Phil Gil. photo@Fotoreporter Sirotti
The Giro ended on Sunday in Milano. Three weeks of Italian immersion have been completely worthwhile. I knew May was going to go this way but a DVR that dutifully records hours of racing every day…I’m only human.
Italian TV does a fantastic job covering each stage. The Giro becomes a travel log of the country as seen either from a helicopter (I’m assuming Gianni Bugno is the pilot) or a motorcycle, either of which I would happily travel in or on. While the racers are riding in the peloton, none of them are enjoying the countryside like we are. Italian TV even strolls around each start and finish town for us. The riders are too shelled to do that. They are either in a bus or a hotel when not racing.
The moto drivers who pilot the TV camera people and the camera people themselves deserve medals. Following Phil Gil as he bombed the top of the final descent of Stage 18 was too exciting. For me, it was the most fearsome minute of the whole race. The lead moto ahead of Gilbert was too far ahead to be seen so Gilbert was going into each corner not knowing the exit. He raged into blind corners on the edge of disaster. And behind him was a guy on a motorcycle whose passenger was probably standing up with a heavy camera on his shoulder. It was out of this world. Unfortunately there are no video clips of that segment of the descent, except on the full Stage 18 coverage. These moto guys are studs. This is hazard duty. You hear the motorcycle tires chattering as they attempt to follow cyclists into descending corners. Moto drivers must have a hard time unwinding after each day’s work.
While the helicopters and motorcycles show me all the possible hilltop towns I need to visit, they can also show me a little more than I need to know. I can cross the Moritolo off my life list, seen it, don’t need to do it; thanks moto men.
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@Rob
There is always the Criterium de Dauphine and Tour de Suisse. Last years C d D was pretty great. But yeah, I'm equally relieved and sorry when the Giro or Tour are over. I know it's wrong to watch a flat stage that will end up in a sprint but I just can't stop. There is always some drama.
@Ron
Love the Belgians too. Especially the “oooooohhhlalalalalala” guy. No need for a translation with him.
@VeloJello
Don't get me wrong I could watch Leman all day. His 'Complete Book of Cycling' is a pillar of my collection, and growing up watching the Tour in the 80's he was God.
They need someone beside Flecha to really set him off properly though. Would love to see him and Sean Kelly have a chat with Kirby doing the honours.
@justindcady
I watched beIN TV in San Antonio on Time Warner. I'm pretty sure it was HD and it was absolutely brilliant. I literally filled up the DVR to 99% with 4.5 hour stages. Almost made me want a new 60" flat screen.
Now I'm sitting on Contador's ride up Montirolo in Stage 16, Gilbert's descent and win on Stage 18, and Aru's wins on Stages 19 and 20. About 15-hours of recordings and I don't want to delete them.
Kirby and Lloyd aren't too bad, knowledgeable with the right amount of enthusiasm. Phil and Paul may be tiresome, but I've really had enough of Gogulski and Schlanger on NBC Universal Sports. Not sure why, Gogluski knows his stuff. But...
And the biggest problem with Phil and Paul at the Tour of California: they are always pushing Cadillacs and Lexuses. They're just tempting the masses to break #25. Which also means they might be in violation of #2 as well!
The only way around that is a C-60 with Super Record EPS, and that just isn't happening for most folks. (And if it is, you're probably working too much and not cycling enough, even in funny money California!)
@Minnesota Expat
The issue I have with the NBC Universal guys is that they are so super exited all the time! No subtlety at all.
Is there anything better than being at work, looking forward to the end of the day, thinking you have to help with things around the house...and having the VMH tell you yer off the hook and can do some road cycling?
Goddamn, my evening just got a lot more aVVesome!
@Ron
Being at the end of the day and being out on the bike?
Tomorrow I need to take #1 over to the LBS for a couple of tweaks for which I do not have the tools. So ride over to the LBS 25 Km, VMW will drive over with #2 in the car and then ride back home via a small detour of 80 Km. Pretty good use of a bit of TOIL by my reckoning.
@Teocalli
Being out on the bike is part of the day. And then getting out on the bike (again) at the end of the day.
While Gilbert's decent on stage 18 was one of the highlights for me in terms of excitement, Astana's performance on stage 20 was a low point in terms of racing but still very exciting. I actually woke my sleeping wife with an loud but involuntary "You idiot!" in a fashion Ren Hoek would be proud of.
Astana were clearly the strongest team overall in this year's Giro. They set a cracking pace from the get go and kept it up. Maybe there thinking there was something like "Bert's gonna be there not matter what, so lets put some time into those other fellas early on and keep it". I don't know, but whatever their thinking, the high pace made for some very interesting racing, even where on paper a given stage looked to be largely uninteresting. Landa looked good whenever the gradient increased and seemed to be the stronger than Aru there. Nearing the final in stage 15, Contador was more interested with having a chat with Aru than following Landa, and Landa went on to take it. Divide and conquer.
Great stuff. But then Astana's big chance comes on the penultimate stage. What the fuck were they thinking? Around 15km out Landa had nearly a minute on Aru's group, and sits up and complains to Zakarin for not pulling turns. This continued for what seemed ages. Meanwhile Aru is not doing a share back in his group, who in turn had pulled some good time on Contador. What? Zakarin had done a huge amount of work by that stage. I don't understand Landa not getting on with the business. Why was Aru going at it? If Landa wasn't gonna work, why didn't he drop back as soon as he knew Aru's group had pulled away from Contador and set pace? Finally Landa is caught up, Aru ends up pulling away and powering home. Oh, so he did have a lot left in the tank? That makes it even worse. He is greated to a heroes welcome at the finish as if he'd won the Giro. They might actually have been in the pink had they played it just a little differently.
Usually it is clear why there was a failure in a certain stage, even if it is just a plausible story. But I don't even have a plausible story for this one. They just fucked up. Or maybe I''m missing something? Nah, they fucked up royally. It was incredibly exciting though, and so very enjoyable from that perspective. Landa was killer. Don't think anyone envisaged him taking 3rd in the General Classification and a close 2nd in the Druggy Classification. Both he and Aru are gonna be making headlines for a long time to come I suspect.
Did you hear about the Commissaries checking Contador's bike for a motor following stage 18? Maybe what Landa was thinking when he was sitting up and talking to Zakarin was "hey man, my motor battery is about to run out. Aru is gonna switch his on any second and with the uphill finish he's gonna catch us, so let's pull now and you can have the stage".
@stooge
Ignore the typo's - I'm pre caffeine