 4.6km @ 10%
Cat 3 Pramartino 914m altitude. 6.2km @ 6.7%

Riders will make the transfer from Sanremo to Garessio for the stage start. Garessio has been chosen for two reasons. It is comfortably the most scenic town I could find in this area of the Italian southern Alps.

But far more importantly, it is the home of Giorgetto Giguiarro, who is the world’s most celebrated car designer. He designed the BMW M1, the Renaults 21 & 19, the Seat Ibiza, the original Volkswagens Passat and Golf and many, many other cars. He was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999, and is basically a behemoth of the car industry. This may be a bike race, but it won’t stop me doffing my cap to this man.

Riders will quickly be faced with the first test of the day, the Colla di Casotto. Nobody is going to lose the Giro on this climb, but it is a tough start to the day with almost 800m of vertical gain. As mentioned above it should shape the first break of the day. This climb was supposed to be used in the 18th stage of the 2001 Giro. A massive drug raid in the riders’ hotels revealed massive drugs possession among riders. ''The Giro has lost an arm, and I have lost a piece of my heart,'' said Carmine Castellano, the race director, after riders in San Remo canceled the day’s route through the Alps, one of the most arduous of that year’s Giro.

After the descent, and a few rolling kilometres, the riders will then have a very flat time of it for around 100km. The second TV sprint in Bagnolo Piemonte will signal the end of the phoney war. Riders are going to climb a fierce climb up to Montoso. They will not climb all the way to Rucas, but this is still an absolute beast of an ascent.

And here is a nice photo of Fabio Aru being pipped to the line in a finish in Montoso in the 2011 Giro delle Valli Cuneesi by Locatelli. Aru went on to win the overall title, however. This was his first major win, not sure why it is not on CQ ranking.

There won’t be any celebrations here now, as riders will plunge down the descent, before tackling a shorter, steeper climb. Leaving San Michele, the climb averages over 10% over 4km, with sections in the middle of over 15%. I couldn’t find a profile on any of the usual places, so you are stuck with this Strava link. The road is definitely rideable, and most importantly, the descent is very safe as the road joins with other more main roads on the descent toward the SR23.

http://www.strava.com/segments/3860471

After a brief flat section, riders will tackle the moderately tough Pramartino. This climb was used in a Tour stage won by EBH in 2011, and also in a stage won by di Luca, I mean Pellizotti, I mean Menchov in the 2009 Giro (a few disqualifications!) But most famously of all, it was the scene of a massive day in the Coppi oeuvre of success. He Coppi won the overall Giro in 1949 primarily by way of the memorable 17th stage (from Cuneo to Pinerolo), during which he escaped from the group and climbed alone the Maddalena Pass, the Col de Vars, the Col d'Izoard, the Col de Montgenèvre and the Sestriere Pass, arriving in Pinerolo 11'52" ahead of Bartali, his tenacious antagonist during those years.

The approach to Pinerolo will not be as tough as that day, but will be the same as was used by EBH and di Luca recently. Climb the Pramartino from the west side:

The descent is lightning quick. Finish in Pinerolo will not be contested by a big group, I can guarantee you that. As I say above, the perils of tomorrow may discourage GC action from far out. But I think this course gives a chance for more than a few digs, and also it will be a well-contested stage for stage hunters.

As you can guess by now, I love a good Duomo. And Pinerolo is as good a place as any to finish in front of one.

Riders are going to stay in Turin for the next few nights.

Munch for the Bunch
Vitello tonnato is a Piedmontese dish of cold, sliced veal covered with a creamy, mayonnaise-like sauce that has been flavoured with tuna. It is served chilled or at room temperature, generally in the summertime, as the main course of an Italian meal or as "an exceedingly elegant antipasto for an elaborate dinner."

