Colle delle Finestre

Photo: Jered Gruber

Fabio Aru (ASTANA PRO TEAM) won Saturday's Stage 20 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia between Saint-Vincent and Sestriere (199km), a stage which included the Colle de Finestre. Alberto Contador (TINKOFF SAXO) was dropped on the Finestre but defended his Maglia Rosa. It was epic watching!

The Finestre, with its 8km of dirt road, was first used in the Giro in 2005.

A must read, in words and images,  of Saturday's stage is Jered and Ashley Gruber's "Race Day: Finestre".

Content for the Italian Cycling Journal is now based upon contributions from readers. Please contribute. Stories about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. 

Giro d'Italia, Saturday: Colle delle Finestre

On hand for tomorrow: the Colle delle Finestre, 18 km, 45 switchbacks, and slopes of more than 12% (9.2% average); last 8 km are gravel.

Becomre familiar with the Colle delle Finestre with these related stories:
GEOX-TMC Recon of Colle delle Finestre of May 5, 2011
First Hand Report: Colle delle Finestre
2005 Giro d'Italia: Climb of the Colle delle Finestre

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, watching and touring during the Giro, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,900 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

GEOX-TMC Recon of Colle delle Finestre

This morning, Thursday May 5th, Denis Menchov and Carlos Sastre, along with their GEOX-TMC team mates, rode a recon mission on the challenging, 8km-long dirt road of the Colle delle Finestre. The Colle delle Finestre makes its presence on the penultimate stage, stage 20.

In the afternoon the team held a press conference. "It’s going to be quite a hard Giro d’Italia, from the first stage to the last. I think it’ll be the most challenging out of all the ones I’ve faced so far," explained Carlos Sastre. "There are lots of important stages. The Zoncolan is very tough, but so are the Grossclockner, the super-stage in the Dolomites with the Gardeccia and the Colle delle Finestre in the same stage, and don’t underestimate the first uphill finishes the initial TTT.”

"Contador is definitely one of the favorites, and so are Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi," said Denis Menchov. "Anyway, I think our team is good and ready to play a role in the fight for the Pink. It’s a very tough Giro but it will be for us as it will be for all the other guys vying for the final victory."

At the Giro d'Italia presentation back in October, Michele Scarponi said, "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."

Related stories about the Colle delle Finestre:
First Hand Report: Colle delle Finestre
2005 Giro d'Italia: Climb of the Colle delle Finestre

Lastly, a view of the Colle delle Finestre; 18 km, 45 switchbacks, and slopes of more than 12% (9.2% average); last 8 km are gravel(click to enlarge):
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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,900 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

2005 Giro d'Italia: Climb of the Colle delle Finestre

Video of the final, unpaved, kilometers of the Colle delle Finestre during the 2005 Giro d'Italia. This was the first year the road was used in the Giro. The video is a re-broadcast by SPORZA so it is not in English but definitely worth watching for the action and scenery.



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. There is also an Italian weather widget along the right side and a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. What I'm riding.