Description
Giro d'Italia, Stage 16, San Vigilio Di Marebbe - Plan De Corones, individual time trial. May 26, 2008. This race is just insane! David Millar commented on the 2008 Giro after stage 16. Its a stupid race I dont like it! We are at a ski area! Leave it to the mountain bikers! said an angry Voigt who finished the stage as 11th . I dont want to sound like an old grand-mother, because I know cycling is hard. But this Giro is too much. The paved section climbs nearly 500 vertical meters with ramps as steep as 16 percent, and that was the easy part. The sterrato takes over from there. Just over 5km long, the narrow forest road winds to the top of the Plan de Corones (Kronplatz in German), a stand-alone peak serving up spectacular, 360-degree views of the towering Dolomites of Sud Tirol. The steepest bits are at the bottom and top, with ramps as steep as 20 percent and 24 percent, respectively. The gravel section stair-cased up nearly 600 vertical feet for one tough day at the office. That last kilometer is just brutal, said Ryder Hesjedal, an ex-mountain biker who rode a 38×27. Im a little more used to the loose gravel than some of these guys. I just got up it the best I could. If it was raining, it would have just been a slaughter. Team cars werent allowed to go up the road, so riders were followed by mechanics on the back of motorbikes. Each rider had one trailing mechanic, who carried spares wheels. The final 20 riders had two trailing motorbikes, one with a mechanic with two <b>...</b> |