It is prepared at least a day or more in advance by braising or simmering a piece of veal from the back leg called Eye Round, which is then cut into thin, individual servings. For the sauce, originally fresh white tuna is simmered until fully cooked in white wine, cider vinegar, white onion and garlic, and then puréed with a mix of olive and vegetable oil and egg yolks in an electric blender or food processor to form a thick mayonnaise. For the mayonnaise a variety of seasonings can be used, including anchovies, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. The thick, smooth purée is then somewhat thinned with a little water and cooking liquid from the veal and a few capers are stirred in. Some of the sauce is spread out on a serving platter and the cold slices of veal are arranged in a single layer on top. The rest of the sauce is then poured over the veal so that it is, generally, completely covered. The dish is allowed to refrigerate for a period up to 5 days to fully develop the flavour.

Man of the Stage
Pinerolo was the home of the Fortress of Pignerol, which was a famous prison in the 16th to 18th centuries.

Its most celebrated occupant was The Man in the Iron Mask. The possible identity of this man has been thoroughly discussed and has been the subject of many books, because no one ever saw his face, which was hidden by a mask , either of velvet or iron.

Writer and philosopher Voltaire claimed that the prisoner wore an iron mask and was the older, illegitimate brother of Louis XIV. In the late 1840s, writer Alexandre Dumas elaborated in the final instalment of his Three Musketeers saga: here the prisoner is forced to wear an iron mask and is Louis XIV's identical twin.

The fate of the mysterious prisoner – and the extent of apparent precautions his jailers took – created significant interest and many legends. Many theories are in existence and several books have been written about the case. Some were presented after the existence of the letters was widely known. Later commentators have still presented their own theories, possibly based on embellished versions of the original tale.

Theories about his identity made at the time included that he was a Marshal of France; or the English Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell; or François, Duke of Beaufort.

Another rumour was that the prisoner was Eustache Dauger, he son of François Dauger, a captain in Cardinal Richelieu's guards. In April 1659, Eustache and others were invited to an Easter weekend party at the castle of Roissy-en-Brie. By all accounts it was a "debauched" affair of merry-making, with the men involved in all sorts of "sordid" activities. It was also claimed, among other things, that a black mass was enacted, and that a pig was baptized as "carp" in order to allow them to eat pork on Good Friday. Other activities, such as heterosexual and homosexual sex, may also have taken place.

Caught up in this scandal, and the notorious Affair of the Poisons, a scandal of 1677–1682 in which people in high places were accused of being involved in black mass and poisonings, he is said to have been imprisoned.

Nobody knows who he is. But who will be the man in the pink jersey at the end of the day?

 

[Finn84]

Stage 19, Cortina d'Ampezzo - Monte Crostis, 194 km

Libertine may start to book flights here, no Fedaia. To explain, it's a mountain which is very hard from the eastern side but not so much from the west. As my route on the Alps and Dolomites went from west to east it was much more difficult to fit it. However, this stage has very hard MTF - Monte Crostis.

Monte Crostis was originally on the route in 2011 but the route was revised as the descent was deemed too dangerous. With the mountain top finish, the riders don't need to worry about the descent this time.

The host of 1956 Winter Olympics, Cortina d'Ampezzo is where the stage starts. The stage will take through it later, until the 100-kilometre route to Monte Crostis begins.

Early part of the stage is downhill but the climbs of Cibiana, Staulanza and Giau will diminish the field massively. The second visit to Cortina d'Ampezzo will include the intermediate sprint. Tre Croci and Giampigotto are not easy mountains either but the real challenge will wait at the end of the stage with Monte Crostis. Along with the stage ending in Stelvio, this can be considered the hardest stage on my Giro.

(from >Passo Cibiana onwards)

(from Selva di Gadore onwards)

 

[jsem94]

WTF that is one brutal stage.

