Giro d'Italia presentation:

If you had been in my house yesterday afternoon, at about 5.30 pm you would have heard someone screaming 'Waaaaaaaa!' with a very squeaky voice. Then you would have heard the very same person screaming 'I can't believe it!' and, immediately afterwards, you would have heard someone clapping their hands in joy and jumping around the living room while screaming 'Yes yes YES!' in a very uncontroled way.

In case you hadn't understood it, the someone whose behaviour I've just described is miss Fede, aka me. In fact, in the previous line of this post you can find a pretty detailed description of how I reacted when Zomegnan revealed that a stage of 2011 Giro d'Italia would have ended in San Pellegrino Terme, which is about 10 kms far from my home, and that following stage of the race would have started from Bergamo, which is 9 kms far from where I live. Therefore, I think that the strange behaviour I had yesterday can be completely excused :) Anyway, let's go in order.

This year the Giro presentation was held in the very beautiful Teatro Carignano in Turin, where the kings of Italy used to go when they wanted to see comedies. The conductor was Alessandra De Stefano, one of the most famous Italian cycling journalist (and one of the person who I envy the most). Together with her there were the former riders Davide Cassani, Silvio Martinello and Paolo Savoldelli, the journalist Beppe Conti and the Italian commentator Francesco Pancani.

The riders who attended the presentaton were Nibali, Visconti, Cunego, Scarponi, Petacchi, Ballan, Ginanni, Modolo and Matthew Lloyd. Also Gimondi took pat in the presentation.

The show began with a great video that showed some meaningful moments of 2010 Giro d'Italia, then there was a moment in which Laurent Fignon and Franco Ballerini were remembered. Afterwards, the true presentation began.

Next year Giro is going to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Italian unity and so the first stage will be a 21.5 kms long team time trial from Venaria Reale to Turin. Turin in fact was the first capital of Italy and in Venaria Reale the kings used to go hunting in their free time.

The following stage, Alba-Parma, will be a good occasion for sprinters. Reggio Emilia-Rapallo will be the following stage and is likely to suit sprinters too, just like the 4th stage (Quarto dei Mille-Livorno).

The 5th stage (Piombino-Orvieto) will see the riders facing some of the infamous gravel roads of the center of Italy, while the following stage will probably end in a bunch sprint.
The 7th stage (which will be just 100 kms long) will have an uphill finish in Montevergine di Mercogliano, where Andy Schleck first showed his class in a Grand Tour.
The 8th stage will suit sprinters, while the following day the riders will arrive in Sicily and face the Etna twice.
The following day the riders will have their first rest day and fly to Termoli. From there they'll ride to Teramo, where the stage will probably end in a sprint (and so will the 2 following stages).

On the 20th of May, things will get even harder for the riders and the first terrible climbs will begin. That day the riders will arrive on the Grossglockner, whose last 6 kms are 10% steep. I once visisted the Grossglockner and I can tell you that the weather will probably be terribly cold that day, especially if it rains.

The following day the riders will arrive on Zoncolan, while a day later the stage will end in Gardeccia-Val di Fassa, where the riders will arrive after facing Passo Fedaia and Passo Giau.

After these 3 terrible stages, the riders will enjoy the last rest day of the race and the following day they'll have a mountain TT up on Nevegal climb, whose average steepness is 8%.

The following stage, Feltre-Sondrio, will suit the few riders who, after all these stages, will still have the strength of creating a breakaway and will survive the climbs of Tonale and Aprica (which are very far from the finish-line).

The following day, for the great joy of me myself and I, the stage will end in San Pellegrino Terme, aka 10 kms far from where I live. It won't be a particularly difficult stage, but me's happy anyway.

A day later, the stage will start in Bergamo (yay!) and end on Macugnana's climb. The following day then the riders will have the last uphill finish on Sestriére, a climb that they'll face after Colle delle Finestre. Then, on the 29th May, the riders will finally end their 3 weeks of fatigue with a 32 kms long TT in Milan.

So, this is the parcours of the 93rd Giro d'Italia. Indeed it is very spectacular but, imo, it is a bit too hard. Grossglockner, Zoncolan, Giau, Fedaia, Finestre, Sestriére... The supporters will have a lot of fun, but I think the riders will be more exhausted than never on Sunday 29 of May 2011. In fact, as if the stages weren't hard enough, the boys will also have to face 1800 kms (plus a flight from Sicily to Termoli) of transfers and that will be very stressing for them and for the team's staff. Therefore, me already congratulate everyone who'll be brave enough to face (and end) next year Giro.
As last year, me would like to see the Schleck brothers taking part in this race, although I already know this won't be possible. But still, I think that next year parcours (who has just a 32.5 kms long TT) could perfectly suit Frank and Andy.

As far as Fangirl is concerned, she's already in love with this parcours because next year, if everything goes according to her plans, she could be able to watch 4 Giro stages live, one after the other. And that would be simply great.

As far as the silliest aspect of Grand Tour's presentation is concerned, then, here are Fangirl's thoughts about yesterday. First of all, she didn't like the fact that the only non-Italian rider she saw at the presentation was Matthew Lloyd. Ok, Contador is supposed to ride next year Giro but didn't take part in the presentation because of Steakgate, but I found this lack of international riders a bit depressing anyway.

Talking about foreign riders who'll take part in the Giro next May, it is already known that Tour of California will be raced in the same days as Giro. So I already say goodbye to my hope of seeing Cavendish, the Schlecks and so on on the Italian roads next spring.

Anyway, let's now talk about fashion and, more precisely, about fashion seen from Fangirl ('serious' readers who hate Fangirl are now allowed to stop reading ;).

Imo the one who really made a fashion disaster yesterday afternoon was Michele Scarponi. I didn't like the colour of his suit and also his shoes looked 'dirty'. Sorry Michele, but that's the impression I got from them. Also Ginanni (see picture on Roberto Bettini's website) matched colours in a very strange way and so I didn't like his look either. Garzelli looked as good as usual, while Sacha Modolo (the only one who was brave enough to say he didn't like the new Giro parcours) was ok. Cunego looked good (the boy always chooses good ties), while I liked Visconti's look although it wasn't very formal. Nibali looked as good as at the Tour's presentation and also Ballan looked good. Petacchi chose a black suit, black trousers, a black shirt and a pink tie.Imo, he could have done better.

So, this is the new Giro.'s parcours (and Fangirl's stupid ideas about fashion). As I said,the parcours is exciting, although perhaps a bit too hard (especially because of the transfers). Now we just have to be patient and wait until May to see the riders making the 2011 edition of the race become unforgettable, just like they did with the 2010 edition.