- Feb 20, 2010
- 32,307
- 13,841
- 28,180
That's a nice little cobbled obstacle, should make for an interesting little stage, though I'm not sure if having the finishing line a couple of kilometres away from it might be better, although I guess that will depend on what the next stage is like, to see what the riders' likelihood of contesting it would be.
Stage 13: Omegna - Biella, 95km
The last weekday stage of the Giro Rosa is a shortish transitional stage (the stage length is dictated by the need to remain under the UCI's rather stingy maximum average of 100km a day - my 15-stage race is 1496km in length!!!). We are still in the lakes and valleys of northern Piemonte, close to where we both started and finished yesterday, so apart from any teams who elect to stay in Domodossola there's a good chance we can save on logistics and have the teams stay in the same hotels two nights running.
Since we're still in the same region, this will still be partisan Elisa Longo Borghini territory, and though the stage moves westwards and away from her home fans, we can still expect her to be among the most popular as it's quite likely that unless Tatiana Guderzo is able to recapture something of her form from five years ago or Francesca Cauz can really step up her game in the mountains, Elisa will still be the best-placed Italian rider on the GC at this point, even if she will inevitably lose time on the San Domenico climb she despises. Omegna, today's depart, is a town on Lago d'Orta perhaps best known as one of the centres of paisan resistance to Fascist occupation. The early parts of the stage head around the eastern edges of the lake before we turn southwest and into the foothills of the Biellese Alps.
As a result of this, the stage is pretty undulating, and will readily suit a breakaway. There's quite a bit of climbing, but little of it serious. The first climb, to Cremosina, is very gradual - 8km but only averaging around 2,5% with a steepest 500m at 8%. This road was badly damaged due to landslip in 2014 but has since been rebuilt and given a shiny new layer of tarmac on top of the strengthened road foundation. It will make a good place for some of those who are strong riders for this kind of terrain but who are likely to have been marginalized by the GC (Brand, Armitstead, Ratto), or even some of those who are climbers but may not have been strong enough or experienced enough to duke it out at the actual head of the field against the bigger stars (here I would think of young riders like Sabrina Stultiens and Dalia Muccioli, and second-tier climbers like Tetyana Riabchenko) to form a breakaway, and especially if the big teams are represented they may be prepared to allow them to take this stage, with an important final weekend for the GC to come; there is then a similarly gradual and fast descent into Borgosesia.
After a period of false flat, which leads to a brief descent which is a little more technical, but is far enough out to be easily recoverable from even for the weaker descenders out there, the riders arrive in Valle Mosso, from which our next climb emanates. The hilltop town of Pettinengo is a useful little multi-sided climb in the pre-alpine foothills above Biella, although here we climb arguably the easiest side - although there's a kilometre or so at a little over 6% partway up, it's mostly little more than false flat with a few ramps to keep the riders honest. From here we then descend via a gradual but, for the first part, twisting, route into Biella, whereupon we cross the river and have a slightly complex, uphill run-in through the city before a flat final two kilometres including three right-angle corners, the last of which is 400m from the line. The first time across the line is just an intermediate sprint, before we do a looping 25km circuit which also includes shortly afterwards the second intermediate sprint.
The key part of this circuit, cresting at 9,8km from the line, is the climb to the pass between a small outcrop and the rest of the pre-Alpine mountains, called the Brich di Zumaglia, where a castle (above) sits above the road we shall be using and serves as a wonderful viewpoint both down into the Po Valley towards Turin, and up towards the Biellese Alps and the Santuario di Oropa. This climb is hardly a monster but close enough to the finish that it should see some action, whether it be from the break or, if anybody is struggling for recovery after two weeks' hard racing in the favourites group, the pace being upped to put the hurt on. The last 2km of the climb average 6,5% and are the only really challenging ones, even including an awkward short stretch of rounded cobbles. From there, however, there's a flat kilometre or so before we join the descent from Pettinengo that we did earlier and continue the race into Biella.
Biella has hosted the men's Giro twice as a stage finish, once in 1964 and once in 1996. It is also, however, the city which pays for the stage finishes at the now legendary Santuario di Oropa, first seen in 1963, last seen in 2014, but of course legendary for the 1999 exploits of Il Pirata. I shouldn't have to recount the story for you there, just suffice to say it's one of the most well-remembered shows Pantani ever put on, arguably second only to Les-Deux-Alpes. Here, however, we're not climbing to Oropa; this is a punchy stage instead, so we should see either individuals or small-to-mid-sized groups arriving in Biella together.
