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Ian Dewar's Journal
Great Giro Trip
posted by id* at 07:53 PM on June 06, 2007
there is nothing like going to a grand tour - watching the excitement of a whole world of cycling fly by day after day rekindles any suspicions that i have about the impending death of the sport - they are vastly over-reported! as doping and contracts disputes take over sports headlines, there is something refreshing about seeing the front lines of our sport up close. to see the sweat on the riders as they ride by, to see the disappointment on those who are dropped and the absurd joy of those who win.
we spent 10 days in italy and saw the 5 stages of this year's Giro. and truthfully it was one of the most exciting in years... the only great race that has had more excitement then this in years was the 2003 tour and even that ended just like expected. we watched daily as new stars (Ricco) and old war-horses (Gibo) threw everything into the race. we stood in the rain in comano terme waiting for a resurrected Mayo to fly around the final corner, like a phoenix spewing water not flames, his joy at winning again overcame any discomfort he obviously felt as he attacked in a very cold rain to make a statement - how loud that statement will be is anyone's guess, but to see him flying toward the finish line with a huge smile and a sense of redemption made the trip.
our sport took a lot of hits this month. we had huge stars admit to mistakes, we had old dogs try to convince us they've learned new tricks and we had denial after denial. yet at the end of three weeks there is a new hero - a new GRAND CHAMPION and walking down Corsa Venezia in Milan as the stars sped through lap after lap it was clear that scandal was the last thing on anyone's mind! seeing Patachi storm to a 2 bike length victory and DeLuca mount the top of a podium he's believed he belonged on all along drew the crowds and made everyone believe - if only for a few days - that this really is a sport about suffering, about dreaming big and about taking chances...
i love the giro. this race and paris roubaix and liege-bastonge-liege are the soul of the sport. they are the races for the hard workers, for the blue collar starts of our sport and the blue collar spectators. there aren't champagne parties and lunches from 3-star chefs. this is real cycling. mud covered riders. hard climbs. long days. and at the everyone cheers their new heros.
over the next few weeks i'm going to write my thoughts about why the giro is important and why bike racing is important. why it makes us all better cyclists to go to races and why we should care about what happens on steep passes over in europe in races that don't begin with Tour and end with France...
stay tuned!
categories: Grand Adventures
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Comments (1)
03:56 PM on June 07, 2007 UTC Rusty Kogz wrote:
Okay, I'm officially envious!