It’s not simple doing recon rides for the time being in Europe. It’s -11°C in Gavarnie and -10°C in Cari proper now so these days of the Tour and Giro can wait till spring and even higher, summer season. However Stage 11 of the Giro was accomplished final weekend.
The route takes an predictable course alongside the coast earlier than turning inland for a late climb to spice issues up. Discovering the precise route for this took a second and if the climb is difficult, extra so the descent.
Look on the profile and you’ll see the finale the place the route goes by means of Sestri and to Lavagna after which takes the climb to San Bartolomeo earlier than descending to San Salvatore after which a flat run to the end in Chiavari. So which roads to experience?
Right here’s a screengrab map from Google above and you’ll see San Bartolomeo to the north of Chiavari up on the highest left. It needs to be someplace up there and again down, proper? Solely return to the altitude profile and the street is meant to achieve 334m above sea degree and the roads round San Bartolomeo there solely attain 220m. So it’s most likely not that approach.
Let’s flip to the Giro’s personal map as seen above. It exhibits the race route heads for the hills to the north-east of Chiavari as an alternative, though it nonetheless says San Bartolomeo too. Hint the Giro’s loop and the race goes by way of the SP34 as much as Cogorno, not San Bartolomeo. The thriller, if we will name it that, is solved as a result of on the street as much as Cogorno there’s one other, totally different small place known as San Bartolomeo. You gained’t realize it by driving by means of as there aren’t any indicators however this smaller San Bartolomeo is marked the IGMI maps of Italy, the nationwide cartographer. Maintain going as much as Cogorno and the highest of the climb sits at 330m. That’s a match.
Conspiracy? In all probability not. The parable goes that the Giro was notorious for shock climbs, a bump on the profile that turned out to be a wall, a modest categorised climb on the map marked a brute of a mountain move. Solely examples are laborious to seek out. However it was nonetheless doable to catch-out the peloton by venturing onto new roads that solely a handful of locals knew and the place maps and the terrain have been much less acquainted. At present that’s inconceivable as cartography software program means each metre of the course is thought to groups; they’ve already bought the GPS tracks of the Giro because it occurs.
Ethical of the storyA story of competing maps and race organisers who aren’t locals and so seize labels as they move by or hint the route on a map. The much less native the race, the extra it occurs. Hopefully no spectators wait in useless on the different San Bartolomeo.
It’s very notable within the Tour de France the place the “Côte de [Placename]” formulation isn’t utilized by locals and might typically masks the true identify of a small mountain move.
Recon notesSo what’s the end like? The ultimate climb is 5.8km at shut to six%, nothing a lot on paper however on tarmac this was well worth the go to. The earlier climbs of the day are extra conventional mountain passes that assist site visitors cross from one place to the opposite, they’re extra even and gradual. This one is only a collection of roads linking villages within the hills that twists up previous olive groves.
Coming within the second week of the race this must be a breakaway day and this remaining climb needs to be decisive. It’s steep for a second out of Lavagna in a approach the profiles don’t choose up and an early transfer right here might work because the flexible street all the way in which up means a rider be out of sight even when they’ve 15 seconds.
The toughest half comes on the prime with sustained double-digit percentages for the ultimate kilometre, anybody who has managed the climb effectively and has some punch left could make a transfer as there’s lower than 10km to go and little time left to chase.
There’s a brief balcony part excessive after which comes the descent. This might be the true story on the day. The route down even goes by way of a spot known as Breccanecca which sounds humorous within the second, a brecca ya necca descent proper?
Solely driving down wasn’t fun because it’s steep with tight, blind bends and off-camber corners. It briefly triggered ideas of an e mail the organisers or the CPA as a result of it was past “technical” in locations. It’s nonetheless a traditional street used every day by locals, it’s simply going to be awkward to hurry down beneath stress however the floor at the least is alright which helps. Hopefully it’s a breakaway day, the solar is out and the ultimate climb is selective so we gained’t see a gaggle barrel right down to Chiavari with riders jostling for place. There’s just a few kilometres of flat to achieve the end on the ocean entrance and deducing from the map, no late surprises.
It’s too early for a preview however one small piece of reports at present is that Michael Valgren (EF) is right down to experience the Giro and if he can returning to profitable methods he’s the archetypal rider for a day like this, if not then Jan Christen (UAE), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) and Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) come to thoughts.
