# Giro Stage 16: 12.9k ITT (1080m Climb!)



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

Basso owned the Zoncolan, didn't he? Relaxed climbing in the saddle burned the matches of all competitors. Evans was able to keep up, for the most part, but looked ragged. Basso could sit most of the climb, but Evans was standing, throwing his bike back and forth. 

Stage 16 comes after a much needed rest day, but it is quite the leap into a cold lake. 12.9k sounds more like a prologue, but once you look at the profile you realize they mean business. The climb rarely flats out, and when it does, it's not for long. Some sections reportedly hit over 20%, and the final section is hardpack dirt. You are more likely to see wider tires than aerobars.

The following day has two climbs (it looks like only the first climb is categorized; I could be wrong), with the second terminating the second.

So, who will it be on Stage 16? 

Matty Lloyd leads the mountains classification, with Basso four points behind. Following Ivan is Turpin, who took the first three summits Sunday.
So I will pick Turpin, knowing little to nothing about him.

(ps: Welcome all you ToC fans. Get ready, because you have missed some great racing!)


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## heavydutytrek (Mar 9, 2008)

I cant wait. It will be a brutal day for the GC contenders. They are going to have to leave it all in the line.


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

This will be a fun one to watch. Given the shortness of the stage there shouldn't be too much time lost between the favorites unless someone really pulls something out of the bag or has a bad day in the saddle.


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## wiz525 (Dec 31, 2007)

Man I love the Giro.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

I'm going with Evans on this ITT. I think he was overgeared on the Zoncolan climb, which bogged him down on the really steep climbs.

This ITT doesn't have the super steep climbing and suits Evans better...Though Basso was super strong on Sunday.


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## Kaleo (Jun 15, 2008)

Yeee Haaaa up hill sprint! I think it's more who's gonna die. What happened to the "Tondo" everyone had so much hope for?


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## chocy (Feb 4, 2009)

now I wonder if they will use "heavy" TT bike or super light road bike. What would be faster?


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

chocy said:


> now I wonder if they will use "heavy" TT bike or super light road bike. What would be faster?


I've been thinking the same thing. Surely the lightness would outweigh any aero benefits a TT bike would give at lower speeds.


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

chocy said:


> now I wonder if they will use "heavy" TT bike or super light road bike. What would be faster?


Their regular race bike. Lite wheels/tyres for sure.


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## wiz525 (Dec 31, 2007)

Yeah, i would imagine lightness would outweigh aero, considering Pellizotti's winning average speed in 2008 here was 19 kph.


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## Kaleo (Jun 15, 2008)

I understand there's a rough spot (packed dirt) at the end, so maybe wider tires? I think Cadel won't let himself be out done again... he'll be more cognizant of his gearing... gonna be along day for some... wonder how many guys will get passed on the way up


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## vandalbob (Dec 13, 2001)

*Ouch*

What a brutal ITT stage. Gonna hurt.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

vandalbob said:


> What a brutal ITT stage. Gonna hurt.


Cunego and Vino will do better than generally expected. They have short sprint up-the-hill punch - but so does Evans, and Basso is the better climber of the bunch.


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## foofighter (Dec 19, 2008)

whoever came up w/ the stages this year is sadistic absolutely brutal


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## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

Painful day ahead for sure. I'll go with Sastre having a great day on a course that suits him very well.


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## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*I like Evans for the ITT*

It's one thing winning on Zoncolan when your team's done an incredible job leading you for 210km before the end and another thing doing an ITT. I like Evans followed by Scarponi and either Cunego or Basso. That being said, if I put money on Cunego for every race I though he would do well in, I'd be broke. Vino or Sastre could also play here for the podium. Vino because it's going to be a power ride considering the distance, notwithstanding the gradient and because Sastre seems to be coming into form as he normally does in the third week.

In the end, it doesn't matter as it's been an incredibly entertaining Giro with even more good stages to come.


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## cski (Mar 11, 2010)

Have found Sastre's approach thus far very curious. Would not be surprised if he has been holding back on his matches, and wondering if he will dig down today.

Also think this has been a fantastic tour. Hard to believe an earlier thread propped the ToC displacing the Giro in importance.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Nibali.


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

Wookiebiker said:


> I'm going with Evans on this ITT. I think he was overgeared on the Zoncolan climb, which bogged him down on the really steep climbs.
> 
> This ITT doesn't have the super steep climbing and suits Evans better...Though Basso was super strong on Sunday.


Evans rode his heart out the other day but I don't think gearing made much difference. I think Basso will out-ride him today again and may even win the stage.

Is there a schedule showing when the top 10 will be starting?


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## tober1 (Feb 6, 2009)

Wow. I'm watching this right now. The last few pitches are insane. There are skiing spectators!


