Rate the 2012 Giro D'Italia Route

[Swabian Lass]

4 for me. Yeah there are some decent mountain stages, but they're doing the same as the TdF and backloading everything into the last week and not enough to keep it entertaining in the first two weeks.

 

[apmfbs]

It's a real shame, really... that stage would have been fantastic.

As it is now, everything will be decided on the Cervinia.

That´s true , but we have to admit that the stage of Piani Ressineli is too much better than it was expected to be, valcava ( it is really steep)-bura-culmine-ressineli is a very good stage that makes me forget the deception of cervinia.

This giro with a 40-50 km ITT before in the first 10 days would be great.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

A few things on my mind about his route:

Its bad only compared to the last two years, specific to the 1000k of flat the first week. Even two years ago, racing on the coast provided an exciting 3 stages. It is a matter of chance with the weather, but I like the tension that comes with a windy, flat stage; its something different.

I'm bummed by the stride bianchi stage. It was awesome two years ago (best of the season, maybe), because it was paired with tall hills, and close to the finish. I don't think you need to match that profile, but it doesn't have the same flavor when its gone with 1/3 of the day to go.

The change in the team-scape will change the nature of the flat stages. Sky is strong enough to be HTC-esque, but I don't see them being the neutralizing force that dulled stages. And, its the Giro: breaks can survive.

I agree that the route is not top-notch, but we have a high standard. I think 7-8 is just about right

 

[Descender]

I believe the philosophy to which Descender refers is that of having a tough final climb. This makes long-range attacks less likely as contenders will want to save energy for the final ascent, whereas if you have a short steep final climb (4-6km) or an easy, Aprica style finish, riders who want to make up time have to attack from further out, and cannot just wait for the last climb to try their luck.

Yes, exactly.

 

[Tank Engine]

A few things on my mind about his route:

Its bad only compared to the last two years, specific to the 1000k of flat the first week. Even two years ago, racing on the coast provided an exciting 3 stages. It is a matter of chance with the weather, but I like the tension that comes with a windy, flat stage; its something different.

I'm bummed by the stride bianchi stage. It was awesome two years ago (best of the season, maybe), because it was paired with tall hills, and close to the finish. I don't think you need to match that profile, but it doesn't have the same flavor when its gone with 1/3 of the day to go.

The change in the team-scape will change the nature of the flat stages. Sky is strong enough to be HTC-esque, but I don't see them being the neutralizing force that dulled stages. And, its the Giro: breaks can survive.

I agree that the route is not top-notch, but we have a high standard. I think 7-8 is just about right

Agree with that. The strade bianchi stages have been highlights in the last 2 Giros (especially 2 years ago). The last week promises some epic racing, but it seems to be at the price of no big GC stages in the first two weeks (apart from the TTT, I would definitely prefer an ITT given the parcours).

 

[jens_attacks]

the removal of downhill sterrato sections is appreciated.that was ridiculously dangerous,doing 80 km/h on those roads was just a lottery,"caduta,caduta!" all over the place,lots of flat tires and so on.uphill it's ok but downhilling is just wrong in a grand tour.

 

[trevim]

The worse thing about the course is the excess of easy sprint stages. I don't want them to be replaced with mountains or Fiuggi 2011 type of finish but I think we could use a Tropea-kind of finish.

As for the TT, only 38km is a bit short I think. Milan TT could have two laps or making it 50km long. Or a 30km hilly TT instead of a sprint stage would be good to, somewhere in the 2nd week. Oh and the TTT is just too long; these kind of things should be used mainly for show like in 2010 Vuelta, not to kill the hopes of guys with weak teams.

As for the medium mountains I quite like the Sestri Levante stage. Are they going through some of the Cinque Terre 2009 TT roads? That would be awsome.

The mountain stages are just perfect. Nothing to complain here really. That Pampeago stage will probably be next year's Gardeccia. It's great that they don't have that excessive amount of MTF's. This year they make it just about right with Cervinia, Pampeago, Stelvio and the easiers Rocca di Cambio and Lago Laceno. The only downside may be that having the mountains so close to each might have some effect in attacking riders, making them more defensive. But hey it's the Giro, everyone attacks

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

The worse thing about the course is the excess of easy sprint stages.

I wish the 2012 Tour de France had the same number of easy sprint stages. It's not actually THAT bad when you put it in perspective.

 

[luckyboy]

7 seems about right. Could do with a bit more TT and an uphill finish to jazz up the first week. Most of the exciting stuff is kinda back-loaded though.

 

[catmiles]

Gave it a seven. Needed something more in the first week and another ITT but it could have been a lot worse

I agree beginning is a bit slow starting and why are they starting in Denmark of all places??? not even like its next door...

 

[Eshnar]

I agree beginning is a bit slow starting and why are they starting in Denmark of all places??? not even like its next door...

Because they pay
edit:
I mean, Danish people pay for it. Around 2 millions of euros.

 

[zippy2110]

I cant wait. I am going over to watch and will be following stages 11-15 in a motorhome.

 

[greenedge]

The worse thing about the course is the excess of easy sprint stages. I don't want them to be replaced with mountains or Fiuggi 2011 type of finish but I think we could use a Tropea-kind of finish.

As for the TT, only 38km is a bit short I think. Milan TT could have two laps or making it 50km long. Or a 30km hilly TT instead of a sprint stage would be good to, somewhere in the 2nd week. Oh and the TTT is just too long; these kind of things should be used mainly for show like in 2010 Vuelta, not to kill the hopes of guys with weak teams.

As for the medium mountains I quite like the Sestri Levante stage. Are they going through some of the Cinque Terre 2009 TT roads? That would be awsome.

The mountain stages are just perfect. Nothing to complain here really. That Pampeago stage will probably be next year's Gardeccia. It's great that they don't have that excessive amount of MTF's. This year they make it just about right with Cervinia, Pampeago, Stelvio and the easiers Rocca di Cambio and Lago Laceno. The only downside may be that having the mountains so close to each might have some effect in attacking riders, making them more defensive. But hey it's the Giro, everyone attacks

It is the same GT that a sprinter once won 9 stages in.
I think the TTT length is fine. At least it has one. Also who do you really expect from a weaker team to win anyways. Duarte will land up somewhere at a strong team and might do this, Garzelli is too old now but he can put on a show and Pozzovio had a good opportunity this year to go well. Rujano has enough mountains to help him. Visconti i would not consider able to win a GT.