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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
The Giro d'Italia is all about winning. Nothing can beat the excitement of the sprint to the finish line.
But cycling gained its popularity in Europe and has retained it because of the larger-than-life characters who have been the super-stars of the sport.
This year's Giro was billed as a contest between two men:
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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
Tom Domoulin won last year's Giro d'Italia with a gutty performance. Known as a time-trialist and not a climber, Domoulin won hordes of fans by sticking with the more famous climbers as they ascended the longest and steepest roads in Italy.
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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
Unlike last year, Domoulin has not won any stages of the Giro going into the last week of the race. He's stayed close, sitting in second place, 2' 16" behind the leader.
His performance has been steady, but not electrifying, as it was in 2017.
Many commentators said Domoulin won last year's Giro because this man was not in the race.
Chris Froome is the reigning champion of both the Tour de France and the Vuelta de Espana.
He's one of only nine men ever to have won two grand tours in the same season.
If he could win this year's Giro and the Tour de France, he would be one of only six men to have won all three grand tours and one of only four to win a double in two different seasons.
When Froome announced he would compete in the Giro d'Italia this year, he was instantly granted the status of "favorite," and the sports media salivated over the duel between the two men.
But things have not worked out in accordance with the media hype. The day before the start of the Giro, while training, Froome fell and injured himself. Then, 10 days later, his bike slipped out from under him while climbing on a wet road, and he lost almost another minute to the leader.
On the day pictured here, he was still suffering from those injuries and fell 40" farther behind.
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| courtesy: Cycle Insider |
On Stage 14 (last Saturday), Froome got a bit of redemption. He dropped all competitors on the final monster climb up Monte Zoncolan and sprang from 12th place up to 5th.
However, on the last rest day, just before the final week of the Giro, he sits 4' 52" behind the leader. There are still five stages in the Dolomite Mountains, a terrain where Froome excels, but it's a huge amount of time to make up.
So, if Domoulin and Froome have yet to light up the race, who's created all the excitement?
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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
The answer is 26 year-old upstart Simon Yates.
He is the son a British cycling legend Sean Yates and twin bother of Adam Yates (who just finished fourth in the Tour of California).
Yates, this one, grabbed the maglia rosa (leader's pink jersey) on the 45 km climb up the Gran Sasso.
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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
He won again by dropping competitors on the steep collblestones just before the finish in Osimo, a finish Carol and Roger watched from the side of the road.
This is Yates' first Giro d'Italia. His enthusiasm has proven infectious, and even fans of other teams find themselves rooting for the young Englishman.
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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
Bike racing is a team sport. A team leader can save 30% of his energy by drafting behind a team-mate (Yates is in pink; his team-mates in yellow and black).
This leaves him enough gas in the tank to pull out all stops as they approach the finish line.
Not every team truly likes its leader. Yates, in contrast, is very popular with his team and never fails to credit them for his victories.
So far, a Dutchman and two Brits have been the focus of this blog post. But the Italians have not been shut out of their own grand tour.
The sprinter Elia Viviani has won four stages of this year's Giro...more than any other rider.
He currently wears the purple jersey, earned for the most sprint wins. His lead, at this point in the race, appears insurmountable.
And there's a Pienza home-town favorite, because his family lives here.
Diego Ulissi is the nephew of one of our Pienza friends (see "In Search of the World's Most Expensive Food" from November 15, 2016).
Ulissi is not a team leader, but he currently sits in 45th place (out of 176 cyclists who started the Giro).
Whenever we see him on the TV at the bar where we watch the race, a small cheer goes up.
Go Ulissi! We're all rooting for you.
Update:
Stage 19 0f the Giro d'Italia turned the whole race on its head. The stage was a beast with four mountain passes to climb.
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| courtesy: Giro d'Italia |
Tom Dumoulin, held on to second place with a gutsy ride that...under any other circumstances...would have made headlines.
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| courtesy: Getty Images |
But the day belonged to Chris Froome, who launched an 80 km solo escape over three mountain passes that left everybody else in his dust.
The reporter for the London Telegraph called it, "one of the most extraordinary solo attacks in...cycling history."
He finished three minutes ahead of his nearest rival, took over the race lead, and pulled on the magnolia rosa.
Dumoulin sits 40" off the lead with one more mountain stage, 214 km long and three passes to climb. Tomorrow's for all the marbles.
You can see video highlights of Froome's remarkable performance today on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9USGFIF2UWc.
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