The Giro or "le Tour"

Pink versus Yellow

Thomson Bike Tours

Paul Rogen reviews the differences between the Giro and the Tour de France and tell us why he loves them both! Paul has already published several articles on cycling, his latest was an account 'Wounded in Venice' about the opening stage of the 2009 Giro.

I am just back from the Giro and the snowy steeps of the Dolomites. I am now taking my daily dose of the Italian grand tour nightly at 9PM on, get this, channel 249. Thanks for Universal Sports or I would be stuck with race snippets on the internet and my regular morning NY Times report and it is not even from Sam Abt who seems to be retired. (Sam Abt covered the Tour de France and the Giro for over thirty years for the NY Times.) This was my second trip to the Giro and I have been taken by many things about the race and the way it is presented.

Lance in the Pyrenees in 2005

Beyond the obvious difference of the colors of the overall leader’s jerseys, I was taken with the comparative simplicity and purity of the Giro. It is a three week bike race that happens to come through a series of historic towns and variegated geographic regions. That is it, no more, no less. I was again able to score a press pass so I got behind the scenes and saw enough to give me a good comparison to the Tour de France. The TDF is still the granddaddy of all the world bike races, but the Giro is more intimate. I ran into Marc Cavendish just before he went off and won the opening team time trial and donned the maglia rosa. I was able to chat with him easily just as he started his warm-up with his Highroad Columbia mates. Needless to say the crowds are smaller, much smaller- probably 60-80% smaller. This means all the logistics and access are much easier. The crowds are also much less international. You do not see the Belgians, nor the Basques in their orange Euskatel regalia, nor the French families setting out moveable feasts. Here the crowds are local and seemed to be more intent, more focused, less whacky or rabid. Primarily the tifosi are males in small bunches on Bianchi and Colnago bikes climbing up the mountains to get a good viewing spot.

Pink or Yellow? Both races are worth the wait

There are far fewer cycling clubs edged along side the race routes picnicking their way through the day waiting for the peloton or grupetto. Banners are few, road painting is minimal. Five years ago on the Mortorolo, just after Marco Pantini left this earth, there were endless tribute signs to him. Some were elaborate and included shrines and memorials of mixed media. This time I saw just a few Pantini white-washed on the pavement. Now and then I saw a Basso, but that was it. I did not see an Armstrong or a Levi sign either on the road or a banner. (The Texans are surely coming back, but they must be waiting for the TDF in July. They don’t take to the dicey May Italian mountain weather.) As one gets toward the stage finish the roadside barriers start, but in the Giro they are mostly ignored by the crowds.

On Alpe de Suisi, Thomson Bike Tours tents were located two kilometers below the finish on a perfect inside switchback. We had barriers, but the course was only cleared just before the leaders arrived and fans jumped back over the barriers as soon as the peleton passed but well before all riders went up. The tifosi get out front of them or lounge on them in knowing clumps. In the Tour, gendarmes would be posted along the barriers every 100 meters and no one would be allowed in front of the barriers. Alors!

Arriving early in the Pyrenees to "book" a place at the Greatest Show on Earth

And the commercial caravan is different at the Giro. At the Tour, the Caravan is long and vigorous- it takes over half an hour to pass with a varied lot of characters in garish colors accompanied by noise galore. It never skips a kilometer of the entire race route and fans jump out for the merest trinket. Fans scramble and jostle for the booty of a Champion polka dot hat, a Credit Lyonnais key chain, a coffee packet or bottle of water like it is the entire reason they somehow got themselves up 2,000 meters of rugged mountain.

At the Giro, the caravan did not even come up the last 10 kilometers of the Tappa 5 Alpe di Suisi. They left it pure for just the racers and the fans. It was like very good TV without the commercials. Pine tangy mountain air served up raw for panting pro climbers. Finally, the roads at the Giro are a bit narrower. They often are not more that 3-4 meters across. Just as at the Tour de France, they are usually in very good condition. Often they have been recently paved and are what we New Englanders call “black powder.” The surface is wonderful for climbing and makes for surefire descents. But it is the climbing that defines the Giro. The Dolomites are filled with climbs that scatter 10+% gradients throughout the mix. This is what I discovered at Mortorola in 2004 when Damiano Cunego became the “little prince” winning maglia rosa at such a young age with his dauntless climbing. After I saw him pass, the chase group and the grupetto went on up. Then came the stragglers screaming at the tifosi, “ spinge!” When I asked what they wanted, an Italian friend explained, spinge means “push me.” Now that I have been over a passel of big climbs in the Dolomites, I know just what they mean. Spinge!

The Pyrenees: Sunshine and quiet roads

But I will still go back to the Tour de France this summer. I need to see just how this race season plays out. The Americans and Astana seemed to be done in on Monte Petrano in the heat of Tappa 16 yesterday (27/05/09). Lance looked very good however, and those Texans will be looking for him in the Pyrenees in eight weeks. Ah, the Pyrenees, now that is home. July and the snow is gone, the hills all turn golden brown just like summer in California. And the sun pounds down forever. And the descents go on for kilometer after kilometer with just a smidgen of traffic. The Col d’ Aspin never has traffic and is only averages 6.5% gradient. The Tourmalet has wonderful switchbacks and gets way above tree line and is 7.4% average gradient. Now that is reasonable riding in some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. The Pyrenees in July sound just right to me. I will not even need a push.

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