Stage 15 looks to be one to drive the nail in the coffin for most contenders. The Val di Fassa climb is hard enough at 16% but it's a gravel road! And that comes after four previous climbs and over 220km! http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/ ... hes/171955
It's not just the gravel ascents that are scary (of course this picture is taken at a more dramatic angle - but take a look at the cliff past the beveled edge of the gravel road...). http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/ ... hes/171963
This is why the Giro in the last few years has become so infinitely superior of a race when compared with the Tour. After Roubaix, this is always my most anticipated race of the year to watch. There are so many stages that can be selective on the GC, you have to pick your battles, manage your energy and recovery.....unlike the Tour, where the 3-4 climbs in the race the GC battles are going to happen are boringly predictable. The hardest tour climbs don't even make the top 5 in a giro. The best part is, it's starting to pay dividends with more and more big name GC guys making the Giro their primary goal for the year.
entire race profile. chek out stages 13 through 16. THREE mountain top finishes followed by a hill climb TT!!!
Stage 15 has 6320 meters of climbing, stage 14 has over 5000 meters
“The difference between the Tour and the other Grand Tours is that the mountains are being climbed at an extremely high speed and the flat days absolutely wear you out, while in the Giro they're a little more bearable.”
I am expecting some very successful breakaways on the flat stages just because everyone will be saving their legs for the monstrous mountains, and in the mountains look so terrible, long stages, huge ascents. Only the strong shall survive.
The day I quit is the day I die, and probably not even then.
I downloaded and watched the stage today, I don't recommend watching it, if you are skip from about 27km to go until about 20km to go, the footage is quite disturbing.
Current Winter Gloating point amount - 16730 (and counting)
A very moving photo of Leopard trek's Tyler Farrar after crossing the finish in the neutralized 4th stage speaks volumes about the enormity of the loss
