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.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Was an epic Giro @Gianni with a tidy 35 VSP points as a bonus! Almost makes up for my Delgado for LBL.
Whenever I answer the question "How fast can you go on that thing?" there is always this shocked look when I give them the number... and I'm not even close to pro-level descent speeds.
I'm watching the full coverage off Eurosport, but not watching it live- so I haven't made it to the finish. Who gave an announcing job to Juan Antonio Flecha in english? I don't know if it sounds like he has head trauma in his native language, but his delivery and pacing hurts my brain.
I pray that someday American television will get their heads out of their arseholes and begin to cover the Giro. I would even be happy for a two hour long show once each week that highlights the stages from that week of racing. I do not understand how such an important stage race is basically ignored here by our media. But I get it - no money to be made after paying the rights to broadcast it.
That decent of Gilbert's was a big highlight for me too. Here's another of his I quite enjoyed. A favourite is this footage of Cancellara filtering through traffic at speed with style. It never fails to make me want to turn the screen off and go directly for a ride.
Lucky here in Aus that we get SBS to take the coverage and offer up some fine commentary over the Italian broadcast.
Makes for a good night bouncing questions and answers off twitter with Matt Keenan and Dave Mackenzie
Oh, and Phil Gil, he da man !
They never made a movie about The Prophet in the Vuelta.
@Sparty
get thyself a VPN, pretend to be an Australian & and then stream it via SBS
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/12/how-to-watch-a-bike-race/
@Sparty
beIN Sports, my friend. I had a never-ending supply of racing to watch while feeding my 2month old future Velominati in the middle of the night.
@justindcady
Yeah baby, BeIN shows up on Time Warner out here, basic cable and they really brought it. Some stages in their entirety and always at least 2 hours. Dan Lloyd of GCN and some other talkative English fuck do the commentary. I'd prefer Magnus but much better than Phil Ligget. And one has to own some sort of DVR or your health will be ruined, sitting in a chair for at least two hours a day, not withstanding, of course.