Giro del Trentino - Preview
Here we are, in the beautiful, mountainous, region of Trentino. About half a week per year, this region has a big cycling race, Giro del Trentino. It is traditionally a mountainous race.
The Giro del Trentino is not a new name on the block at all. In fact, in 2013, this race will be held for the 38th time.
The first time that this race has been held was in 1962, when it was won by Enzo Moser. After 1963, there was a break until 1979. Since then, the race has been held every year.
The record winner of this race is still active in the peloton, it’s Damiano Cunego. He won this race 3 times: In 2004, 2006 & 2007. He won’t make it four this year though, he will not be riding the race.
Notable is that of all the 37 editions, 29 had an Italian winner. In this millennium, the only non-Italians that have won this race are Perez(2005) and Vinokourov(2010).
Trentino only had 4 stages in 2012, this has changed in 2013, with an extra stage that was added.
Last year opened with a TTT, it was the first time that a TTT was used in this race. BMC won it.
Cunego managed to win hilly stage number 2.
But stage number 3 was the stage that really caused the gaps. Pozzovivo quite dominated that stage, winning with 23 seconds on Szymd, and more than a minute on Nr.3, Cunego.
While the last stage, stage 4, was supposed to make bigger gaps, given that it finished on Passo Pardoi, at 2200m, it actually didn’t.
Stage 4 was the first big win of John Atapuma, and with Betancur being runner-up, the Colombians dominated this stage. But they didn’t stand a chance on the GC, since Pozzovivo followed 6 seconds later, and comfortably won the GC, ahead of Cunego & Szmyd.
Stage 1 is a hilly stage, and actually quite an easy start. The big obstacle in this stage is the ‘’Isenberg’’, a 5km climb, with an average gradient of 6.7%. Considering that the summit is only around 15km from the finish, we will most likely see an elite group surviving, and a good downhiller has a chance here.
Stage 2 is a 14km TTT. It is almost completely flat, and that makes it the only flat stage. This stage is the reason that some GC contenders chose to bring some time-trialists with them.
Stage 3 is when the real climbing starts. The stage contains 2 big climbs. Passo Lavaze is an 11km climb of 8%, but considering that it’s really far from the finish, it won’t have a major impact.
The stage finishes on the Ventiolo Terme, which is a 14km climb of 7,7%. The stage finishes with a small flat section, of around 200m. Stamina might come into play on stage 3, considering it’s over 220km.
Stage 4 is full of rolling terrain. A lot of small climbs have to be ridden. Only 1 is close enough to the finish to make things happen, the ‘’Daone’’, which is located around 20km from the finish, and is a 3,3km climb averaging 8%. A downhill follows, and the stage finishes slightly uphill. GC differences aren’t likely, and I can see types like Gatto surviving.
Stage 5 is arguably the Queen’s stage. It’s shorter than stage 3, but has a beastly summit finish.
About 30km from the end, there’s the tough ‘’Brentonico’’. It’s 6,9 kilometres averaging 9%, but the last 2km are really tough, having percentages up to rougly 20%.
At last, the peloton has to race up the ‘’Sega di Ala’’. It’s a 12km climb that has 9,5% on average, and has a steep part on about two thirds, that reaches gradients up to 16%.
Only the top-climbers have a chance of winning this one, but being good on the hills and having a good TTT team helps as well.
This is an interesting startlist. 1 thing, or 3 things, immediately stand out. Nibali, Purito & Contador are here. After that, there’s an huge drop in quality. Notable is that Androni took a really strong squad, full of climbers, with them. They don’t have a better leader than Pellizotti though, so it will be interesting to see what they can do. Also, the Bardiani manager must have been drunk, given that Modolo will be their leader. Without any flat stages, this is not the smartest decision, though Battaglin & Pirazzi are good picks. Astana, Movistar & AG2R have brought strong TT squads, while Cofidis & Cannondale have taken strong ones as well. Saxo has a few good TTists as well, but for some reason, they’ve only taken 6 riders.
Finally, the favourites. It is pretty clear that this race will go between 3 riders: Purito, Nibali & Contador. Purito has the advantage of being great on the hills, but Nibali has a stronger team behind him, and is also a better downhiller. Contador is an outsider. Behind that, others will most likely fight it out for the 4th place, unless something happens of course. As said, being good on long climbs is most important, but there are hilly stages as well, and a good TT team is key, because it can take you the extra seconds that you need.
Joaquim Rodriguez
(KAT)
V.Nibali
(AST)
A.Contador
(SAX)
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J.Peraud
(ALM)
B.Intxausti
(MOV)
L.Konig
(NET)
C.Evans
(BMC)
F.Pellizotti
(AND)
Other guys with good chances: R.Bardet, D.Ulissi, J.Hintermuller, P.De la Montagne, C.De las Campos, I.Basso, J.Brajkovic, W.Barguil, S.Firsanov, F.Duarte
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