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## 97G8tr (Jul 31, 2007)

Man they are really working the last 5k. Wow.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

tober1 said:


> Wow. I'm watching this right now. The last few pitches are insane. There are skiing spectators!


Only the last few? Lucky they picked the one non-rainy day to try doing non-paved roads again.


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## PRB (Jun 15, 2002)

> Enrico Pengo, Lampre-Farnese Vini team mechanic, talks about the bike preparations for today at the individual time trial at Plan de Corones:
> 
> "Our riders will be using the Wilier Superleggera road bike weight of 6.800 kg as required by UCI rules. Regarding the wheels we will be using low-profile carbon wheels with tubular tires to take advantage of the lightest weight.
> 
> The special aspect of today are the chainrings and rear sprockets. We have installed a front chainring of 39x34 that will work with 12x29 sprockets.


 Wow. 

Source - http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/05/getting-ready-for-plan-de-corones.html


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

foofighter said:


> whoever came up w/ the stages this year is sadistic absolutely brutal


I'm with you on this one. This Giro doesn't even look fun. It's great to watch but the thought of actually having to ride some of these stages and sections makes me want to puke.


Sastre, not necessarily for the win but for a good performance which will lead to a great last week and a GIRO WIN! Maybe...


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Creakyknees said:


> Nibali.


ok, guess not.


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## tober1 (Feb 6, 2009)

Sastre looks hurting. Evans appeared pretty strong...


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

tober1 said:


> Sastre looks hurting. Evans appeared pretty strong...


Evans looked really good. Sastre obviously rode within himself the other day and still doesn't have it.


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

Arroyo keeps 1st GC
Sastre loses gobs of time
Small shakeups in the top 5. 

tough day.


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## danahs (May 24, 2008)

amazing stuff


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## troutmd (Sep 7, 2007)

Mountain bike racing --- bring back the TOC.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

troutmd said:


> Mountain bike racing --- bring back the TOC.


Good one! :lol:


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

Sastre is still in 4th on the GC at 3:09 back. It's almost like people are already counting him out, but he is still ahead of Cadel, Vino, Nibali, etc. Pretty sure Arroyo and Porte will fall off the map in the last week and he isn't that far from Basso. 

Admittedly, he needs to stop losing time on mountain stages (which are supposed to be his specialty) but he isn't out of it by any stretch.


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## harlond (May 30, 2005)

Geoffersonspin said:


> Sastre is still in 4th on the GC at 3:09 back. It's almost like people are already counting him out, but he is still ahead of Cadel, Vino, Nibali, etc. Pretty sure Arroyo and Porte will fall off the map in the last week and he isn't that far from Basso.
> 
> Admittedly, he needs to stop losing time on mountain stages (which are supposed to be his specialty) but he isn't out of it by any stretch.


He's behind Cadel after today. Today he lost time to the four riders in front of him on GC, including both Arroyo and Porte, and the 3 riders behind. I think he's toast, but in this Giro, you never know.


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

harlond said:


> He's behind Cadel after today. Today he lost time to the four riders in front of him on GC, including both Arroyo and Porte, and the 3 riders behind. I think he's toast, but in this Giro, you never know.



Ahhh, I saw it before it was properly updated. Well, he is definitely an outside shot but he is still in position if he can really knock some stages out of the park over the next week. It's definitely going to be exciting. Still a lot of people in position to win this.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

*Sad but True*



Geoffersonspin said:


> Sastre is still in 4th on the GC at 3:09 back. It's almost like people are already counting him out, but he is still ahead of Cadel, Vino, Nibali, etc. Pretty sure Arroyo and Porte will fall off the map in the last week and he isn't that far from Basso.
> 
> Admittedly, he needs to stop losing time on mountain stages (which are supposed to be his specialty) but he isn't out of it by any stretch.


I was pulling for Porte to pull off the upset - but it looks like all of the big dogs are moving into position. 

I would not count Sastre out - did that before and he turned things around in a big way. 

If Porte can't bring it on home, perhaps another Aussie will? :thumbsup:


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

Good job by Arroyo to hang on to his GC for another day. I would not like to ride up that thing. I don't even think I could.


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

jd3 said:


> Good job by Arroyo to hang on to his GC for another day. I would not like to ride up that thing. I don't even think I could.


Considering it takes some of the best cyclists in the world over 40 minutes to ride 8 miles, I'm not even sure I could DRIVE up it.


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## cski (Mar 11, 2010)

Geoffersonspin said:


> Sastre is still in 4th on the GC at 3:09 back. It's almost like people are already counting him out, but he is still ahead of Cadel, Vino, Nibali, etc. Pretty sure Arroyo and Porte will fall off the map in the last week and he isn't that far from Basso.
> 
> Admittedly, he needs to stop losing time on mountain stages (which are supposed to be his specialty) but he isn't out of it by any stretch.


