CYCLING IMPRESSIONS: Giro d'Italia

Showing posts with label Giro d'Italia. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 May 2019

The Favorites of the Impressionists

Dear Cycling Impressionists, you answered the survey and here it is!
Roglic is the undisputed favorite but there is a strong battle for the podium.
Yates and Dumoulin have a little advantage on Lopez but he is close.
Nibali, Landa and the young Sivakov have the same chances (very few) to arrive in Pink in Verona.
In the in between there is Majka, better than the three just mentioned but far from the big dogs.
None of you think Zakarin or Jungels can win the Giro. Would they be better off going on vacation?
I can't see a better place than Italy to spend your holidays.

Who will be right at the end of the third week?

Thursday, 9 August 2018

Cycling Songs: Adesso Pedala - Marco Pantani

In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the legendary double of Il Pirata, I want to share this song to remember him as the polyhedric champion he was!
Enjoy your holidays with the soundtrack of your summer:

Monday, 2 July 2018

The Worst Race in the World

It is hard to understand the decision of the organizers to exclude Froom from le Tour de France.
I know that Froome was born in Africa and French people don't want immigrants but this it too much.
I don't even want to believe that this is due to his Salbutamol case.
It is important to clarify that Froome did not use doping, He was just found an excess of a permitted medicine in his blood and everything has still to be proved.
Froome made history at the Giro d'Italia and he was never found doped during the race, what are we talking about?
Loads of French riders have taken part to the Tour the France with worse doping cases pending on them.
The truth is that French organizers are scared of Froome. Nevertheless, for the love of cycling I've found a solution that will satisfy everybody!
The Tour de France should become the new French National Championship.
In this way, there will be just French riders with 21 French stage winners and the final classification will be won by a French too. The end of the Tour de France will be the new French national day and everybody will be happy.
Who cares about the rest of the world? We are French after all!

Friday, 4 May 2018

The First Pink Jersey

It is something hard to describe.
Wearing the first Pink Jersey can save a career, can save a season, can save a Giro.
Today, in Jerusalem, Duomoulin was simply amazing.
He is stronger than last year and came to Giro 101 for a memorable double.
He introduced himself to his contenders with today's incredible back to back.
I am not a stats maniac but I don't think we can count so many riders that have won the Giro the previous year and have been the first pink jersey a year later.
"Hey guys, allow me to introduce myself: I am the Pink Jersey". This is what Dumoulin said today with his Time Trial.
After the press conference and the time trial,Tom Dumoulin seems to have scored the very first rounds, demolishing Froome with words and facts.
Nevertheless, the Giro is too long to say it's over.
What matters is that Dumoulin may not win the Giro 101, but he is the first pink jersey and that is enough to be remembered in a positive way in the Giro 101.

Thursday, 30 November 2017

Giro d'Italia 2018

The route of the 101 Giro d'Italia has been revealed and it's really interesting.
The exotic start is a fantastic idea to expand the cycling culture outside Europe. Nevertheless Israel and its silly controversy about "west Jerusalem" prove that maybe the organizers have chosen the wrong country. They are not ready to be part of a melting pot event.
Despite Israeli officials, I think that the TT in Jersualem will be a fantastic scenario for the start of the Giro.
The route continues with interesting stages, that will amuse the spectators and the fans since the first week.
The diamond of the race is the terrible Zoncolan that is something unique in the World Tour.
That stage will worth a Classic and the winner will remain in the history of cycling.
The Colle delle Finestre will be another great climb but it has been positioned too far from the end of the stage.
I have just two critics to move to this great Giro:
1) the arrival in Rome. The capital is a wonderful city but it is not a cycling one.
Milano is the Italian capital of cycling and the final TT in the city should become like the Champs Elysées for the Tour de France. Last year it has been something memorable with the leader jersey changing in the last stage, after a battle lasted 21 days.
2) The Dolomites and the Tuscany have been a bit sacrificed.
Nevertheless I really look forward this Giro, enriched by the participation of the best riders in the world and by Froome too, attempting a historic triple.

