# Cunego previewing Giro's Plan de Corones on 34x29



## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

It's going to be a fun stage to watch (stage 17). Cunego said, "You also have to be lucky: if you put your foot on the ground once, you're out."

Thanks cyclingnews.com


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## RocketDog (Apr 9, 2005)

*24% Grades*

And it's unpaved. 

The Giro is my favorite GT.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

RocketDog said:


> And it's unpaved.
> 
> The Giro is my favorite GT.


And you have to dodge boulders that the trolls and gnomes who live under the mountain bridges roll down the road as you're riding up it.


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## RocketDog (Apr 9, 2005)

mohair_chair said:


> And you have to dodge boulders that the trolls and gnomes who live under the mountain bridges roll down the road as you're riding up it.


The trolls roll the boulders while the gnomes steal beer and sabotage steerer tubes and the brakes on the team car.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

Will Fear Factor sponsor a prime at the top of that?


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

You only win it if you beat the troll.

A,B, left, left, left, X, X, A ...

No, wait...


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## Noël1 (Mar 2, 2006)

RocketDog said:


> And it's unpaved.
> 
> The Giro is my favorite GT.


Have you guys seen the latest from http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/giro06/?id=corones/gallery-corones ? If it rains that day, they may have to pull out the nobbies, if it's even an option.


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## RocketDog (Apr 9, 2005)

Noël said:


> Have you guys seen the latest from http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/giro06/?id=corones/gallery-corones ? If it rains that day, they may have to pull out the nobbies, if it's even an option.


Cyclingnews did a recon report on the Finestre last year before the race and reported it to be unrideable. The pictures were very similar. Come race day it appeared to be well manicured. I assume the same thing will happen this year, but who knows. If it's wet and unpaved there is always the possibility of a real mess (not to mention the trolls).

What a stage the Finestre/Sestriere turned out to be last year, though. One of the best days of racing I witnessed all year.


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## rocco (Apr 30, 2005)

RocketDog said:


> Cyclingnews did a recon report on the Finestre last year before the race and reported it to be unrideable. The pictures were very similar. Come race day it appeared to be well manicured. I assume the same thing will happen this year, but who knows. If it's wet and unpaved there is always the possibility of a real mess (not to mention the trolls).
> 
> What a stage the Finestre/Sestriere turned out to be last year, though. One of the best days of racing I witnessed all year.



Yeah I saw those pictures of Cunego and Simoni doing the recon last year and it was a mess but the organization had it packed down pretty well for the Giro. It was good enough for Di Luca to use his Boras. Great stage to watch.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

*Photo of Cunego's visit...*

Best I can do....


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## Americano_a_Roma (Feb 10, 2005)

I was reading in an Italian cycling mag last week that they'll be re-surfacing that section during the month of April; they said that they'll lay down new gravel, compact it, and spray some kind of sealant on top; probably end up like a chip-seal road. So don;t expect any wheel-eating potholes or anything. That said, 25% is a helluva grade; I think Cunego's right that anyone who dabs will have trouble getting back on the bike. CSC and Phonak will be loving their dual-sided Speedplays on that thing!


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## Noël1 (Mar 2, 2006)

Americano_a_Roma said:


> I was reading in an Italian cycling mag last week that they'll be re-surfacing that section during the month of April; they said that they'll lay down new gravel, compact it, and spray some kind of sealant on top; probably end up like a chip-seal road. So don;t expect any wheel-eating potholes or anything. That said, 25% is a helluva grade; I think Cunego's right that anyone who dabs will have trouble getting back on the bike. CSC and Phonak will be loving their dual-sided Speedplays on that thing!


If your teammate can stay w/ you on the climb, then you got support to get back on the pedal. Will Cunego have good support? With such steep grade, I have a hard time seeing any contender having teammates by their side except for Disco. My prediction will be Disco taking the stage as Danelsion supports Falco, however, Falco will crack near the end and TD will take the stage. Just my wild wishes.

Dual side will be great but Speedplays struggles to perform well in dirt condition. From what I heard, one little pebble can be a hassle clipping in. Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm Looker, Keo that is.


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

Noël said:


> My prediction will be Disco taking the stage as Danelsion supports Falco, however, Falco will crack near the end and TD will take the stage. Just my wild wishes.


Dude, Plan de Corones is in stage 17. Is Danielson going to last that long? ;-)

Nothing to take from Danielson's talent, but being able to survive a 3-week Grand Tour requires special qualities, and luck, and he has been lacking both in the past.


