Cromulent

Is it me, or is Bruyneel getting a little whiny? Why not say, "Dang. That's a hard course. But we'll get her done." Other than he's not from a sitcom featuring Southern stereotypes.

Snicklefritz

What about that pic of Andy Hampsted (sp?) doing the Giro way back when and he is all covered with snow and ice??

TheKillerPenguin

65 miles today, sir! Is that enough?

RockyMtnMerlin

Thanks! By the way, the climb up the Angliru that has been used in the Vuelta was an unpaved goat track that the organizers "discovered" and then talked someone into paving it, resulting in a paved 25% climb (or something close to that). The cyclingnews article said the ski area folks plan on improving the road prior to the race. Maybe they will pave it, but maybe they'll just put down that crushed white stuff like on the Stelvio in last years Giro.

TheKillerPenguin

^ That's wild! They need more goat paths in racing.

USAZorro

I'm not trying to say you're wrong, but I think that's only part of it. Last year's stage over Stelvio was a modern classic, but quite a few riders vowed "never again" afterwards. It sounds like there's at least one stage in this year's Giro that will make Stelvio seem like child's play. Undoubtedly, there are plenty of others who are not happy with route - but apparently, they're either more timid than Johan, or we're simply not hearing the reports.

Cypress

Cunego is one ugly mf.

Cypress

So as long as fried snacks aren't part of your everyday agenda...

Good show!

dstrong 

For a four-wheeler, that's a road, but for a bike? I thought that's why they're called "Road" bikes. Maybe a ...."Mountain" bike (if there really was such a thing)

DXchulo

I was waiting for someone to call Bruyneel a wimp, and this is the closest I got. Come on, this is cycling. It's supposed to be hard. Isn't that the whole point of these tours, to see how far we can push it?

It kind of sounds to me like Bruyneel wants the Giro to be some sort of easy warmup before the TDF. What a bunch of crap. I'm getting kind of sick of this whole "nothing matters but the TDF" attitude. The Giro is a great race. Why water it down?

Duke of Kent

I think Bruyneel wants the Giro to be something that the non-specialist rider can do well in. The course this year is set up for the pure climber, and nothing else. The same guys who will get ROCKED in the TdF. The TdF is and always has been more of an all-around rider's race, where the TT and the climbs are both huge factors, not just one or the other.

Duke of Kent

Apparently you haven't figured out how the ProTour works yet...

cydewaze

This looks like a good place to swap the riders onto cyclocross biles.

Grasschopper

You know I was wondering about this...what is the rule here? Can they simply swap bikes...I would think no...unless there was some unforeseen mechanical issue that casued a bike to be unrideable...like kicking in the RD. Simple swap...come to the corner, jump off..lay the bike down and stomp on the RD...get your new bike.

El Diablo Rojo

I agree that bike racing is supposed to be hard, but there is hard then there is just stupid. Having these guys right up a ski slope at the end of a hard mountain stage is very much crossing over to the stupid. If this were just one day of hard climbing that would be one thing but they have these guys doing day after day it's no wonder they all juice.

Cromulent

That looks like a good place to stop and have a beer.

lotek 

When Heras won on Angliru he used a triple, many others used
MTB gearing.
I'm thinking this stage is going to blow the race apart, look for huge time gaps
between the mountain goats and the rest of the peloton.

Andy Hampsten on the Gavia Pass, my favourite all time stage and story, absolutely classic.

If this were the TdF they would end the stage at the chalet just before the unpaved section.

Marty

RockyMtnMerlin

UCI road race rules are 142 pages long and the technical guide for bicycles is another 10 or so pages. Nothing I see in the rules prevents a bike swap to a bike with different gear ratios (in fact I think I have seen this on other tough road race mountain stages). The type of bike for a road race stage is strictly regulated in those technical guidelines, however. Clearly they could not switch to a mountain bike. I think what will really determine willingness to change bikes is that it takes time. And virtually no pro rider would want to HAVE to stop and change bikes and see the competition riding away from him/her. So it will probably be like PR, they will make equiment choices at the beginning of the race based on known trade offs and conditions.

Grasschopper

Wouldn't a full rigid MTB be legal (assuming it had front and rear triangles)? Also if it is enough of an advantage I would think that the 15-30 sec it would take to make a planned bike swap (bikes sized properly, setup and ready to go) wouldn't be much of a loss especially if you are going to ensure yourself good traction and better gears for the coming climb in the rocks. I can see a lower geared cyclocross bike being a good choice...a bit wider tire with a bit of tread could go a long way.

RockyMtnMerlin

MTB handle bars would not be legal since it is a mass start race. Rule 1.3.022 says bars must be "traditional" type bars and then shows a picture of road bars.

El Diablo Rojo

I would think a cross bike with the appropriate gearing would be the best option.

DocRay

I think it's easier to just race on triple chainrings, this is common for the Giro.

El Diablo Rojo

I was thinking more about the condition of the road and the gradient. If the gradient is that severe and the gravel is loose it might make sense to ride a cross tire at that point.

DocRay

They might be using paris-roubaix type tires for this stage. I've driven up some of those peaks, first gear in spots. nuts.

El Diablo Rojo

Do you think that they'd opt for the P-B style bikes with wider fork and seat stays? I'm thinking they would want the uber light climbing bikes up to that point then switch off. If that's the case then I guess you'd have to have team guys allready waiting for them at the switch point. This also would lead to problems with Mavic neutral service. What tires would they have on the cars at this point?