Turin calls, Felline responds: "It's worse than Liège."

A stop in the hills of Fabio Felline. Saturday, May 21, 2022, the Tour of Italy It will make a nice gift to cycling enthusiasts in Turin and the surrounding areaYes, because after having designed the time trial that opened the 2021 edition in the very centre of the Piedmontese capital, with Filippo Ganna's pink apotheosisThis time the organizers have gone wild. Here it is, ready an unprecedented circuit full of ups and downs with some passages taken from the oldest classic that exists: the Milan-Turin.

La Maddalena and Superga

The 14th part, which will arrive towards the end of the second week, could really cause havoc. It proposes an altitude difference of 3.600 metres concentrated in just 153 kilometresThe only flat area is at the beginning, in the initial 10 minutes. After that, the riders will have to climb. three times on the Colle della Maddalena (the highest point of the Turin hill with its 715 metres) and for two at Superga he grazed the Basilica, also sadly known for the air disaster that cost the lives of the Grande Torino players on 4 May 1949.

In the final, still the Santa Brigida tear, before heading towards the finish line which will be in front of the Gran Madre at the end of the straight of Corso MoncalieriJust like what happened both during this year's inaugural time trial and in the final one in 2016. That time, Giacomo Nizzolo was downgraded by the judges and the victory was awarded to Germany's Nikias Arndt.

Between Giro and Tour

That Giro was won by Vincenzo Nibali, who this year he will return to Astana and will be one of the captains of the team in which Felline has been racing since 2020. The thirty-one-year-old from Turin still doesn't know what awaits him in his third season with the Kazakh team. And he'll only find out next week. After the official presentation in Kazakhstan, he'll fly to Calpe to begin preparations and draw up his plans.

«I still can't say if I'll do the Giro, Tour or Vuelta among the Grand Tours – he begins to say – speaking with the staff, however, I have to admit that, After two years in which the main focus was on the Giro, I expressed my desire to race the Tour above all.Not because I prefer one or the other, but because I'm looking for new challenges. I haven't had a great relationship with the Grande Boucle so far, except for 2019, when I finished it. I still remember when I had to withdraw in 2017 because I discovered I had toxoplasmosis. If the priority is the Giro, I will be ready for another pink adventure».

Make way for escapes

Also because regarding that stage that was mentioned previously, he could practically draw those pages of Garibaldi.

«I didn't design this stage – he smiles – because I would have made it a little less tough than the one chosen by the organizersBut I think that's an opportunity for many riders to break away, especially since the next day there's the big mountain stage that ends in Cogne. As often happens, this time too the big names could leave the way open, at least on paper. It's also true, however, that that 3.600-meter elevation gain in such a short time can be truly punishing: if a top athlete is on form, there's plenty of room to really damage their rivals."

The Roads Home

Fabio is thinking about the Tour, but that special stage really intrigues him: «I live down there and I always do those climbs.. Perhaps the road I know least is the one that initially leads from Santena to the hill, while I do all the others at least once a week when I'm training in Turin. This really is my home stage and it would be one of the most fascinating elements if I were to take part in the Giro."

Worse than Liège

And letting his thoughts fly to this eventuality, he hypothesizes the various scenarios: «If it were a one-day race like a classic, I would say it's prohibitive for me.But in the context of a Grand Tour, things are different, and you might find yourself in the perfect conditions to do well. In any case, this is worse than a Liège; these are real climbs: they call it by another name, but the Bric del Duca would be Sassi-Superga, the Milan-Turin one, and everyone has seen at least on TV that you can't joke around with those steep gradients. Just think that you have to do the Maddalena twice and three times, plus the final climbs... If you find yourself in the right break, it can be a really exciting day. As mentioned, however, We will also have to see who Astana will bring as the overall leader for the Giro, whether Nibali or Lopez or both and therefore perhaps the team tactics require a more cautious race».

Having such a guide for that stage means we can be sure that if Fabio is at the start of the Corsa Rosa, we'll see some great things.