A Giro in Review

The Need for Speed

In a country that is home to the makers of Ducati, Lamborghini and Ferrari I should have expected nothing less than a serious need for speed. There is no other way to sum up the Giro Donne 2012 than this: The Fast and the Furious.

Really could have used one of these at times

The route was considered one of the “easiest” in Giro Donne history with no famous or significant climbs but the riders took it upon themselves to make it as hard and as fast as possible. Speaking to the ladies in the bunch this has been one of the hardest Giro Donne races in recent years with the upcoming London Olympic Games probably the reason for the depth and strength in the bunch.

With a race like this there is always the good, the bad and the just plain ugly. Mentally and physically it is a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Some stages you feel great while others you hang on for dear life as the peloton is strung out in one long line from start to finish. Just as you think that the racing cannot possibly get any harder someone attacks again or it is your turn to go back to the car to fetch bottles for the team.

To give an indication of the level of racing that we experienced I can compare Stage 6 of the Giro Donne to the Fast One which is probably considered the fastest race in South Africa. This year the professional/elite men had an average of 46km/h for this race. After 5 stages on a much more technical route than the Fast One with a lot of turns, traffic circles and road furniture we had an average of 44km/h. It surely must have been one for the record books this year.

When you suffer together you really get to know the people you compete with. You see people giving away the last bit of water out of their bottles on a 38°C day (which in our case is much more generous than the shirt off your back since in this heat another layer of clothing would be the last thing that you would want). You see some of the best riders in the world trying to create opportunities for their teammates instead of themselves, team leaders taking a turn to get bottles from the team car for the rest of the team and teams celebrating together at the end of a stage for what they have achieved.

I finished 25^th overall in the end. You always hope for a better result but there is some pride in knowing that you have been beaten by the best in the world. With there still being so much that I need to improve on and learn I could hopefully only come back to this race mentally and physically stronger in the future.

Been there, conquered that, got the T-shirt

After a serious pasta overdose and cappuccino (which apparently is only a breakfast drink in Italy) deprivation we can now spend a week catching up on all the good food that we have been missing and craving for the past 9 days. The best part of it is that it is 100% guilt free and probably necessary to pick up some of the weight lost during the race. On that note it is time for me to go eat again…