Mortirolo, L'Alpe d'Huez, and soon the Freakin' L'Angliru

Tough days these days after the Tour. Pretend races mixed with too much doping talk make for a bad hangover. San Sebastian can;t come soon enough IMO but even that isn't enough to get over the hangover. The Olympics will definitely help and so will the Worlds and eventually the Giro de Lombardia will make for a good ending to the season.

But again IMHO, unquestionably the high point of the remainder of the season is stage 13 of the Vuelta, the Queen stage of this year's race and the ending summit finish on the freakin' L'Angliru with multiple sections over 20-21-22- even 23%. I mean just look at this monster:

via i155.photobucket.com

I mean that's just stupid.

Only Goats may apply.

There are already stories of this climb (see Millar, David) even though its only been attempted three times. I can't wait. I am so excited that I did some googling on the internets and came across An Accountant's recent reconnoitering of the climb. Here's a comment on his team website:

"The L'Angliru is very hard, said Contador. The Cuena des Cabres with its 23 percent together with another part with its 21 percent are the worst parts. I did not climb with the appropriate development. I used a 39x27, that was too hard.  I believe that the most appropriate will be 38x28 or somewhere around. When I compare with the Giro and the famous  Mortirolo, I have to say that the Angliru is more difficult. It was hard already because we already did four other climbs, earlier in that day. In the Vuelta, we will arrive at the Angliru after 200 kilometer racing. Important will be the climb prior to the Angliru, the Cordal. It is a short but very steep climb. When you lose contact on the Cordal, you cannot come back any more."

Elsewhere he's asked about the weather:

What kind of weather can the team expect to encounter on the Vuelta stages in Asturias?

"I'd say rain, warm days mixed with bad days. Almost impossible to predict. While in Madrid September is still summer, in Asturias it's already autumn. Thinking about previous Anglirus, I'd say they'd better expect hell."

I can't wait!