Stage 17 :: Wednesday May 26, 2010
173km :: Brunico - Peio Terme
I'm under the gun here at work. No time to sit and play :(
I do like the city names though, Brunico in particular does roll of the tongue quite nicely.
Floppy Hat Philosophizing:
It's another uphill finish in this Giro d'Italia, though nothing especially extreme. After the Plan de Corones, the finishing climb to Pejo Terme looks positively flat. But it's not. It's a long, steady, switchbacking climb through the pines to the finish. The average gradient is in the 7-8% range.
Liquigas should have no trouble riding a hard tempo up this thing, which will likely rule out any big attacks from the major players. The climb is hard enough to make selection and it should be a relatively small group at the finish, especially after the difficulties of this Giro. Still, the bigs of the general classification will likely finish together, unless someone is on a bad day. It's a good finish for Cunego or Scarponi, if a long break doesn't survive to the finish.
Frinking's Corner:
Sadly Frinking was unable to provide a stage preview in time. Here then is a haiku in Frinking's honor...
Anglasachian man
Deciphering Frinkington
I don't understand.
Chris's Copy:
Action: Minimal. Peio Terme is in the shadow of the Stelvio (52 switchbacks anyone?) and the riders will be happy to keep it that way. There are some undulations but not enough to trouble anyone who survived the previous two stages.Pageantry: Meh. A zillion landscape shots. Maybe some recon of the Stelvio, to wonder what might have been. Zoncolan, Terminillo, Plan de Corones, Mortirolo, Gavia... would anyone even notice if they had added the Stelvio too?
The Plan: Roughly the same as the previous day without the media blackout. This will be a pretty stage but lacking in any urgency.
