Categories: Reverence

Viva Il Giro

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.

Gianni

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Gianni says:

Jun 1 2015 at 11:45 pm

@stooge

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.

If one needed another reason to see why Pros come from another planet, that descent was it. True, both Schlecks would have been off the road and in the woods but not Phil. Awesome.
Mikael Liddy says:

Jun 1 2015 at 11:57 pm

Interesting re-watching that stage & seeing Phast Phil's bike setup, it seems like he actually has a little rise on his stem instead of the -17 degree things we see among the peloton these days...
geoffrey says:

Jun 2 2015 at 1:16 am

Eurosport here in Serbia covers just about every cycling event going on and then replays them all twice a day. Only down side is the commentary in Serbian, but Phil Gil's descent would have been awesome in any language. Love Eurosport! They even cover field hockey and give me a once a week fix of aussie rules.
stooge says:

Jun 2 2015 at 1:20 am

@Mikael Liddy

Interesting re-watching that stage & seeing Phast Phil’s bike setup, it seems like he actually has a little rise on his stem instead of the -17 degree things we see among the peloton these days…

I did notice that quite a few competitors were riding slacker/more upright geometry in several stages during this year's Giro. More than I've noticed in the past (maybe I was just paying more attention than usual, given I'm considering going that route myself). No bad thing in my book. If you're gonna be with in the peloton for most of the day, and you're not a sprinter, then you probably don't need a super aggressive setup and could benefit in the long run.
RobSandy says:

Jun 2 2015 at 1:47 am

@stooge

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.

That footage of Cancellara is astonishing. It looks so slow and graceful but you know he's absolutely flying. The way he shifts the bike around through the corners is joyful.
rfreese888 says:

Jun 2 2015 at 1:48 am

@tedder

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.

Yeah it's not the most fluid reporting. And poor Greg Leman is dyslexic so together they stumble quite a bit.
rfreese888 says:

Jun 2 2015 at 1:55 am

@RobSandy

@stooge

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.

That footage of Cancellara is astonishing. It looks so slow and graceful but you know he’s absolutely flying. The way he shifts the bike around through the corners is joyful.

Spartacus is just flawless on that descent. He MUST have done a bit of recon before yes?
rs_sttr says:

Jun 2 2015 at 2:21 am

I watched the Giro only on Rai Sport.
Oli says:

Jun 2 2015 at 4:21 am

@Gianni

@justindcady

@Sparty

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.

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.

Dan Lloyd of GCN and some other talkative English fuck do the commentary.

Carlton Kirby. He seems like a lovely fellow but he didn't seem to be watching the same race as me.
VeloJello says:

Jun 2 2015 at 5:22 am

@rfreese888

@tedder

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.

Yeah it’s not the most fluid reporting. And poor Greg Leman is dyslexic so together they stumble quite a bit.

Leman is great on Eurosport. He's honest, and massively enthusiastic. He was better during the Tour De France coverage last year on Eurosport, with the main highlight being an interview he did with Laurens ten Dam. Greg was just as star struck as ten Dam, and the two of them talking about how ten Dam had Lemans book on cycling tips was a joy to watch.