Well the Giro d'Italia has just ended in Rome, after three difficult weeks, of mountains and rain, racing about 3450 kms, with 52,350 metres of climbing. Putting the climbing into perspective, that is the equivalent of climbing 171,752 feet, or climbing Mount Everest almost six times !
The top five were Simon Yates 1st, Isaac Del Toro 2nd, Richard Carapaz 3rd, Derek Gee 4th and Damiano Caruso 5th.
The final stage was typical for a Grand Tour, (There are only three Grand Tours: Le Tour de France, the Giro d”Italia and the Vuelta a España) relatively flat, culminating with a mass sprint at the finish. Therefore, there is not a great chance for the top riders to win the final stage, as top tier sprinting is a discipline usually reserved for the specialist (and that sprinters are usually far too muscular, so much too heavy, to drag themselves over the high mountains, so they lose a lot of time on every mountain stage, making it almost impossible for a sprinter to win a stage race.) This race was no different and the final top GC riders finished in the pack (peloton) and remained in the same position as yesterday.
So the good news is ... our Canadian rider from Ottawa, Derek Gee, finished fourth, although not on the podium of the top three. But do not dismay ... there is more Canadian content !
The first place finisher, was a Brit, riding a ‘Cervelo’, which was designed in Toronto (Yes although Cervelo was purchased by an American company a few years ago, all they do in the States is marketing, while the bikes are still designed in Ontar...iari...ari...oh. Meanwhile Derek’s bike, was a British ‘Factor’, but it too was designed in Toronto ! But it doesn’t end there, as the best American rider, finished 9th, a full 7 minutes and 13 seconds behind our Canadian, Derek Gee. So not a bad set of stats.
Congrats to Derek, and to Ottawa, for sending him as our Canadian ambassador to the EU ! Let’s keep up our great relationship with Italy and the rest of the EU !
Next will be Le Tour de France, in July, then the Vuelta, in late August and here we go again … the World Championships next year in MONTREAL !
Giro d'Italia
Well the Giro d'Italia has just ended in Rome, after three difficult weeks, of mountains and rain, racing about 3450 kms, with 52,350 metres of climbing. Putting the climbing into perspective, that is the equivalent of climbing 171,752 feet, or climbing Mount Everest almost six times !
The top five were Simon Yates 1st, Isaac Del Toro 2nd, Richard Carapaz 3rd, Derek Gee 4th and Damiano Caruso 5th.
The final stage was typical for a Grand Tour, (There are only three Grand Tours: Le Tour de France, the Giro d”Italia and the Vuelta a España) relatively flat, culminating with a mass sprint at the finish. Therefore, there is not a great chance for the top riders to win the final stage, as top tier sprinting is a discipline usually reserved for the specialist (and that sprinters are usually far too muscular, so much too heavy, to drag themselves over the high mountains, so they lose a lot of time on every mountain stage, making it almost impossible for a sprinter to win a stage race.) This race was no different and the final top GC riders finished in the pack (peloton) and remained in the same position as yesterday.
So the good news is ... our Canadian rider from Ottawa, Derek Gee, finished fourth, although not on the podium of the top three. But do not dismay ... there is more Canadian content !
The first place finisher, was a Brit, riding a ‘Cervelo’, which was designed in Toronto (Yes although Cervelo was purchased by an American company a few years ago, all they do in the States is marketing, while the bikes are still designed in Ontar...iari...ari...oh. Meanwhile Derek’s bike, was a British ‘Factor’, but it too was designed in Toronto ! But it doesn’t end there, as the best American rider, finished 9th, a full 7 minutes and 13 seconds behind our Canadian, Derek Gee. So not a bad set of stats.
Congrats to Derek, and to Ottawa, for sending him as our Canadian ambassador to the EU ! Let’s keep up our great relationship with Italy and the rest of the EU !
Next will be Le Tour de France, in July, then the Vuelta, in late August and here we go again … the World Championships next year in MONTREAL !