 

[Gigs_98]

100th GIRO D'ITALIA stage 19: Bergamo - Aprica (191 km)
You know, when I decided to make a giro based on the original one from 1909 I knew that would mean, hardly any alps. In my original route there were no mountain stages after the Pinerlo stage (Although I had an additional which used Fauniera - Sampeyre) but at the end I decided that I just can't to this. I couldn't leave out so many great passes which are still there but in the north of the giro route from 1909 unused, so I decided to just don't care and put two more monster into the route. Ofc, this also the 100th giro so I was supposed to include as many legendary passes in the 4 alpine days as I could, so I decided to use one, if not the most famous combination of the giro in my final.
At this point I also have to say once again that there are no dolomites because that would just be too far away of the 1909 route. Sorry for that, especially Libertine, but I think its still better to simply not include the Fedaia, than not including it although there are dolomites stages, right Finn

The stage starts in Bergamo. Besides Como this actually also could be seen as a Lombardia reference, because this city hosts the finish regularly, as well, like last year when they managed to make the worst route of the century. However I wont include the classical climbs around Bergamo and instead directly head northwards in the direction of the finish. Right from the beginning the stage is always ascending but the first 38 kilometers are only false flat. That changes after these 38 km's when the first climb of the stage, the Passo della Presolana starts. Not the steepest climb but still its pretty long and some rather steep stretches will at least make it difficult enough so we will know the break on the top of the ascent. The descent isnt too technical but there are some scenic views. After the downhill section the riders get absolutely no break. They immediately have to climb again up to the Passo del Vivione. This is the first 1st category climb of the stage but by far not the most difficult one which is mainly due to a flatter section in the middle of the climb. The rest also isnt too hard, some stretches of over 10% but nothing brutal. Hard to understand why but this pass is extremely underused. its difficult (especially the north side), its in an area which is used often and holy crap this is scenic. The street is narrow but the in very good condition, so we have a perfect descent which is very very technical but not extremely dangerous. If it rains a team could try to split the peloton with a high pace and it might work.

After the descent there is a rather long false flat section including an intermediate sprint in Edolo. From now on we could use the exact same route as in 2015 with the Aprica - Mortirolo - Aprica combo. However of course I don't do so and instead use another climb. I am not sure if the Monte Padrio has ever been used before but if not its about to get time. This is an ascent which could be a legend like the Mortirolo or the Zoncolan, because it is absolutely steep. To be honest the average gradient is only about 10% and its not as long as Mortirolo/Zoncolan but its very irregular and has slopes of over 20%. Thats steeper than any section on the whole Mortirolo and although I don't do so in my stage you could also put use it perfectly. Tirano could be used as a downhill finish without any flat after the descent, or you could descent to the middle of Aprica west, so you have another hard-easy combo. That would work perfectly, but this still is the 100th giro so of course I use the more famous finishing combo. The road up there is very narrow and there are lots of hairpins which should make it very scenic. The descent is very technical, probably even harder than the one of the Passo del Vivione because the serpentines are ridiculously sharp turns. Action on this climb is already possible, but I don't think that can be due to an attack but rather due to someone fading because of a very high pace.

Unfortunately there is a short flat section between the end of the descent and the start of the Mortirolo, but its just impossible to put a climb before the mortirolo without any flat between and this one is still better than the version used this year (although that were maybe the most dramatic kilometers of the giro ). Then the Mortirolo starts. Well, I don't think I have to tell you a lot about his legend. Pantani, Gotti, Basso, enough said...okay you are right, I have to talk about it a little bit longer. I use the Mazzo side, simply because it is the most famous one and also the one which caused almost all these legendary rides. IMO the 2012 side is a little bit harder but thats probably subjective. The numbers talk for themselves: 11.8 kilometers at 10.9% average gradient and one section of 18% in the first half. The thing with such steep climbs is that they cause gaps almost automatically. Maybe not between all favorites but if one gc contender drops, the pace will suddenly get so extremely high and there will be pure carnage (like in 2010 and actually also in 2015, to only use the newest examples). Although this climb is absolutely legendary it isnt even that old. It was introduced in 1990 and was used about every two years since that, which probably comes because it just never disappoints. The descent is technical too and I'd say you can get quite some time back there if you have dropped, although 1:56 might be a little bit too much

Last but not least, we arrive on the bottom of Aprica. Aprica one of the most famous mtf's of the world although it isnt really difficult, which makes it a little bit like Sestriere. Like Sestriere the west side is pretty difficult and can be used as a prober mtf, while the east side is very flat and works perfectly in combination with a very hard climb like the Mortirolo. I use the ascent from this year with an a little bit steeper first half which may force some riders to attack if there are still some riders together (which is likely).

