Giro d’Italia 2019 – Day 2

The bandwidth at the hotel is poor, at best. That made doing Tuesday's blog entry hard. For now, I just have some notes and pictures. I will add more when I can.

Our group riding through a town with Giro decorations

I woke up this morning after a decent night's sleep. My wet clothes from yesterday were mostly dried by spending time on the radiators in our room. (I'm sharing rooms with my friend Rick.) We had a good breakfast. Today's ride was only 43 miles, but over 5,000 feet of climbing. The majority of that on the climb of Mortirolo. 

Today's route started with a pleasant ride through alpine villages and a long descent. I was thankful for the disc brakes on the Trek Domane SL7 I was riding. 

Photo along the Giro route

The highlight of the day, was a climb up Mortirolo. We went the "classic" route which was a 7-mile climb with an average grade of 10%. I had trouble when the grade got much over 12% (it went as high as 18%) and had to walk a decent bit of the way. When my speed was under 3mph, I was walking. (Of course, I wasn't going much faster pedaling!)

After riding up Mortirolo, supposedly the second hardest climb in Europe, we gathered for lunch. I was one of the last to get to the top, but some folks did not even attempt it. So, I was a bit disappointed, but not too badly. After lunch, we went outside to wait for the Giro riders to come up the same climb we had just don't. It was a bit foggy and drizzling, like it had been on our ride, but not bad. Over the next 20 minutes, the clouds descended and the rains fell. By the time the riders arrived it was pouring. 

Obligatory selfie in the Alps

The rider in the lead on Mortirolo was Giulio Ciccone, a young rider with Trek Segafredo. We will get a chance to meet that team tomorrow. They should be in a good mood as he went on to win the raise and is leading as the best climber in the Giro. 

Some more photos

The crowds near the top of Mortirolo shortly before the
clouds and rain rolled in, followed by the Giro riders

First two riders climbing Mortirolo