Friday, 15 September 2017

Rider of the Vuelta a España 2017

This is not a fairy tale, you did it! You have been elected rider of the Vuelta 2017, the last race of your outstanding career!!
Contador's victory of our special classification has been a sort of plebiscite, he has taken 58% of the votes (the second, Froome, 17%, just to give you an idea) and has been elected rider of the Vuelta 2017.
I can just thank this incredible champion and I think we will miss him so much.
I hope he will continue his work with his team of young talents, teaching them to attack and never give up and maybe, in the future, we will have another Contador. Maybe...

Sunday, 10 September 2017

La Vuelta of the Champions

What a Vuelta!
I am speechless in front of these champions attacking every day in the most spectacular Grand Tour of the last ten years.
Contador attacked every day, looking for a big victory and never giving up. He took a really deserved victory on the hardest climb of Europe.
He has secured his place among the legends of cycling, that will be happy to welcome him in their exclusive club.
Froome has proven to be able to fight and win also in one of the strongest Grand Tour I've ever seen and not just on the boring flat Tour de France.
I really hope that the way Contador rode his last Vuelta will inspire other riders and make them more aggressive. You have to risk to gain the place in the Legends Club and Contador proved it 'til the last day of his brilliant career.
Will Froome be the next? He still needs a Giro! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

La Vuelta 2017 Pt. 1

My impression after the first week of Vuelta is that we are seeing an incredible Grand Tour, that is growing year by year.
La Vuelta, in the future, could become the best Grand Tour, if the organizers of the Giro and the Tour will not put aside their arrogance and their presumption.
This is happening in a huge way at the Tour de France, while the Giro is still safe, due to the incredible Italian geography that offers everyday nice ideas for clever riders.
In this scenario, la Vuelta, presenting the best riders and a nice route, is able to give the fans back the emotions they did not prove watching le Tour de France.
Talking about what's happening on the road, nothing seems changed: Quick- Step Floors and Froome are bossing the race, but they have to struggle to maintain their leadership and this makes everything more interesting.
Vamos!

Friday, 18 August 2017

Great Climbs Around The World: Furcia

Passo Furcia or Furkelpass (in German) is a pretty hard climb in the heart of the Dolomites.
It leads to the famous climb of Plan de Corones, the theater of the recent ITTs of the Giro d'Italia, won in 2008 by Pellizzoti and in 2010 by Garzelli.
Due to bad weather conditions, that didn't allow to climb Plan de Corones, even the top of Passo Furcia itself has been the arrival of a Giro stage, won by Leonardo Piepoli in 2006.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the Furcia climb must be remembered above all for what Cunego did in 2004.
He attacked in the hardest part of the climb, taking the pink jersey while writing one of the best pages of modern cycling.
Climbing the Furcia, you can still feel the emotions of that day and it is impossible not to try to accelerate a bit during the climb, even just to pay a tribute to Cunego's feat.
Click here for a technical analysis of the climb.

Sunday, 18 June 2017

Pre - Tour De France Races

What a nice final for the Route du Sud 2017! Scully won the last stage after a thrilling sprint on the racetrack of Novaro.
The Route du Sud gave us great signals about the team Cannondale-Drapac, can we finally expect to see something good at le Tour de France from this World Tour team? I really hope so.
Tour of Slovenia and Tour de Suisse proved that the Team Bora-Hansgrohe is ready to lead their first Tour de France.
Nevertheless, I'am worried because I see so many pretenders for a stage to win in good shape, but I don't see a proper parterre of contenders for the victory of the Tour de France general classification.
I really hope it was all tactics so far but with such a great Giro d'Italia, this year, many Grand Tours riders choose the Giro instead of the Tour.
It is going to be a strange Tour de France this year, but we'll be ready to comment everything is going to happen.

Saturday, 3 June 2017

Rider of the Giro 100

Congratulations Tom, you are the Rider of the Giro 100!!!
Dumoulin has been elected rider of the Giro with a plebiscite. 80% of the Impressionists voted him Rider of the Giro 100.
I've to say that It is hard to think to someone else as rider of the Giro 100. This one has definitely been the Giro of Dumoulin, a legendary one.
He has been stronger than all his opponents, he has been attacked many times, even by nature. He fought alone during three hard weeks and, in the end, succeeded.
The Giro 100 has been a memorable one and Tom Dumoulin has secured his place in history.

Monday, 22 May 2017

Giro 100 Pt. 3

I want to divide this brief Impression in three parts, because we've just finished an intense week.