Lady of the stage: Alena Amialiusik
Born in Belarus in 1989, Alena Amialiusik has been one of the top 15 riders in the world, per CQ, for the last four seasons. Two of which were with the underfunded BePink team, followed by one with the same squad but with the Astana cash injection. With the Astana apparatus divorcing itself from the BePink framework in 2015, Amialiusik was clearly the prize attraction in the team auction; neither side of the team could afford her and she moved on to the Velocio-SRAM squad. One positive of this was that we got to see their crazy interpretation of a Belarusian national champion's kit! Although in pure points terms CQ-wise she did not pick up as many points last season as in 2014, it is worth noting that the main reason for this is that arguably her biggest achievement on the road last season did not pay any points at all - her win in Baku at the European Games road race. This was a fascinating tactical game in the last couple of laps, with the circuit being hilly at points but with a comparatively long flat run-in, and with three riders at the head of the field who were not typically recognized for their sprint; Alena and two riders who were trade teammates, van der Breggen and Niewiadoma. Alena was the strongest of the three, however, and took home a very well-deserved gold medal for her trouble, comprehensively outsprinting them with a show of power. Perhaps as a result of her strong TT prowess and the fact that, away from the bike, she is studying law, Amialiusik often is characterized - rather unfairly in my opinion - as being rather serious, perhaps falling victim to the same kind of national stereotyping that many post-Soviet states, especially CIS ones, have received, but she can be an aggressive racer at times, and she can also poke fun at herself at times as well (such as the time she posted a picture of herself with her 27th birthday cake, adorned with Hello Kitty because "in many ways I'm still a small child".
Hilly racing is where Amialiusik is at her best, having made the podium of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in 2014 and the Philadelphia Classic in 2015 among World Cup events. She has top 10s at the Giro dell'Emilia and La Flèche Wallonne, but she prefers races not to finish at the very top of walls, as she has a good tactical head for racing from small groups in the run-in, such as the European Games and also when she won the Muri Fermani race in terrain similar to that used in stage 3 around Potenza Picena. A lot of her best results in stage races have come in intermediate terrain - for example winning the Graciá-Orlová stage race in the Czech Republic, making the podium of the oft-derided Tour de Languedoc-Roussillon (derided more for poor preparation and rider facilities than the racing or route, however, it must be said) and the Route de France, and the top 5 of the medium-mountain Tour de l'Ardêche. Her best ever Giro GC result is 10th, which she achieved in 2013, although she has also been top 20 both years since then. I'm thinking that if this stage goes to the break, which I think it may well do, Amialiusik is the kind of rider who would want to get into the break on a stage like this, far enough down the GC to be allowed to escape, but high enough on it to have something to gain from doing so. With her climbing nous she would likely be among the strongest climbers that could get into such a breakaway, and yet also one of the faster finishers of those who could get to the top of that climb in the front group as well. And if it were all intact in the group, she's the kind of rider who could make an attack on the final climb stick, using her TT prowess to the end; with the showdown to come at the weekend, it would be unlikely too many major GC hands would be too keen to expend that much energy on chasing somebody as strong as her.
Stage 13: Omegna - Biella, 95km
The last weekday stage of the Giro Rosa is a shortish transitional stage (the stage length is dictated by the need to remain under the UCI's rather stingy maximum average of 100km a day - my 15-stage race is 1496km in length!!!). We are still in the lakes and valleys of northern Piemonte, close to where we both started and finished yesterday, so apart from any teams who elect to stay in Domodossola there's a good chance we can save on logistics and have the teams stay in the same hotels two nights running.
Since we're still in the same region, this will still be partisan Elisa Longo Borghini territory, and though the stage moves westwards and away from her home fans, we can still expect her to be among the most popular as it's quite likely that unless Tatiana Guderzo is able to recapture something of her form from five years ago or Francesca Cauz can really step up her game in the mountains, Elisa will still be the best-placed Italian rider on the GC at this point, even if she will inevitably lose time on the San Domenico climb she despises. Omegna, today's depart, is a town on Lago d'Orta perhaps best known as one of the centres of paisan resistance to Fascist occupation. The early parts of the stage head around the eastern edges of the lake before we turn southwest and into the foothills of the Biellese Alps.
As a result of this, the stage is pretty undulating, and will readily suit a breakaway. There's quite a bit of climbing, but little of it serious. The first climb, to Cremosina, is very gradual - 8km but only averaging around 2,5% with a steepest 500m at 8%. This road was badly damaged due to landslip in 2014 but has since been rebuilt and given a shiny new layer of tarmac on top of the strengthened road foundation. It will make a good place for some of those who are strong riders for this kind of terrain but who are likely to have been marginalized by the GC (Brand, Armitstead, Ratto), or even some of those who are climbers but may not have been strong enough or experienced enough to duke it out at the actual head of the field against the bigger stars (here I would think of young riders like Sabrina Stultiens and Dalia Muccioli, and second-tier climbers like Tetyana Riabchenko) to form a breakaway, and especially if the big teams are represented they may be prepared to allow them to take this stage, with an important final weekend for the GC to come; there is then a similarly gradual and fast descent into Borgosesia.
