They presented the 2027 Giro route on Tuesday, and on television they talked about the leaders, who is coming, who is not. According to 7sur7, Remco Evenepoel would rather pick the Tour, and Ralph Denk is not in favour of doing both back to back. According to HLN, Davide Piganzoli would lead Visma. At the front, I couldn’t tell you. I looked at stage sixteen.
Start in Sondrio. The Mortirolo, the Gavia, the Mortirolo again, then Aprica. 4,500 metres of climbing. I read it slowly, on Sporza (the Flemish public broadcaster), looking for where the gruppetto will form. On the first Mortirolo, I think. Maybe before, over a coffee at the start, if people know each other well.
They call it the gruppetto, but it’s an office. That day the office will have work to do: someone will have the time-cut percentage, someone will have the watch, and someone will have to remember that you climb the Mortirolo twice, so nobody celebrates the descent too early. In our team, there was always a lad who thought it was over. He found out at the foot of the next one.
And then there is stage fifteen, the time trial from Monza to Milan, 37.3 kilometres, wedged between two big mountain days. For the office, a time trial is a day when everyone is alone with their watch. Nobody to share the sum with.
The day before Rome, the Zoncolan, 10.1 kilometres at 11.9%. Then nine flat laps in Rome. On the last day the office closes and everybody arrives together. It is the only day the camera sees us in the same frame as the pink jersey.
Six months to go. There is time to plan the bidons. De koers, the race, as they say in Flanders, starts there.
It’s true, we checked: 7sur7.
