Organizationally very complicated. Yes, because the Tarvisio-Monte Lussari, the penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia 2023 on May 27, will also be full of charm and technical meanings, but it will also be one of the most complicated stages to organize.
In fact, a caravan of hundreds of people has to be moved on an impervious mountain road, with only a cable car to help, and above all to ensure that the perhaps decisive part of the pink race runs smoothly from a technical point of view.
Can you imagine a flagship that melts on the impervious climb and blocks the race in its most crucial phases? It is no coincidence that at the presentation of the track in Milan, the director of the Giro d’Italia with great affection urged the patron Enzo Cainero, who is continuing a difficult recovery at the Udine hospital after the illness that hit him twenty days ago, to get back in the saddle soon.
Meanwhile, coordinated by the manager’s son Andrea, by the former mayor of Gemona Paolo Urbani, by the indefatigable Casarsian Bepi Bazzana and of course by the municipal administration of Tarvisio, preparations continue for the hamlet. Which will be developed over three heats, ski racing style or, better, Superbike.
Because motorbikes, in a sport where you win with the strength of the legs in this case on slopes similar to Zoncolan (the Lussari road almost completely ready has an average gradient of 12% and maximum peaks of 22% in 8 km, with first 4.8 over 15%), will play a fundamental role.
The cornerstone will be, as has been done on the Kaiser della Carnia since 2007, the motorcyclists of the Friulian Motostaffetta of president Daniele Decorte who will ensure the “escort” to the riders of the first two heats, those furthest away in the standings, also transporting a mechanic or a sports director with spare wheel.
Three motorbikes per athlete and then, at the end of each test, a 45-minute interval to allow the vehicles to descend from the mountain (estimated time 15 minutes) and return to the Tarvisio departure. More than 70 motorcycles will be needed, in addition to those of the Giro organization. Only the last 15 athletes in the ranking in the next heat will be followed by the flagship. Then, after the hard work, cyclists downstream with the cable car.
And then? A spectacular “evacuation” of the Giro da Tarvisio. In 2009 we saw something like this at the Tour de France on Mont Ventoux. The next day, with the Tgv, the riders left Avignon for Paris, the site of the last stage.
On the morning of May 28, after staying overnight in hotels as close as possible to Ronchi airport, the tadpoles will fly to Rome where, in the late afternoon “Champs Elysees style” the final walkway will be run. For the vehicles of the teams and the staff, on the other hand, a long journey on the motorway. The lucky ones with the pink jersey bike in the trunk. –
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