Stage 20: Saturday May 26th, Caldes/Val di Sole - Passo dello Stelvio 219km

[The Hitch]

The tifosi scream and encourage, the rider can’t hear.

His brain is zoned out, the finish is near

Just a couple more metres, a push left to the top.

His heart wants to reach it, his legs want to stop.

Every pedal a struggle, every meter a fight.

The leaders he followed, now long out of sight.

The rider knows now, as he suspected before

it’s the hardest stage ever, in any grand tour.



But the realization, that wont be good for morale

Is that he’s just crossing over, the Passo del Tonale.

Twenty k down, 200 to go.

3000m climbing, before the Passo Stelvio.

Four difficult hills, and the Mortirolo as well

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome

to

hell.

 

[The Hitch]

Its an easier Giro, its far more humane.

Sure its got some hard stages, but the mountains are tame.

So said the Journos, directors and pros..

You never looked at the course boys, trust me, it shows.

First there was Tuesday, part 1 of the 3

A worthy queen stage for any gt.

With a descent finish and 4 massive climbs.

And 2000m crossed more than 3 times.

Followed by Friday, more of the same.

Mountains similar in gradient, different in name.

But even these stages were often ignored.

And the reason why they have not been explored

Is that from the beginning a shadow was cast.

On the rest of the race, by the stage that comes last.

Mortirolo Stelvio its all about this,

That’s what’s been said, but one should not dismiss

The effects of the carnage that was stage nineteen.

And the one fifty k that lies in between.

The riders reach Aprica, 18 at 4

Which with that kind of gradient belongs in Le tour.

But the climb that follows, The Teglio is strong

As steep as the Muur, but its five times as long.

As they ride through the valley and consider their fate.

And after 150k, the race arrives at hell’s gate.

Il Mortirolo, the riders are scared.

Nothing on earth can make you prepared.

For 12 brutal kilometers to pay for your sins,

And that’s to ignore over 30 hairpins.

The gradients the weather, the road and the pain.

Its been 18 long years since Miguel indurain

Yes even Big Mig, the legend, he cracked.

When Marco Pantani of Cesena attacked.

And the worlds greatest rider, who had won his last five

And for the rest of the year would continue to thrive.

Will always be remembered, in 1994.

As the guy who on the Mortirolo, finally lost a grand tour.

13% the first km hits.

The climb is designed to blow a peloton to bits.

To in a couple of minutes totally turn a race.

And at 4 metres wide theres almost no space.

Its 6 long kilometers at 12%, when ,

The kilometre gradient even drops under ten

And the old heads will tell, that its not the same side

But like the original, there’s nowhere to hide.

With similar gradients and a path yet untamed.

There can be no surprise that so many have named.

The Mortirolo, even though its quite short

As the hardest mountain, to appear in our sport.

 

[The Hitch]

Km 8, 14 is the grade.

No need for attacks, the gap has been made.

With such high percentages, its hard to explain

Just how much more brutal, how much more pain.

Than other mountains this climb can provide.

Especially when tackled from this completely new side.

Where the gradients are steeper, the roads yet more cruel

As has been proved in the past, you can take as a rule

That anyone who dares to follow a pace.

Which they feel they cant manage, will be put in their place.

Theres even a short descent in kilometer nine.

Where the riders can ease off, and then continue the climb.

As the colour of the profile briefly turns green.

Before km 10, goes straight back to thirteen.

And its right after this that the race will present

This year’s maximum gradient of twenty two percent.

Just before the riders finally get to the top.

The Stelvio is coming, but first comes the drop.

The last mortirolo, the descent played a part.

As the maglia rosa, dug deep in his heart.

And on perilous roads, he showed us, no fear.

And with pain we remember, oh how so near.

David Arrroyo, the underdog came.

To victory and joy and money and fame.

But despite all his courage, the attempt had failed.

The lesson to take is that the climbers prevailed

And this was on aprica, so shallow so weak.

Whereas on 20 this year, we have this great peak.

Where after on Mortirolo, the race has been blown

After seven long years, the race comes back

Home.

 

[The Hitch]

The Giro ditalia its more than a race

And part of the reason is the fanatic fan base.

Which early last year was given a voice.

As an RCS poll that gave them a choice

Of 30 great climbs from Giro folklore

And one would be used in this years pink tour.

And the fans they decided, that the final climb.

That will today be used for just the 10th time.

Since being introduced in 1953.

In a stage that was won by Fausto Coppi

The Giros deadliest weapon, the greatest of all

Passo dello Stelvio, 9000 feet tall.

The beginning is manageable, perhaps even smooth.

At 4% average it may even remove,

Some doubt in the riders, their lungs start to breathe

Some of the riders may even believe.

That for its reputation, the climb aint that tough

Their energy levels may seem like enough.

But the lower grades are no more than a bait.

The heart wants to go but the legs need to wait.