SPRINTS & SPRINTERS

Last week has been the week of Gaviria, he claimed and obtained a place in the sprinters' elite.
He dominated the sprint, winning each time in a different way, showing the world his multiples skills.
Ewan could be the only one faster than him, but he is too small and struggle too much while fighting for position.
Sam Bennet is supported by an incredible team, but unfortunately found a sprinter stronger than him.
I'am a bit disappointed by Greipel, he could not be satisfied with just one stage win, even if it gave him the pink jersey.
If you are one of the best sprinters in the world, you have to do something more to remain in the elite, considering that, as we said, you have a new impressive opponent.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AND PINK JERSEY CANDIDATES

I've never seen Tom Dumoulin so confident and self-aware.
He demolished his opponents on his field, the TT, but what he did on the Mount Oropa climb is even better.
He won on the Pantani's climb wearing the pink jersey, what else do you need to be considered a champion?
He has learned a lot from his Vuelta's defeat and will fight 'til the end of the Giro, with a great TT waiting for him in Milan.
Quintana is the strongest climber of this Giro 100 and it seems to be the only one capable of attacking Dumoulin.
We will see, we have great week ahead.

TEAMS

What can I say about Quick-step Floors?
The Wolfpack is honoring the race and demolishing its opponents on the roads of Giro 100, winning and exciting the crowd on any terrain. What a team!!
The last consideration is about the so many teams that haven't already gotten anything from this Giro 100 and that are doing nothing in order to justify their participation.
You will understand of which teams I'm talking about once the Giro is over, reading the upcoming article in which I'll rate the teams.

Monday, 8 May 2017

Giro 100 Pt. 1

The Giro 100 has started three days ago, but it seems to be started just for two teams.
Bora Hansgrohe and Quickstep Floors attacked and deserved they victories, honoring such an important edition of this wonderful race.
Bora Hansgrohe, maybe due to the fact that Sagan wasn't in the race, started attacking with all his riders and were rewarded.
Quickstep Floors choose the windy day to teach cycling to the peloton, doing the one that, so far, could be called the best feat of the Giro 100.
I can understand that the teams with the GC contenders prefer to ride safely in the bunch, but in such a hard race I ask myself when weaker teams think they will have a good occasion to win a stage.
In conclusion, after these three stages is confirmed something that I always love to repeat: in cycling if you attack you may loose, but if you don't attack you can't win.

Saturday, 6 May 2017

Giro 100

Thank you Giro d'Italia for being such an unpredictable and fascinating race.
Could the 100th edition of the Giro have had a better and more unpredictable start? I don't think so.

Giro is a race I've always loved, since I was a kid.

The fact is that, at Giro d'Italia, you can't lie. The stages and the streets are too embroidered, too tricky, you have to be really the best in order to win.
If you win the General Classification of the Giro d'Italia, It is a Victory you definitely deserve.
Every stage you win, every jersey you wear, you can be sure that you deserve it, because you have been the best: the strongest, the smartest or both.
Postlberger today proved us this. That's the Giro, you have to think up something cool to win!
I want also to underline the fact that, even without Sagan, Bora-Hansgrohe had an incredible start.
They have all the jerseys and they have amazed us with this incredible class feat.

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Cycling & Art Pt. 2

What happen when two of the most famous manga artists love cycling?
The result is in this incredible book called: "Viva il Ciclissimo!"
Katsuhiro Otomo and Katsuya Terada (the first is the author of the manga called "akira" and the second is the author of the manga called "Saiyukiden") in 2007 decided to follow the most fascinating Grand Tour in the world, the Giro d'Italia.
They spent three intense weeks travelling with the Giro d'Italia convoy, tasting from the inside the essence of the race.
During the race they drew the impressions the race gave them day by day.
Once back to Japan they published an amazing book called: "Viva il Cilissimo!" where they gathered all their drawings.
The Giro d'Italia represented in the book was won by Danilo Di Luca and presented the hardest climb in Europe: Monte Zoncolan.
The book is still available on Amazon.
Click here for more drawings taken from the book.

Friday, 3 June 2016

Rider Of The Giro

Congratulations to Steven Kruijswijk who has been elected rider of the Giro d'Italia 2016!!!

A special mention goes to the team Etixx - Quick Step Pro Cycling Team that gave aeverybody a lesson of tactics and showed how to work as a team.