Edition no. 108 designed to excite from start to finish. Roglic the favourite. In Siena and Sestriere, the true spirit of cycling
The dawn of a new Giro brings with it something magical, together with the first words of a great popular novel. We knew that the 108th edition will start from Albania and in Rome we discovered the rest of a race that in a nutshell we can define as very modern and at the same time traditional. The impression is that the organizers, Paolo Bellino, Mauro Vegni and their staff, wanted to stay on the same tracks as in recent years. And they did well because the most recent routes have offered spectacular results.
L’idea
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The scheme is that of a selective race from the first stage, challenging (over 50 thousand meters of altitude difference) without being ruthless. The ending of the first arrival in Tirana is a bit reminiscent of that of Turin in the last edition, when Tadej Pogacar attacked on Superga and narrowly missed the chance to wear the pink jersey from the first to the last stage. Very modern, it was said, because it has short and nervous stages on average. Traditional for some classic references that make it “recognizable”: two time trials before the big mountains, one in the first week and one in the second. And three mountain caps in the third. A “totem” like the Colle delle Finestre around which the Giro will dance on the eve of the Rome catwalk. There would also be Mortirolo (top of Marco Pantani, the Pirate who would have turned 55 just yesterday…), but it is very far from the arrival of Bormio. It is a route, seen on paper, beautiful both from a technical and landscape point of view.
the route
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For many years now, the Giro has had the most interesting route, so much so that the Tour and Vuelta are following the same path: important stages right from the start and every day a trap that can characterize the race. We start with a great advantage because we have the mountains close to the sea and the change of scenery is just a click away. We are, proudly, the most beautiful race in the most beautiful country in the world. A race watched by over 700 million people in 200 different countries. But, as Vincenzo Torriani, legendary organizer, said, the route is a beautiful canvas available to artists on bicycles. They will be the ones to transform that canvas into a painting, a beautiful painting or a masterpiece. It has been happening like this since 1909 and the evocative power of the new route could help us understand what type of runner can be advantaged. If Tadej Pogacar were at the start (difficult… even if the Slovenian champion hasn’t decided yet) he would be the huge favourite. But it’s an understatement because Pogacar would be one on any type of route… Among the champions who have already made their presence official, the lighthouse of the race is certainly Primoz Roglic, another Slovenian, who has already won the 2023 Giro and four editions of the Vuelta. Roglic is very strong in the time trial, where he can gain on everyone, and defends himself very well against pure mountain climbers.
the keys
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Wanting to choose a couple of events to understand the soul of this Giro, we would put the red circle (as Rino Tommasi did for the most beautiful points of “his” tennis) on the Siena stage, with the ending reminiscent of the “Strade Bianche “, and on the arrival of Sestriere after the Colle delle Finestre, which will be Cima Coppi (the highest in the Giro) to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its debut in the pink race. Two stages with dirt roads? Yes, because that’s where ancient cycling transforms into vintage modernity. It is there, as happens in Paris-Roubaix, that even the athletes most obsessed with computer data must come to terms with the primordial spirit of cycling, with its essence. It is there that the Giro rewinds that pink thread that binds our history. It is there that we recognize its great and popular beauty.
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