[bodomaniac]

Although the article cites the safety concerns of this years route and the last minute course changes as his primary undoing, how does everyone feel about his removal as race director and how it will affect future editions of the Giro?

Zomegnan Replaced as Giro Director

My guess is that the new directors, even though they come from Zomegnan's team, will tame the parcours and not make it nearly as difficult as the past few editions saw. I could very well be wrong, but I think there were enough complaints from the riders and team managers regarding this year's race route, which undoubtedly contributed to Zomegnan's ouster, that those concerns will affect how future parcours are mapped and charted.

[Burkni]

I say give them a chance.
If they continue with the elements of classic-like stages and short TTTs, I won't regret them reducing the high mountain finishes from 7 to 3 or 4.

[Jayhawk]

I don't understand it. Were there complaints about Zomegnan before this year's Giro? He's done much to make this GT truly grand.

[Leafcake]

Jayhawk, on 26 July 2011 - 08:21 PM, said:

I don't understand it. Were there complaints about Zomegnan before this year's Giro? He's done much to make this GT truly grand.

I think there were. Parcours too grandiose, lengthy transfers... It is not disputed that he did much to lift the Giro, just that he was too eager to pack too much into it.

---

Tuttosport gives some more clues about next year's Giro.

May 5: Denmark/Herning - ITT
May 6: 200km around Herning
May 7: 180km Horsens – Horsens

Transfers. The first and only big transfer will be on the rest day from Scandinavia to Veneto, and with organizers looking to diminish transfers there will be no further excursions abroad. So French bids for Alpe d'Huez, the Galibier and Les Deux Alpes will have to wait.

Climbs.
The Giro is to be less grueling than in 2011.
In the south: the Matese mountain range (Molise\Campania). (Ascent to Campitello not mentioned).
It is speculated that some 'historical' climbs in the Apennine Mountains (Terminillo? Macerone? Abetone?) will be used along the way. Bravados such as the Gardeccia, complicating TV productions, are not to be expected and hence the Zoncolan of the south - Rifugio Calvanico - will be left out.
From the Matese they will move up north to region of Piemonte but without mythical climbs.
The decisive mountains will be concentrated in the last week. Candidates are Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the Stelvio (possibly as ITT from Bormio), the Pordoi and a passage through the Mortirolo (but not as a mountain top finish). The Dolomites are a certainty, as in 2012 they will celebrate being 50 years a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Toward the end an ITT in the area of Sondrio is considered (that or an MTT such as the above mentioned Stelvio), while the last stage in Milan will be a road stage.

[bodomaniac]

Wow, great info, Leafcake. Thanks for dispensing this on us. Will be an interesting parcours to say the least, albeit perhaps not nearly the challenging one we saw this year.

[micomico]

Jayhawk, on 26 July 2011 - 08:21 PM, said:

I don't understand it. Were there complaints about Zomegnan before this year's Giro? He's done much to make this GT truly grand.

Jayhawk, unfortunately, although on one side he made for some dramatic parcours, there were plenty of detractions to choose from.

Courses were not always designed with the safety of riders in mind. Remember the rider's protesting about the Milan streets during the year when LA rode? And the final TT that year had a number of riders hit the floor. Not just that, riders have lamented going into tunnels in the mountains that were unlight, hoping to come out ok, other issues over the years, cars on the side of the roads, long transfer times, Angelo publicly striking out against riders including LA, who shut down press interviews. He attacked DSs, even the UCI when they shut down Crostis. In interviews he comes out as arrogant, and not mindful of riders' needs.

After the death of 108 he still railed against what he thought was softness by the DSs concerning a safety issue, and interference by the UCI. That was a big slap in the face to the organization; imagine that happening (not) in the Tour.

LA noted after his first (and only) Giro about the general safety measures, or dearth of them.

If AS had a problem with a descent in the Tour, he would have been hiding women and children riding Giros.

I think Angelo was trying to compete against the Tour, and to some effect had success, but partly on the back of the rider's safety. The Giro got so hard few would use it to get ready for the Tour. I had mentioned this last week, and saw Buddy's post today that they are making it less hard this year, which just makes sense. I think that you will see more balance in the Giro's to come, in many ways.

This post has been edited by micomico: 27 July 2011 - 05:11 PM

[VdB]

micomico, on 27 July 2011 - 05:06 PM, said:

I think Angelo was trying to compete against the Tour, and to some effect had success, but partly on the back of the rider's safety. The Giro got so hard few would use it to get ready for the Tour. I had mentioned this last week, and saw Buddy's post today that they are making it less hard this year, which just makes sense. I think that you will see more balance in the Giro's to come, in many ways.

I'm not saying this to be facetious or because I don't think the Giro shouldn't make parcours changes (particularly less ridiculous climbing stages), but: does this mean that the Giro will essentially become the training GT for the Tour, with the Vuelta being the 'GT of missed TdF chances'? The latter has already been true for many years, and seems to be more so than ever this year.

[Burkni]

Don't think many top-level riders want to do the Giro as Tour prep. It's just too much, especially considering the other fine options on offer.

Special cases like Cancellara in 2009 exist, where he used the Giro to build form and lose weight from rock-bottom form after a forfeited classics season.