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## Stasera (Mar 6, 2006)

Noël said:


> If your teammate can stay w/ you on the climb, then you got support to get back on the pedal. Will Cunego have good support? With such steep grade, I have a hard time seeing any contender having teammates by their side except for Disco. My prediction will be Disco taking the stage as Danelsion supports Falco, however, Falco will crack near the end and TD will take the stage. Just my wild wishes.
> 
> Dual side will be great but Speedplays struggles to perform well in dirt condition. From what I heard, one little pebble can be a hassle clipping in. Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm Looker, Keo that is.


I agree that a good climbing domestique will be crucial in this year's Giro, and not just on the Plan de Corones, but Tommy D will only be the second best mountain-goat domestique in this Giro. CSC has announced that Sastre will ride in support of Basso. I'd put my money on Sastre over TD in the last week of a grand tour. After all, Sastre came in third in last year's Vuelta, while Tommy D was eighth.


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## Noël1 (Mar 2, 2006)

Stasera said:


> I agree that a good climbing domestique will be crucial in this year's Giro, and not just on the Plan de Corones, but Tommy D will only be the second best mountain-goat domestique in this Giro. CSC has announced that Sastre will ride in support of Basso. I'd put my money on Sastre over TD in the last week of a grand tour. After all, Sastre came in third in last year's Vuelta, while Tommy D was eighth.


Like I said, "just my wild wish" but valid wish since TD has some experience w/ GT, the record on Mt. Evans, and mtn biking. I do believe luck will be on his side. Knock on wood.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

Stasera said:


> After all, Sastre came in third in last year's Vuelta, while Tommy D was eighth.


Actually, Carlito Sastre was the runner-up at the 2005 Vuelta minus the allegedly EPO-fueled Heras, right?


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## Cevan (Jul 19, 2004)

*Ummmmm, didn't he finish the Vuelta last year?*



orange_julius said:


> Dude, Plan de Corones is in stage 17. Is Danielson going to last that long? ;-)
> 
> Nothing to take from Danielson's talent, but being able to survive a 3-week Grand Tour requires special qualities, and luck, and he has been lacking both in the past.



I believe he got 8th.


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## Under ACrookedSky (Nov 8, 2005)

Cevan said:


> I believe he got 8th.


And he never once was able to climb with the best at the end of a stage.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

fornaca68 said:


> Actually, Carlito Sastre was the runner-up at the 2005 Vuelta minus the allegedly EPO-fueled Heras, right?


Umm, I am pretty sure it was Menchov who lead for much of the race, no?


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## WAZCO (Sep 16, 2004)

55x11 said:


> Umm, I am pretty sure it was Menchov who lead for much of the race, no?


I'm not sure what the status of the offical ruling on Hears drug violation but here's result the day after the Vuelta was completed.

Pos. Dor. Name Nac. Team Time 
1º 1 HERAS, Roberto ESP LSW 82:22:55 
2º 171 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB a 4:36 
3º 201 SASTRE, Carlos ESP CSC a 4:54 
4º 21 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA a 5:58 
5º 45 GARCIA QUESADA, Carlos ESP ECV a 8:06 
6º 49 PLAZA, Ruben ESP ECV a 11:36 
7º 211 SEVILLA, Oscar ESP TMO a 13:22 
8º 83 DANIELSON, Tom USA DSC a 16:38 
9º 71 ARDILA, Mauricio COL DVL a 18:15 
10º 165 MERCADO, Juan Miguel ESP QST a 18:31 
11º 109 SANCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 20:12


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## lallo (Feb 20, 2005)

Discovery Channel directeur sportif Sean Yates has accompanied Tom Danielson on a reconnaissance mission through the mountain stages for this year's Giro, according to the latest diary entry on his site seanyates.co.uk. In it he speaks about the Plan de Corones and the difficulties riders will face come race day.

"Yesterday we went to look at the finish on Plan de Corones. You can see from the pictures that they are still building the road, if that's what you could call it. It is really bad, we're going to use 33-28. It will be interesting to see how they manage to get up it; not so much the leaders, it's the rest of the peloton that I am worried about.

The stage is only 130km long, it also climbs the 30km long Passo di Erbe, and that means that the non climbers are really going to suffer big time if they want to get to the finish inside the time limit. Mind you, the Giro is not the Tour, and pushing riders is rife, plus hanging on cars, motorbikes, in fact anything that is going faster than themselves," says Yates.

Yates says that America's great white hope for the Giro, Tom Danielson, is looking forward to the challenge thrown up by the difficult Italian climbs. He says that, "Tom is really excited by all this, and is looking forward to it all going off in that last week. He can climb fast, really fast, it's amazing to watch him when I am following in the car.