Bergamo:

I first wanted to make a simple downhill finish to Edolo on this stage because I feared that nobody would attack if there is another mountain stage to come. However then I remembered that in 2010 the queen stage also came on the day after the mortirolo and the mortirolo stage was maybe still the best one of the whole race (together witch montalcino. Moreover as already mentioned, Mortirolo always causes gaps and with Padrio before the peloton should be really small so the final shouldnt be controlled. I'd hope for another legendary day with the Moritrolo because the stage definitely has the potential.

 

[Brullnux]

LA CENTESIMA FENIS-TORINO 249km

We move to Valle d'Aosta, an area desperately underused in big races, despite its convenient location meaning that it can be both included in the Tour and in the Giro, as well as the Tour de Suisse which may continue with its idea of hosting queen stages in neighbouring countries.

A rather unconventional stage today, with climbs steadily decreasing in difficulty as the day goes on. The first climb is a 1st category, then a hard 2nd category, then an easier 2nd, then a 3rd, then a hard 4th, before a short but steep 4th, then a final 4th category climb 9km from the finish.

The start is in Fenis, home to a beautiful castle, the most famous in Valle d'Aosta and one of the most famous in the Italian Alps. I am not an expert on this castle, I have just been once, so I don't really know much about it. If anyone is going to Aosta this winter and wants something do that isn't skiing, then I recommend it. Next up is the home of Federico Pellegrino, whom LS no doubt knows about (IIRC he is a big fan of nordic skiing), one of the best sprint free specialists in the world, who can do pretty well in classic races too. Then a big climb staright away to Lignan (Saint Barthelemy). We approach it from the harder side, not like this year's Giro. It is a very scenic climb. There is no profile for this climb online I'll tell you that there are 6km at 8.3%, and the rest is fairly steep.

Then is Col Bruson, a two part steep climb. 2km at 9.3%, then flat, then 1.5km at 8%. After another descent it is time for the Grand Hoel, another climb used to select the field down a bit more. Our TV is at the cross over between Aosta and Piemonte. An uncategorised hard climb is followed by our second TV in Ivrea, before a bit of flat before the Castellamonte climb, and another long section of flat before the select group will take on a difficult end to the day.

40km of up and down is certainly hard, even more so when percentages reach over 10% many times. The riders will find it hard to find a rhythm and a rider, not the best on short hills, who is having a bad day made worse by a high pace on every climb and the distance, may be dropped 20-30km from the finish and loses 3 or 4 minutes and could lose any hope of winning this Giro. Th break may take this, or an attack on the Superga, my reference to Milano-torino.

 

[Stromeon]

Giro di Stromeon Stage 19: Savona - Santuario di Vicoforte 187km

Similarly to stage 7, from Trivento to Guardiagrele, today's stage is two [in]famous stages chopped in half and stuck together. The first is the middle half of Milano - Sanremo (M-SR is long enough to have three halves), and the second is the first half of this stage from 2001, that was famously not raced after the Sanremo drug raid.

We pick up the Milano - Sanremo route in Savona, and tackle the climb of Le Manie and the Tre Capi before we get to Imperia and turn off inland. Many others have done more extensive M-SR tribute stages and have described them in greater depth than I have time to, and you all know about these climbs anyway, don't you?

This part of the Milano - Sanremo course rarely has much of an impact on the race there, and similarly today it is equally if not more unlikely to have any impact on the race. But I felt I couldn't go through a 100th Giro without some sort of tribute to La Primavera, and so here it is. However, today's stage is not a stage for the sprinters, they had their moment of glory yesterday. Instead there is some deceptively serious climbing to be done, including one fairly important climb that, rather surprisingly, I haven't spotted in anyone else's route so far. The shallow but very irregular Colle San Bartolomeo is the first climb on the menu, but it is the Colle di Nava that follows that is the one of interest. This, along with the Rionero Sanntico and Roccaraso climbs faced by the riders in stage 7, was one of the very few climbs included in the original 1909 Giro, and its position slightly out of the way of proper mountains means it has been overlooked very often since. At nearly 10km at around 7%, it's nothing terrifying but it's still a proper 2nd cat. climb and an important one as we recall the history of this amazing race. After a very gradual descent we tackle the longer Colle di Casotto and the small climb to San Giacomo as featured in the first half of that 'Fauniera stage' linked earlier. Coming off the long descent there is a short but sharp ramp that tops out just a kilometre away from the line in front of the Santuario di Vicoforte, meaning it could be an exciting finale, especially as it is very likely that it will be a breakaway fighting for the win.

