I was on my own for the penultimate Giro stage today. While the 199 km stage had a summit finish, the highlight would inevitably be the Colle delle Finestre so that was my destination. It took me a bit under 2 hours to hike to the summit.
Forte Serre Marie
I took a shortcut to the summit…it was steep!
Normally if I was planning a 4 hour roundtrip hike, I would pack a PB&J sandwich, hardboiled eggs, granola bars, chocolate, and a banana. Somehow the excitement of the Giro made me forget to pack any real food, so I just grabbed a few things before setting out. Lucky for me, there were a bunch of food tents at the top–why don’t more of my hikes involve Nutella slathered waffles??
I arrived around noon and the place looked like a refugee camp for cyclists.
After enjoying such a lush, green hike up, I was surprised to find the other side was gray and dingy, but what really captured my eye was the long trail of steep, dirt road switchbacks that extended as far as I could see.
When I went into my bag to get out my flags, I remembered that I had brought with me the box of maple cream cookies Andrea had given me. A gorgeous hike, flags, and maple cookies? I’ve never felt more Canadian!
You’ll find the best people watching while standing on a climb at a race.
One of the 2 kids in the back was dead asleep
Pretty much any woman riding up got huge cheers, but she stole the show
Old school cycling
Beer helmet takes care of hydration and safety at the same time
What a view!
There was an enormous crowd at the KOM sign, but I figured the scene would be much better a little further down and I found an ideal spot about 155 meters before the summit.
The blue skies from my morning hike had long gone and when the clouds rolled in, they swallowed up everything in its path. Fortunately, they had moved on before the race arrived.
A seemingly infinite parade of race vehicles passed before I caught sight of Ilnur Zakarin, the first rider on the mountain.
Mikel Lanada was hot on Zakarin’s wheel and just a little further back, Ryder Hesjedal led Rigoberto Uran, Steven Kruijswijk, and Fabio Aru.
Landa caught Zakarin.
Hesjedal picked up the pace and only Uran could keep his wheel.
The race leaders climbing up Colle delle Finestre.
Landa and Zakarin.
Hesjedal and Uran.
Aru was a few seconds behind.
Tanel Kangert.
Contador rode up Finestre solo.
Darwin Atapuma.
Andrey Amador.
This last bend before the KOM was a particularly tight one and all but one or two cars had to stop and reverse before taking another stab at it. David de la Cruz had to put a hand on the FDJ team car to steady himself as he was squeezed on an already tight corner.
Amael Moinard and Andre Cardoso.
Fabio Felline.
Carlos Betancur.
Nate Brown.
Jurgen Van Dan Broeck.
KOM Giovani Visconti.
Silvan Dillier.
Sylvain Chavanel.
Brent Bookwalter.
When the clouds first crept in, I was reminded of this well known photo of Adam Hansen climbing the Angliru in the fog while holding a wig on his head during the 2013 Vuelta a Espana. The Aussie did not disappoint! This time someone had given him a hot pink wig. Pink is the Giro’s color, after all.
Przemyslaw Niemiec.
Luis Leon Sanchez.
Esteban Chaves.
Philippe Gilbert.
Marcus Burghardt.
Dayer Quintana.
Diego Ulissi preparing for the cold descent.
Caleb Fairly.
Tinkoff riders doing it the old fashion way with newspapers to keep warm.
Simon Geschke.
Heinrich Haussler.
Jesus Herrada.
Chad Haga and Herrada.
Sergei Chernetski.
Luca Paolini and Bernie Eisel.
Jussi Veikkanen.
Luke Durbridge and Sam Bewley.
Sergey Lagutin.
Nikias Arndt.
Eugenio Alafacio pulled off to the side and, as riders carried on, he took the time to carefully retrieve his jacket and put it on before going on his way.
Fabio Silvestre.
Mauro Finetto had his newspaper ready.
The bulk of the riders had crested the summit by now and a long line of team cars pushed its way through the crowd. The Giant Alpecin car in particular seemed to receive an extra round or two of jovial banging on the hood, which made the mechanic in the back seat laugh hysterically.
The passenger in the Lampre car emerged from the crowd with a plastic cup of red wine!
Roger Kluge was once more the caboose and, to make matters worse, he got trapped on the wrong side of the CCC team car, forcing him to inch his way up the final 100 meters to the summit.
A minute later, the end-of-race car drove through and a mass exodus ensued. This was probably the best mountain stage I’ve ever witnessed: the course was demanding, the crowds were huge yet they never obstructed the path of the riders, everyone cheered for everyone, and I still have chills just thinking about the view I had of every cyclist as he dug deep for the final 150 meters of the Colle delle Finestre. Amazing.