Hear 'ya ... but it is hard to cast this as anything but a disappointing day for him ...


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## Geoffersonspin (Feb 12, 2010)

cski said:


> Hear 'ya ... but it is hard to cast this as anything but a disappointing day for him ...


Oh yeah, for sure. At the midway point I had the same "WTF?!" kind of response as the announcers. He showed a little life two days ago, just hoping we see a LOT more of that in the coming week.


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## Kaleo (Jun 15, 2008)

Honestly, it doesn't look like Sastre has what it will take to beat Evans or Basso, he's running out of time, and tomorrow's stage is not his kid of race either. 

Evans is the LionHeart... Basso is the CleverOne, Vino is gritting his teeth but going backwards, Scareponi hmmm... you never know... Nibali has a chance to podium, not the top step tho... Can Sastre stop the bleeding? and then win, I doubt it, not this year.


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## bmxhacksaw (Mar 26, 2008)

I guess when it's all said and done though, Sastre has what less than 60 cyclists in history have - an overall Yellow Jersey from the Td'F. Regardless of what LA says about you and your competition it's rarified company.

I'd like to see Cadel pull it out though.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

Geoffersonspin said:


> Considering it takes some of the best cyclists in the world over 40 minutes to ride 8 miles, I'm not even sure I could DRIVE up it.


The winning rider averaged around 11.5 mph -- talk about a brutal TT. 

I'm with the folks cheering for Evans. I fear there's not enough days left for him to regain the time he needs.


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## troutmd (Sep 7, 2007)

39 x 34 and 12-29 out back ... i believe it.

http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/05/getting-ready-for-plan-de-corones.html


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

Yeah, the average gradient for the dirt road comprising the last 5km is 20%


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## Kaleo (Jun 15, 2008)

AJL said:


> Yeah, the average gradient for the dirt road comprising the last 5km is 20%



and about 50 feet long...


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)




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## gray8110 (Dec 11, 2001)

AJL said:


> Yeah, the average gradient for the dirt road comprising the last 5km is 20%


There are pitches of 20% in there, but the last 5km are certainly NOT 20% average. A 20% grade would climb 1,000 meters in 5km... As the whole climb only ascends 1,012 meters... you get the picture. The steepest 500 meters in the whole climb is 13.6% according to this:
https://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2010/05/11/2/alt_16new_600.jpg

Regardless it is very steep.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

gray8110 said:


> There are pitches of 20% in there, but the last 5km are certainly NOT 20% average. A 20% grade would climb 1,000 meters in 5km... As the whole climb only ascends 1,012 meters... you get the picture. The steepest 500 meters in the whole climb is 13.6% according to this:
> https://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2010/05/11/2/alt_16new_600.jpg
> 
> Regardless it is very steep.


WTF?

That very same graphic says 24% peak slope.


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## gray8110 (Dec 11, 2001)

Marc said:


> WTF?
> 
> That very same graphic says 24% peak slope.


Exactly.. 24% is the steepest pitch of the climb... it's not 24% for 500 meters or a km or 5km it's 24% for some unstated distance between 12km & 12.5km The average grade from 12-12.5km is 13.6% The numbers at the bottom of the graph break down the grade every 500 meters of the climb.

*** Edit *** | After Looking at the graph more carefully, the 24% pitch is marked at km 11.7.


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## moabbiker (Sep 11, 2002)

Well looks like Sastre didn't have it as much as I thought he would. Though he's very calculated, very experienced and not a major powerhouse so he may be planning this all out for the rest of the week.


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## shoegazer (Nov 2, 2007)

many thanks for the video upload!


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

gray8110 said:


> Exactly.. 24% is the steepest pitch of the climb... it's not 24% for 500 meters or a km or 5km it's 24% for some unstated distance between 12km & 12.5km The average grade from 12-12.5km is 13.6% The numbers at the bottom of the graph break down the grade every 500 meters of the climb.
> 
> *** Edit *** | After Looking at the graph more carefully, the 24% pitch is marked at km 11.7.


Guess the "italian cycling journal" was exaggerating then...


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## grrrah (Jul 22, 2005)

They should have made the riders turn around at the top and have them go back down with the finish at the bottom.  (just joking, sorta)

Awesome TT stage!


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

moabbiker said:


> Well looks like Sastre didn't have it as much as I thought he would. Though he's very calculated, very experienced and not a major powerhouse so he may be planning this all out for the rest of the week.


I thought Sastre would have done a lot better, too. He still kinda lacks a good hour intensity. His pace is generally suited to the longer stuff.


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