Matteo Fabbro it's not at the Tour of Italy to give a strong hand to Hindley and his companions. The Friulian is in training camp in Andorra. He would have liked to be at the Giro. And he would have liked to be there especially today, in the stage that reaches Castelmonte. But given the situation already at the Tour of the Alps he told us that it wouldn't make much sense to come to the Giro without being fit.
"Now," says Fabbro, "I'm up here. I'll go back to Dauphiné. Tour? More of a hypothesis than a plan, for now. In the meantime, let's think about getting back on track for the Dauphiné, since the Grande Boucle isn't really suited to my characteristics this year, between the start in Denmark, the wind, and the cobbled stage. The mountains are there, but first you have to survive!
«The normal idea is to do the Return».
With Fabbro, however, we go to discover stage number 19 of the Giro, the Marano Lagunare - Castelmonte Sanctuary, a Friulian (and a little Slovenian) fraction.
Matteo had already told us about it this winter, but now we want to go back there, to get some sort of "tips" to get into the technical intricacies of the stage and analyze it with the current ranking.
Matteo, if you were Gasparotto, what advice would you give your guys as they tackle this stage?
We'll have to see how they're doing. They've put in a lot of effort so far, they're coming off tough stages, and the Marmolada awaits them. If we had the pink jersey I would have run in defense, otherwise I would have tried to invent something on the Kolovrat, which will certainly be indigestible to some. It's a killer climb.
Deadly, even?
It has an average gradient of 10%, but you have to consider that in one stretch it flattens out a bit and in another it drops, so it means that you are always above 12%. And whoever has the legs, goes there.
What gears would you set?
A 36 in the front and a classic 11-30 in the back. You can go anywhere with that.
And which wheels would you choose: high or medium profile?
A high profile wheel could help you in the first part which is flat, a medium profile wheel could help you after that, but in the end I think that I would go for a 50mm wheel.
The "rips" of Kolovrat. There are often straight stretches too. And first the Tanamea Pass of almost 8 km, the most rideable of the day
The "rips" of Kolovrat. There are often straight stretches too. And first the Tanamea Pass of almost 8 km, the most rideable of the day
Does this hamlet resemble the one in Turin? There were a lot of ups and downs there...
From Villanova Grotte the road becomes narrow and winding and it becomes so already on the way up, but especially afterwards. So there could be attacks on the way down. But from Tanamea From there, there's no respite. From Caporetto, the toughest climb begins, and then it's all undulating. The first part of this undulating segment is more downhill, then to get back to Italy, there are some uphill and downhill sections, and in any case, you have to pedal. It's difficult to organize a team pursuit.
Is there room to attack then?
Yes, also because the hilly section is in the woods, it's damp, and it's winding. And if it were to rain, everything would be more complicated.
And the ending instead?
After this hilly stretch, you reach the plain, but it'll be three or four kilometers at most. A left turn and the climb to Castelmonte begins. However, staying ahead isn't essential here. The climb is indeed wide. It's a challenging climb, but much easier to ride than Kolovrat.
Marano Lagunare – Castelmonte Sanctuary: 178 kilometers and 3.230 meters of elevation gain The start will be on a flat surface, just like last year's Gorizia stage. Watch out for falls. For the second time in a row, the border is crossed into Slovenia. Check out the crowd last year.
Marano Lagunare – Castelmonte Sanctuary: 178 kilometers and 3.230 meters of elevation gain The start will be on a flat surface, just like last year's Gorizia stage. Watch out for falls. For the second time in a row, the border is crossed into Slovenia. Check out the crowd last year.
Nibali said that in the Turin stage, especially given the way it was raced, it was difficult even to eat. Will it be the same towards Castelmonte?
I don't think so. Because between one climb and another there are some straight stretches. They're short, but you have room to gorge on a bite. And for Kolovrat you should have fueled up beforehand. From that point on, you can gulp down a gel, which is much more practical.
Back to the Turin stage, your Bora-Hansgrohe team turned the Giro upside down there. Will it be the same again? Will Gasparotto come up with something new?
"Gaspa" brought a breath of fresh air, and I think it was needed. We started running more on the attack instead of being rushed. And so far, it's paid off. Stove when he's in good shape he has carte blanche and makes few mistakes on the run. Kelderman He was also unlucky on the day of Aprica: he had some mechanical problems, and Hindley is there. We'll see what he comes up with (laughs, ed.).
And so could we all arrive together at the foot of the Castelmonte sanctuary?
I expect two races, one for the stage and one for the general classification. The stage is divided into two clear sections: the first 75-80 kilometers, which are completely flat, and the second 100 kilometers, from Tarcento onwards, where there's no respite. So the men in the general classification who decide to attack must be aware that the next day there is the Marmolada.