Good form is needed, but one needs to be smart,

Its not just the gradient that can tear you apart.

The things to consider are the height and the length

After 3000k its all about strength.

And what makes the penultimate stage so extreme

Is that the 2 greatest passes work as a team

As the Passo Mortirolo, short but compact.

Designed to create, an immediate impact.

Breaks all the riders, then asks them to ascend

The Passo dello Stelvio, which seems never to end.

Where the conditions are colder, and the air far more thin.

And very few riders can contest for the win.

As usual factors like, tactics and heart.

Will not be able to play any part.

In a race where every small weakness is at lentgh assessed

And every ability, is put to the test.



But the Passo dello Stelvio should not be portrayed

As an gentle long climb with an average grade

7 for 20, what this will hide.

Even though Bormio is the easier side

Is that the gradient frequently falls and jumps

The easier sections interspersed with speed bumps

There are 4% sections, but what lies in between

Are mortirolo like sections of max seventeen.

Sections that can be found at halfway,

But in particular in the final 3k.

As hard a final climb as in any gt

For the highest stage finish in sports history

 

[The Hitch]

Another dozen riders, straight out the door,

But as you all say, it cant compare to the Tour

Where racing is harder, climb and descent.

Does an Alpe d huez section even go 10%?

No, this was special, this was unique.

It will only add to that Giro mystique.

Of a gt often overlooked by the best.

Who prefer to save for its friend in the west.

But which the die hard fans continue to insist.

Is the heir to the racing, that used to exist.

And as our unnamed rider from 6 hours ago

Who on the first climb was ready to blow.

Finaly crosses the stage finish line.

Shows little emotion, and goes back down the climb

Few will pay attention, but to us hes a hero.

This aint the Tour mate.

This here,

it’s the Giro.

 

[Caruut]

Wish I could have studied that instead of Carol Ann Duffy at school

 

[mb2612]

Nice,


Nice

 

[burning]

I read this without breathing at all

By the way the profile says top of Mortirolo is 1718 metres but in your profile it is at 1852?

 

[Eshnar]

No matter how it unfolds, we can already say the stage has delivered
The preview at least
Congrats Hitch

 

[amp300]

well done


(stupid character limit)

 

[Red Rick]

Hitch, you made up for the first dull 18 stages, you're officially a hero.
Best stage preview ever, this deserves the nobel prize of literature

Here's a poem of mine:

After 3 years of english literature at school,
The Hitch wrote a poem, that i thought was cool

 

[the asian]

It's a pity that I'll have to miss the action on saturday

Hoping there is absolute carnage today, so that stage 20 is redundant.

 

[Machu Picchu]

Wow, a hallmark stage thread, well done! ^_^

 

[jens_attacks]

grande hitch!i hope the guys from RAI will give a look to this and they should read it live at anteprima

that was awesome and yeah do something about that stage preview thread.
let's hope the riders won't disappoint,
5900 meters of dislivello,that's freaking insane!

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

this was awesome. Can't wait!

 

[boomcie]

My eyelids they twitch
Cause I just read someone describe so rich
A stage that comes with pitch
Bad as a b!tch

At times it read like kitsch
With the occasional glitch

But didn't it make you itch
For that stage which
Most common cyclists would ditch
With the flip of a switch

Stand up and praise, my buddy The Hitch

 

[TeoSheva]

 

[el_angliru]

Mortirolo descent:

It's shorter and not quite as steep as the usual descent (when the finish is in Aprica). The gradient seems pretty constant at 8%. It also seems to be pretty straight roads at the upper half of the descent. The lower slopes, however, seems to have at least 20 hairpins. Overall it's not too bad, and I think Basso should be quite pleased. It could be much worse for him.

The Pantani monument, btw, is just 1 km away from this year's descent but they'll miss it!

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Stelvio. One of the most legendary climbs in cycling. Already a legend in 1953 when Coppi tricked Koblet into breaking their secret agreement.

 

[will10]

10.0 on the Hitch scale. Bravo.

 

[Kwibus]

The Hitch delivers again. Brilliant preview and I fully agree on the last part.
Sometimes we almost forget, but the non-climbers will have to endure hell to reach the finish within the timelimit.

I can't imagine they will reach the finish with 6 within 1 minute. That's impossible. Minutes will be lost all over the place.

 

[Frosty]

Current conditions

http://webcam.popso.it/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/28

Looks spectacular

Great info Hitch!!!!

Forecast for tomorrow is still the risk of showers. Temperature around freezing on the top.

 

[Nick C.]

I usually don't check in on these, but wow, great, just great Hitch

 

[will10]

Thank goodness the weather looks good. Although I suppose they could've always finished at the top of Mortirolo

 

[Eshnar]

Thank goodness the weather looks good. Although I suppose they could've always finished at the top of Mortirolo

No they can't.
No room for a stage finish there.