Rider reactions to the 2011 Giro d'Italia:
Stefano Garzelli: "If I have to assign a rating it can only be a 9, there are quite a bit of transfers."
Damiano Cunego: "A 9 for a well designed and beautiful Giro which touches almost all the regions of Italy. We are still studying exactly what races I'll do in 2011 but I think I'll do the Giro. It is a very, very tough race. But, a race of this level should be hard otherwise what Giro d'Italia would it be?"
Vincenzo Nibali: "It will be a very exciting and I look forward to racing it. I'll give the route a nine out of ten. I've done the Giro three times now and this is the hardest one I've ever seen. As well as the big climbs, there are other minor climbs during stages that could split the peloton and cause problems. I only know one of the two climb up to Etna but I know the other one is very hard. The final time trial is 32km long and so will be very important. I hope to be team leader and to try and win it."
Michele Scarponi: "The harder it is the better it is for me. There is a lot of climbing and I like that, so I'll give the route nine out of ten. "The Colle delle Finestre is a beast and will be especially tough. I think it will be the decisive stage for whoever wants to win the Giro." Watch for an upcoming report about riding the Colle delle Finestre
Alessandro Petacchi: "There is no use lamenting, it is what it is. There are so many mountains and I am not a climber. I will give it 8.5 out of ten. It's a good Giro and there could be seven finishes if we're lucky but there are too many transfers. There are several stages with hills in the finale but that could turn out to be an advantage for me."
Alessandro Ballan: "I have never raced the Giro, and I'll work hard if I will have the opportunity to do so in 2011. It's a tough route but there is something for everybody and so it’s balanced. It should be great to watch but it'll be hard to ride. The dirt road of the Colle delle Finestre is probably too tough for me but I hope to be up there on the dirt section on the stage to Orvieto and on other hilly stages. It'll be my first ever Giro and I'm looking forward to it after doing the classics."
Giovanni Visconti: "I wore the maglia rosa in 2008 and it was a very important moment in my career, so I'll give the route a ten out ten in the hope to ride it. I'm from Sicily and so the finish on Etna will be special but it'll be really hard to beat Nibali that day. I hope to go for other stages. A stage win could help my career step up to another level."
Felice Gimondi: "It is a wonderful Giro. I assign two values, an 8 from the technical point of view and a 10 from the social point of view because it extolls Italy to go back to believing in herself and grow as it has shown that they can do in these 150 years of shared history." In 2011 Italy is celebrating the 150th anniversary of unification.
Photo by Scanferla: the presentation was held at the Teatro Carignano in Turin
Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.
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