Santuario di Vicoforte might seem a rather odd place to finish, and indeed it probably is, but I wanted to commemorate one more stage, from 2003 that started here and finished in Chianale, halfway up the Colle dell'Agnello, that is widely regarded as one of the best mountain stages in recent years, as just behind stage winner Dario Frigo, Gibo Simoni gained five minutes over his main challenger Stefano Garzelli on his way to an emphatic overall victory. It is also a beautiful building and since we're in Italy we might as well take a tour round the amazing architecture of the country.

I think this could be a very interesting stage, although it's probably a sure-fire win for the breakaway it offers the GC teams an opportunity to try and isolate a rival who lacks team-mates or is struggling towards the end of the third week, a la Astana/Dumoulin. It's also rich in Giro heritage, combining Milano - Sanremo with a snippet of the very first Giro, a memory of the turbulent events of 2001, and of the exciting ones of 2003. And of course there's beautiful scenery to admire if it doesn't live up to the expectation!

Savona:

Santuario di Vicoforte:

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Brullnux - your Grand Hoël climb is actually called Col d'Arlaz

Stage 19: Susa - Cuneo, 232km

Frustratingly I don't have a great deal of time to write about this, the second queen stage of the Giro, and its longest stage. Yes, it's a bit of an odd choice in a race with Crostis-Zoncolan, that tough Dolomite stage and Gavia-Mortirolo-Aprica to have a queen stage where the final summit is not one of the Giro's most iconic climbs and the cresting of the climb is over 40km from the line, but at this point there's been over 100km of time trialling and with this being the last major mountain stage the climbers will need to play it tactical and go big to go home with this one. As a further bonus, this is the stage with the Cima Coppi.

It's appropriate to have the Cima Coppi on this stage, because it is to the great man himself that I turned for inspiration on this one, as I use up my second and last trip abroad (the first being San Marino) in a stage which is inspired by yet wholly different to the legendary Cuneo-Pinerolo stage from 1949 where Fausto destroyed everybody all day in one of the most iconic and epic solo rides of all time.

While the stage was brutal, it runs in the wrong direction for my Giro route; also Sestrières as a final climb and being over 50km from the finish is not really a feasible option in today's cycling if you want major racing; they also attempted to clone the stage in the 2009 Giro, only for conditions to get the better of them and thus having to re-route to the Moncenisio-Sestriere-Pramartino stage that di Luca won.

My stage is tougher than the legendary Fausto stage, or at least is tougher than it would be now; in 1949 with the state of the roads back then and the different nature of cycling, the story is different. I am also finishing in Cuneo, where Coppi started that day, and starting in Susa rather than Pinerolo, cutting Sestriere out. The first climb of the day is Monginevro, a ski resort which serves as a warmup for the day.

This then takes us into France, where our first stop is the legendary Alpine city of Briançon, which is a regular host of the Tour and Giro, last hosting the latter in 2007 when di Luca wrestled the lead of the race onto his shoulders; a stage leaving Briançon was also Marco Pantani's final career triumph. Next up is the Casse Déserte, the iconic summit of the Col d'Izoard.

This stage is so tough I've put two feed stations in, in fact, the first coming after this, and before the third climb of the day, and the Cima Coppi of the race, the Colle dell'Agnello. This is actually the easier side of the climb, which says something given this is still a bona fide HC climb, and of course the fact that the climb is the Cima Coppi should ensure there's quite the contention to get in to the break today - not only do you end your suffering a bit earlier but there's the incentive of the summit.