After a period of false flat, which leads to a brief descent which is a little more technical, but is far enough out to be easily recoverable from even for the weaker descenders out there, the riders arrive in Valle Mosso, from which our next climb emanates. The hilltop town of Pettinengo is a useful little multi-sided climb in the pre-alpine foothills above Biella, although here we climb arguably the easiest side - although there's a kilometre or so at a little over 6% partway up, it's mostly little more than false flat with a few ramps to keep the riders honest. From here we then descend via a gradual but, for the first part, twisting, route into Biella, whereupon we cross the river and have a slightly complex, uphill run-in through the city before a flat final two kilometres including three right-angle corners, the last of which is 400m from the line. The first time across the line is just an intermediate sprint, before we do a looping 25km circuit which also includes shortly afterwards the second intermediate sprint.
The key part of this circuit, cresting at 9,8km from the line, is the climb to the pass between a small outcrop and the rest of the pre-Alpine mountains, called the Brich di Zumaglia, where a castle (above) sits above the road we shall be using and serves as a wonderful viewpoint both down into the Po Valley towards Turin, and up towards the Biellese Alps and the Santuario di Oropa. This climb is hardly a monster but close enough to the finish that it should see some action, whether it be from the break or, if anybody is struggling for recovery after two weeks' hard racing in the favourites group, the pace being upped to put the hurt on. The last 2km of the climb average 6,5% and are the only really challenging ones, even including an awkward short stretch of rounded cobbles. From there, however, there's a flat kilometre or so before we join the descent from Pettinengo that we did earlier and continue the race into Biella.
Biella has hosted the men's Giro twice as a stage finish, once in 1964 and once in 1996. It is also, however, the city which pays for the stage finishes at the now legendary Santuario di Oropa, first seen in 1963, last seen in 2014, but of course legendary for the 1999 exploits of Il Pirata. I shouldn't have to recount the story for you there, just suffice to say it's one of the most well-remembered shows Pantani ever put on, arguably second only to Les-Deux-Alpes. Here, however, we're not climbing to Oropa; this is a punchy stage instead, so we should see either individuals or small-to-mid-sized groups arriving in Biella together.
Lady of the stage: Alena Amialiusik
Born in Belarus in 1989, Alena Amialiusik has been one of the top 15 riders in the world, per CQ, for the last four seasons. Two of which were with the underfunded BePink team, followed by one with the same squad but with the Astana cash injection. With the Astana apparatus divorcing itself from the BePink framework in 2015, Amialiusik was clearly the prize attraction in the team auction; neither side of the team could afford her and she moved on to the Velocio-SRAM squad. One positive of this was that we got to see their crazy interpretation of a Belarusian national champion's kit! Although in pure points terms CQ-wise she did not pick up as many points last season as in 2014, it is worth noting that the main reason for this is that arguably her biggest achievement on the road last season did not pay any points at all - her win in Baku at the European Games road race. This was a fascinating tactical game in the last couple of laps, with the circuit being hilly at points but with a comparatively long flat run-in, and with three riders at the head of the field who were not typically recognized for their sprint; Alena and two riders who were trade teammates, van der Breggen and Niewiadoma. Alena was the strongest of the three, however, and took home a very well-deserved gold medal for her trouble, comprehensively outsprinting them with a show of power. Perhaps as a result of her strong TT prowess and the fact that, away from the bike, she is studying law, Amialiusik often is characterized - rather unfairly in my opinion - as being rather serious, perhaps falling victim to the same kind of national stereotyping that many post-Soviet states, especially CIS ones, have received, but she can be an aggressive racer at times, and she can also poke fun at herself at times as well (such as the time she posted a picture of herself with her 27th birthday cake, adorned with Hello Kitty because "in many ways I'm still a small child".
Hilly racing is where Amialiusik is at her best, having made the podium of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in 2014 and the Philadelphia Classic in 2015 among World Cup events. She has top 10s at the Giro dell'Emilia and La Flèche Wallonne, but she prefers races not to finish at the very top of walls, as she has a good tactical head for racing from small groups in the run-in, such as the European Games and also when she won the Muri Fermani race in terrain similar to that used in stage 3 around Potenza Picena. A lot of her best results in stage races have come in intermediate terrain - for example winning the Graciá-Orlová stage race in the Czech Republic, making the podium of the oft-derided Tour de Languedoc-Roussillon (derided more for poor preparation and rider facilities than the racing or route, however, it must be said) and the Route de France, and the top 5 of the medium-mountain Tour de l'Ardêche. Her best ever Giro GC result is 10th, which she achieved in 2013, although she has also been top 20 both years since then. I'm thinking that if this stage goes to the break, which I think it may well do, Amialiusik is the kind of rider who would want to get into the break on a stage like this, far enough down the GC to be allowed to escape, but high enough on it to have something to gain from doing so. With her climbing nous she would likely be among the strongest climbers that could get into such a breakaway, and yet also one of the faster finishers of those who could get to the top of that climb in the front group as well. And if it were all intact in the group, she's the kind of rider who could make an attack on the final climb stick, using her TT prowess to the end; with the showdown to come at the weekend, it would be unlikely too many major GC hands would be too keen to expend that much energy on chasing somebody as strong as her.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram