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Rate the 2013 Giro d'Italia Route

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How do you rate the route? (from 1 up to 10)

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giro2012ttmap.jpg


Perfect for Sanchez?
 
Is your normal speed 50kmh? :D

You can see on Streetview that the corners aren't as hard as they look on the route. Plus it depends whether they are uphill or downhill. But on a TT bike, there will definitely be a change of pace and position required.

Wouldn't surprise me to see them start on a road bike and then swap half way.
 
Ferminal said:
Is your normal speed 50kmh? :D

You can see on Streetview that the corners aren't as hard as they look on the route. Plus it depends whether they are uphill or downhill. But on a TT bike, there will definitely be a change of pace and position required.

Wouldn't surprise me to see them start on a road bike and then swap half way.

Is that still allowed?

Anyway. I can't see this route so technical that a road bike could be an advantge. The height drops are not really that big, too.
 
I find weird that Acquarone doesn't try to make a parcours a bit better suited to Nibali. I mean, he's the only viable italian GT rider at this moment. Why not a couple of descent finishes and maybe a shorter flat TT together with a small hilly one?

What do you guys think? Isn't Nibali good enough to make some pressure on the organizers? Or is it better for the Giro, as a global race, to attract riders like Wiggins/Froome/Contador instead of favouring their own riders?
 
Feb 15, 2011
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trevim said:
I find weird that Acquarone doesn't try to make a parcours a bit better suited to Nibali. I mean, he's the only viable italian GT rider at this moment. Why not a couple of descent finishes and maybe a shorter flat TT together with a small hilly one?

What do you guys think? Isn't Nibali good enough to make some pressure on the organizers? Or is it better for the Giro, as a global race, to attract riders like Wiggins/Froome/Contador instead of favouring their own riders?

I dislike the idea of attracting global riders. For me the Giro is about narrow streets, tight finishes, guts, and nationalism. There is nothing quite like seeing a hometown tiny Italian light up a mountain stage and win the biggest stage of his career.
 
I like:
*) The stages in the first week: varied, hilly, no sprintfest from the first weekend to the second.
*) The long, flattish TT, it balances the many mountain stages
*) the stage to tre cime di Lavaredo
*) the inclusion of a short, 2 or 3-climb mountain stage with a mountain top finish
*) the long stages with spicy finals. At least one can hope for some GC related action about 15' after the breakaway has crossed the line.

I dislike:
*) the TTT, but it's short, so it probably won't have too much impact on the GC. A well motivated and well prepared team sky can take a minute on other teams, though.
*) the MTT, because it is a waste of a climb
*) the inclusion of a 2nd, 3rd and 4th 2 or 3-climb mountain stage with a mountain top finish.
*) the finish on the Galibier: the giro doesn't need that.
*) Gavia and stelvio followed by 45km of descent. I they wanted to finish this stage with a mtf, they could have chosen Sulden. And thrown in the Mortirolo before the Gavia, if they really wanted to go crazy.
*) no mountain stages with a descent finish.

But overall, there is more than room enough for some spectacle, and the route is quite well balanced, so I give it a 7/10. (yesterday i was more inclined to 8/10).

For a 9/10 the race organisers should at least:
*) change 2 of the short mountain stages with a longer, 4 or 5 climb stage with a descent finish (last mountain not too far from the finish either)
*) remove the TTT, or replace it with a short, hilly prologue
*) include some strade bianche, just for the epicness of it.
 
Ferminal said:
Unless Sagan shows up, he could win a dozen stages here.

I was wondering if most of these stages wouldn't be dominated by Leaky's Moser/Sagan duo and Sky's trio(?) of Wiggins, Henao and Uran. That aside, I like the concentration on short mountain stages. The two we saw at the 2011 Suisse and Tour were fantastic. I'm glad the Giro is giving them a whirl to see how it pans out.
 
phanatic said:
That aside, I like the concentration on short mountain stages. The two we saw at the 2011 Suisse and Tour were fantastic. I'm glad the Giro is giving them a whirl to see how it pans out.
The Giro actually tried the short stage format in 2004 already. Ironically, it was because of the Vuelta 2003.
History repeats itself I guess.
 
I gave it 8/10.

-1 point because of the lack of a real killer stage, ex sterrati or 240-250 km hilly stage, in the first week, the 4.stage to Serra San Bruno isn't hilly enough.

-1 point because of too many short mountain stages.

I don't mind one or two short mountain stages, and the stages for Montasio and Jaffrau are interesting new additions, but they could have dropped the Galibier stage and added another stage in the Dolomites, and made the Val Martello stage somewhat longer. They could also have changed the stage finish here, perhaps finishing at Solda instead of Val Martello.

But overall it's a good route. Few real sprinters stages, several tough MTFs and a balance amount of TT kms.

Relly don't understand those who rates this as a 4 or 5/10. With that kind of scale, they should rate this years TDF route as 1 or 2/10.
 
OlavEH said:
I gave it 8/10.

-1 point because of the lack of a real killer stage, ex sterrati or 240-250 km hilly stage, in the first week, the 4.stage to Serra San Bruno isn't hilly enough.

-1 point because of too many short mountain stages.

I don't mind one or two short mountain stages, and the stages for Montasio and Jaffrau are interesting new additions, but they could have dropped the Galibier stage and added another stage in the Dolomites, and made the Val Martello stage somewhat longer. They could also have changed the stage finish here, perhaps finishing at Solda instead of Val Martello.

But overall it's a good route. Few real sprinters stages, several tough MTFs and a balance amount of TT kms.

Relly don't understand those who rates this as a 4 or 5/10. With that kind of scale, they should rate this years TDF route as 1 or 2/10.
I rated this Giro compared to other Giros. I didn't compare it to the Tour nor the Vuelta. This course is better than '12 and '04, on par with '09, and worse than the rest of the last 10 years. IMO
 
Netserk said:
I rated this Giro compared to other Giros. I didn't compare it to the Tour nor the Vuelta. This course is better than '12 and '04, on par with '09, and worse than the rest of the last 10 years. IMO

Because of what? The short moutain stages?

In my opinion, a good GT should have few stages for the sprinters, at least 4-5 MTF and a balanced number of TT kms. Giro 2013 have all that. I agree that there are too many short mountain stages, but it's still a good route. Not a great route, but a good route.
 
Bavarianrider said:
It is quiet ridicilous if someone claims that this stage doesn't favor climbers.

Only on the last 50 kilometers of the stages there are 6 Cat 1 Climbs and 3 HC climbs ( Tour standard, and i was really conservative here. This also doesn't include the MTT)

Stage 19 has Gavia and Stelvio in addition. If climbers want they can go nuts on that stage.

Stage 20 features plenty of mountains before the final 50km, too.
Most other mountain stages don't have flat run ins, too. There is always at least one serious climb before the final climbs.
Those final climbs are all legit, too. No Vuelta Gimmick uphill sprints.
Comparing this route to this year's Vuelta is quiet a joke.

Please guys show me a GT prior to 2006 which features significantly more options for climbers then next year's Giro.
+1.

I think this is where the difference shows with the Vuelta.
 
Here is how I like a GT to look:

1 prologue or TTT
1 long ITT,
1 hilly ITT around 30-35km
5 sprinter stages
3 relatively flat stages, but with a difficulty in the last 30km or "Muurs" at the end.
4 medium mountain stages, 1 of which finishes on a descent, 2 on MTF, 1 with a flat run-in
4 high mountain stages, 2 of which finish on a descent

With 2 wildcard stages....could be extra sprinting, but preferably cobbles, or strade bianche, or beside the wind, or whatever else may be exciting.

This tour has good time trials....1.5/2
It is too short of sprinter stages 1/2
It has enough stages with difficulty or with Muurs 2/2
And the medium mountain stages look okay 1.5/2
High mountain stages are too short, with no descent finishes 1/2

That gives 7/10...I deduct an extra mark because something just strikes me as weird...no X factor on this route in my book. It doesn't feel like a Giro to me. And I don't like Stelvio or Galibier. And because they have wasted the worlds circuit.
 
barmaher said:
That gives 7/10...I deduct an extra mark because something just strikes me as weird...no X factor on this route in my book. It doesn't feel like a Giro to me. And I don't like Stelvio or Galibier. And because they have wasted the worlds circuit.


What is X factor? Does it have to be Zoncolan, Finestre, a sterrati stage or someting similar? I think that the Tre Cime Lavaredo stage definitely offers some X-factor. The same for the Martello stage including both Gavia and Stelvio if it was 70-80 km longer.
 
OlavEH said:
What is X factor? Does it have to be Zoncolan, Finestre, a sterrati stage or someting similar? I think that the Tre Cime Lavaredo stage definitely offers some X-factor. The same for the Martello stage including both Gavia and Stelvio if it was 70-80 km longer.

It is hard to say...could be anything. These stages had the X-factor for me when I saw the routes announced:

Stages 2-3 in 2010 Tour....these stages (both over 200k) really put a premium on the all-round skills of the peloton.

Stage 7 of the Giro in 2010

Stage 2 of the Tour in 1999 (passage du Gois). That didn't work out, but it was a big risk.

Downhill Poggio time trial in the 1987 Giro (admittedly I only read about this after the event.


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3 x the Worlds circuit would have done it for me.
 

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