I will give you an example; stage 16 finishes just outside Trento on top of an 17.6 km climb, the Monte Bondone. The average gradient for the climb is 7.7%. There is an altitude gain of around 1,300 metres. In training riding at around 170 beats per minute which for him is a medium tempo he got up it in one hour dead. I rode it early in the morning, using the 39x27 virtually the whole way and did the climb in one hour and eighteen minutes. That was with an average power output of 294 watts.
From Cyclingnews


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## Noël1 (Mar 2, 2006)

lallo said:


> "Yesterday we went to look at the finish on Plan de Corones. You can see from the pictures that they are still building the road, if that's what you could call it. It is really bad, we're going to use 33-28. It will be interesting to see how they manage to get up it; not so much the leaders, it's the rest of the peloton that I am worried about.


Do have any idea what the set up is? Dura ace compact 50/33? I know they're coming out w/ compact version but with a 33? Since Shimano don't even make 28, what cassette will they use?


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## terzo rene (Mar 23, 2002)

Bruyneel came out with an interview on cyclingnews today filled with more of the typical self serving Disco Corpspeak, basically saying the race was too hard and that it wasn't a bike race if you had to use more than a 39x25. Sounded like sour grapes before the race even starts.

All I can say is screw you Johan it's going to be great and I can't freaking wait. I love selective courses that make it impossible for the favorites to just roll along marking each other and try a predictable late attack (wait that sounds a lot like the last 7 TdF!). I just hope all the favorites make it through the race without accident or illness so they can all give it their best shot and it can be as cruel as possible.

And now I hope those Disco pussies blow sky high too. 

The Yates story was interesting: Danielson's quoted weight has been 59-61kg and based on Yate's numbers TD comes out 6.3-6.5 watts/kg and roughly 382 watts. Not Ferrari's magic number of 6.7 nor Cunego's or Rujano's reported 7.0+ but still pretty good. Though just like them his 382 watts is going to be a problem on a flat TT.


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## Guest (May 3, 2006)

Maybe they are using mtb cranks and/or cassette?? If TDs going to use a 33 chain ring, then I would guess he'll be using a 44 or 48 on the big ring (unless he's using a triple  ). They can get a custom cassette w/28 cog a lots of custom race manufactures (the name of which escape me atm). Heck, Shimano would probably custom make one for them if they wanted it.


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## Guest (May 3, 2006)

terzo rene said:


> The Yates story was interesting: Danielson's quoted weight has been 59-61kg and based on Yate's numbers TD comes out 6.3-6.5 watts/kg and roughly 382 watts. Not Ferrari's magic number of 6.7 nor Cunego's or Rujano's reported 7.0+ but still pretty good. Though just like them his 382 watts is going to be a problem on a flat TT.


Hmm, when TD broke the record at Mt Evans he was putting more watts than that (~425w). That puts him at 7w/kg. His TT skills have really improved as well - look how well he did at the TdG.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showpost.php?p=602140&postcount=52

I can't recall the source of that info (maybe TD's website?).


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## Cevan (Jul 19, 2004)

*That's not my point.*



Under ACrookedSky said:


> And he never once was able to climb with the best at the end of a stage.


I was responding to a comment about whether he would be able to even finish a 3 week stage race, which he did last fall. I was not and am not commenting about his climbing ability. Read more carefully before you post.


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## Under ACrookedSky (Nov 8, 2005)

Cevan said:


> I was responding to a comment about whether he would be able to even finish a 3 week stage race, which he did last fall. I was not and am not commenting about his climbing ability. Read more carefully before you post.


The sub thread is about the assertion that TD will take stage 17. The fact that he was never able to climb with the very best in the Vuelta is relevant. Try thinking a little before you post.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

*They better get going...*

The photo I posted was taken just a few days ago. Ciao, your friend in VR. How is it being "back"?



Americano_a_Roma said:


> I was reading in an Italian cycling mag last week that they'll be re-surfacing that section during the month of April; they said that they'll lay down new gravel, compact it, and spray some kind of sealant on top; probably end up like a chip-seal road. So don;t expect any wheel-eating potholes or anything. That said, 25% is a helluva grade; I think Cunego's right that anyone who dabs will have trouble getting back on the bike. CSC and Phonak will be loving their dual-sided Speedplays on that thing!


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

yeah, I did chuckle at Bruyneel saying "You can see from the pictures that they are still building the road, if that's what you could call it."


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