Today was the Epic stage of the Giro. The mountain stage. 95 km of pain and suffering. Three significant climbs.
We started the day on the bus. The stage start line was 60 km from the hotel. We opted for the bus transfer. The start of the race was on top of a mountain, 600 metres, or 1900 ft elevation. The first 5 km were fairly flat. The next 10 km were downhill on grades of between 8 and 10%. There were many hairpin corners, the same as you would see in the Giro Italia or Tour de France. Very exciting. While many riders hit 80 kph on the descent, I held back to around 72 kph. Control and Focus were my mantra. That and “bring him home alive”.
Because of my caution on the descents, I ended up chasing packs all day. Up hill was another story. The week of racing has given me a significant increase in climbing strength and power on the flats. On the first and last hill of the day, both around 10 km in length, I was the lead rider for the entire hill. However, one of the problems I faced was that because I was slow down the hill, I ended up losing significant time overall. On the flats I was able to crank out a 37 or 38 km pace for several kms.
Overall my goal for the day was to place in the top 10 in my age group. Today I placed 10th! Apart from my Individual Time Trail, this is my best placing for the Giro road races.
Today was the last official stage of the Giro. While it is billed as a 7 day stage race, it is actually a 6 days race with a 1 day “age group” race added on. I will give the age race a pass as after today I cannot think of anything that can top the mountain stage. So, I am done.
This has been a fantastic week. The racing has been incredible. The stages have been amazing. The scenery? Well, it has been fantastic. I have left out so much. The people I have met from around the world. The amazing performances each day by the top racers. The calibre of racing here has been unbelievable. The winner on the mens side was a former Tour de France and Giro Italia multiple stage winner. The women were equally as talented. The food. Ooops....not the food. The food has been boring and nothing to write about.
Tomorrow I head across the Island to the Lemon House B&B. I hope to find time over the next few days to post some pictures and further thoughts. Until then, ciao!
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