Returning to Italy via a steep and technical descent, the final 100km are hardly straightforward either, featuring a slight twist on a classic double act. First up is the Colle di Sampeyre from its northern side. This is more consistent than the southern face of the climb, but more relentless as there's no real point of respite. Expect there to be pretty much no domestiques for most major teams by this point - only a handful of superdoms may remain. The Giro "discovered" Sampeyre in 1995, and has only been back once, but that's only helped to build legend around it.

At the summit... still 78km remain. Then there's the steep descent of the better-condition side of the climb before the final climb is... Esischie. Not Fauniera. I know, it's a bit like doing Umbrailpass instead of Stelvio. But Esischie is still brutal, it has 95% of the Fauniera climb. And hey, for all the praise of the Fauniera-Sampeyre double in 2003... they climbed Esischie. Fauniera's not been seen since '99; Fredy González took the summit of Esischie the one time it was used. This is a stupendously tough climb nonetheless...

As the final cat.1 climb of the Giro there should be very few riders left when they cross the summit 42km from the line. I need somebody to go for the legend of Coppi, you see. There is then a stupendously difficult, steep descent that will have the likes of Nibali licking their lips. Paolo Savoldelli could have taken minutes on this descent. And then there's a 20km downhill false flat into Cuneo to finish, flush with Coppi legends and some pretty shattered riders. Almost ready for home now.

 

[Brullnux]

@Libertine

Thanks, I wasn't sure what it was called so I admit I just guessed

 

[fauniera]

Descending into Pradleves, don't you know that that's way too dangerous?

No seriously, i love it.

 

[Red Rick]

No Valle d'Aosta Libertine? Why is that, not enough Giro history there?

 

[Eshnar]

Judge 1:
Brullnux T: 3/5 C: 4/5 (An awesome stage, should be great to watch)
Barmaher T: 3/5 C: 5/5 (Wow, that's another great stage)
Gigs_98 T: 4/5 C: 3/5 (Monte Padrio and the mighty Motorola, awesome)
Billie T: 5/5 C: 4/5 (That's one hell of an ITT)
Finn84 T: 2/5 C: 2/5 (Sorry, it's one hell of a stage but hosting a MTF on Monte Crostis is nearly impossible, a downhill finish would have been at least a 4/5, 2 is a little bit harsh but the competition was once again brutal)
Libertine: T: 4/5 C: 3/5 (Awesome stage, the finish of the 1999 Savoldelli stage would have been even better)
Stromeon T: 2/5 C: 2/5 (Still a great stage, but all the other stages are also very good)

Judge 2:
Brullnux T:3/5 C:3/5
Barmaher T:4/5 C:4/5
Gigs98 T:5/5 C:4/5
Billie T:2/5 C:2/5 (I like tough ITTs, but this one is way too silly)
Finn84 T:3:5 C:1/5
Libertine t:4/5 C:2/5 (imo the Pradleves side is meant to be climbed, not descended)
Stromeon T:3/5 C:3/5

Judge 3:
Brullnux T:2/5 C:3/5
Barmaher T:3/5 C:4/5
Gigs98 T:4/5 C:4/5 (nice mountain stage)
Billie T:3/5 C:2/5 (like the iTT but perhaps too much)
Finn84 T:4:5 C:3/5
Libertine t:5/5 C:2/5 (great stage a long too!)
Stromeon T:2/5 C:5/5 (super location)

GC after stage 19 (2 stages to go!!!):
Libertine 509
Gigs 507
Barmaher 504
Brullnux 485
Stromeon 479
Billie 442
Finn 386

Three players seem to have a gap!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

The good news for Gigs and Barmaher is that I have fired most of the bullets in my gun at this point.

No Valle d'Aosta Libertine? Why is that, not enough Giro history there?

I desperately wanted to use the Valle d'Aosta, but couldn't find a way to work it without massively imbalancing the parcours, whilst still adhering to the 75km rule, and honouring all the sites I wanted to in the form of classic climbs, campionissimo hometowns and 1909 stage hosts.