(electronic music)
- It's the Grande Partenza.
Tomorrow, here in the city of Bologna,
the 2019 Giro d'Italia will kick off
with an eight kilometer individual time trial
which I'm about to ride.
(upbeat rock music)
(traditional Italian music)
Bologna is around two hours southeast of Milan.
It's the seventh most populous city of Italy,
home to just under 400,000 residents.
Soon, though, it will see the cycling circus come to town.
The 102nd edition of the race
is a little over 3,500 kilometers long
but it starts with a stage of just eight.
This individual time trial is just a little too long
to be classed as a prologue, so this will be stage one.
Exactly eight kilometers in length,
this would normally be a 10 minute effort, if it was flat
and it is for the first six Ks
before we get to a serious sting in the tail,
the climb up to San Luca, more on that later.
The start ramp itself is going to be located
very close to the fountain of Neptune
which you can see behind me, which was completed in 1563
and, in fact, if you look at the trident there at the top,
that was the inspiration to the Maserati brothers
when they were designing their logo
for their new make of car many years ago.
(upbeat music)
The first part of the time trial is all
on pretty good city roads that are completely straight
and, in fact, the first turn comes here.
That's the Porta San Felice
which used to be the westernmost gate
in the medieval walls of Bologna
before they were all torn down.
Built in the 13th century, restored in the 16th
and then restored again before Napoleon visited in 1805,
35 years before the walls were all torn down.
(upbeat music)
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That final sting in the tail is made even worse
by the fact that there's a U-turn going into it.
This is the start of the climb
to San Luca, the Colle della Guardia.
Cycling aficionados will know this climb well
because it's used every autumn
as the finish climb of the Giro dell'Emilia
which has been won by the likes of Quintana,
Chaves, Ullrich, Fondriest, Bugno and Rominger.
This is a seriously tough test
which makes pacing more important than ever.
Go out too hard in these opening six flat kilometers
and you're going to die a thousand deaths up here.
This final climb averages 9.7% over 2.1 kilometers
with pitches of up to 16%.
(upbeat music)
This first bit is just such a shock to the system
after (gasps) completely flat road.
Straight into double digit gradients.
Well, I can just see a little bit of respite coming up.
Well, that is the steepest bit.
These two turns mark roughly halfway up this climb.
Road Book says 16% but I think,
if you take the inner part, which I just did,
I'd say that's well over 25%.
Feels like riding up a cliff.
And that doesn't do much for your morale either.
Although you're breaking the halfway point,
there's a straight wall from here too.
Right.
(slow electronic music)
This is absolutely horrific.
I'm dying a thousand deaths, myself.
(gasping)
I'm sure this is more than 12%.
That is a brute.
I knew it was gona be hard
but that was harder than I expected.
2.1 Ks, 9.7% average gradient and 16% max, supposedly,
but that was definitely more in that middle section.
The finish, I believe, is actually
a couple hundred meters behind you
just past this basilica church.
This is Santuario della Madonna di San Luca,
which was constructed between 1723 and 1757
and if we decided to walk up here today,
which probably would've been a lot nicer and easier,
we'd actually have gone through
the longest covered arcade in the world.
Four kilometers long, going through 666 arches.
Sounds like one for another time.
(upbeat music)
From the 18th century straight back to the 21st
and possibly a glimpse into the future.
Behind me you can see five World Tour pros on Zwift
and some of them have just completed
that eight kilometer time trial course virtually,
others are still finishing,
and this is a new partnership between Zwift and RCS Sport.
So you too at home will be able to ride
this exact course up the climb of San Luca
this Saturday, Sunday and Monday
and then after that the very specific event.
Now this is the start of a big partnership
between RCS and Zwift and there are rumors
that in the future the first stage of a grand tour
or a race could be entirely on Zwift.
Let us know your thoughts on that prospect
in the comment section down below.
Tosh Van der Sande, I think, is the current leader,
at least he was when I started filming,
but Edoardo Affini over here for Mitchelton-SCOTT
I think has just crossed the finish line.
Now he was pushing out over 450 watts, for the most part,
and it was a good six or seven
minutes before he opened his mouth.
That lad is pretty talented, I would say.
Right, well, I hope you've enjoyed our preview video
of the opening time trial course.
Let us know who you think is going to win stage one
in the comment section down below.
I'm really gonna go out on a limb and say Primoz Roglic.
I think he is the clear favorite for me.
We'll see what happens on Saturday.
Right, if you enjoyed this preview,
please give us a thumbs up just down below this video
and if you would like to see our big
GCN preview of the Giro d'Italia,
you can find that just over there.