Stage 10, Cuneo-Pinerolo, Modified

Stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia, which back in December was voted by Italian cycling fans as the most difficult (http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/italian-tifosi-vote-on-hardest-stage-of.html) of the 100th anniversary of the race, has been almost completely modified.

From the outset of the Giro d'Italia presentation there were questions whether the Stage 10 route was possible due to a landslide on the French side of the Maddalena climb (which also could not be used in the Tour de France last July for the same reason). The organizers had wanted to use the original Cuneo-Pinerolo route because of it's place in the history of the Giro d'Italia; the route was used only three times and that before World War II. Unfortunately, the Maddalena is not usable and an option to use the Colle dell’Agnello to bypass the Maddalena to rejoin the original route had to to be rejected because of the likelihood that the Agnello would be closed because of snow. Another problem that was outstanding was a conflict with Italian race radio frequencies interfering with French radio based services.

In Italy the general opinion of the new stage is that although almost nothing remains of the epic stage it will still be spectacular.

Photos: upper, the route originally announced; lower, the new route announced April 8th

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