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"You can also call it a circus" - Patrick Lefevere ridicules decision to race Monte Lussari time-trial at Giro d'Italia
CyclingSaturday, 27 May 2023 at 11:13
A lot of attention has been put over the last few months on Monte Lussari, the final climb of the Giro d'Italia which headlines the final time-trial. It's incredibly steep gradients and logistic issues have caused a lot of debate and controversy, and Patrick Lefevere is in disbelief that the riders will be forced to climb it.
“A time trial decides on the Giro today, although you can also call it a circus. I'm not going to weigh my words: how the course is now drawn, I am three hundred percent against," the manager of Soudal - Quick-Step wrote in his Het Nieuwsblad column. "I don't understand the fascination with those extreme percentages of increase. This Giro has provided proof: the steeper the mountain, the more often it gives birth to a mouse.”
The ascent was at risk of not taking part in the Giro, due to the massive logistical challenge it poses. Among others, riders will have a mandatory transition zone at the base of the climb, access to fans will be limited, riders will be supported by motorbikes and not cars, and then will have to travel down the mountain by cable car - adding to the fact that all riders will have bikes equipped with extremely light gears that are rarely ever seen in road cycling.
“In the Giro stage to Crans Montana, the peloton wanted a shortening of the stage and they got it. But then I don't understand why they let today's time trial pass. Ilan Van Wilder rides the time trial with a 36×34 gear. That's mountain biking, not road racing," Lefevere continues. "I think we should monitor the boundaries of the various disciplines more strictly.”
Soudal - Quick-Step hoped to have Remco Evenepoel battle up the ascent fighting for the Giro win, but since the Covid-19 outbreak the team was reduced to what is now only two riders. Ilan van Wilder has put up a good and consistent fight to get himself in the fight for secondary GC places, but it comes as little reward for the extensive preparation the team had for the Corsa Rosa.
“And then in the final ten decisive kilometers there is a mechanic on a motorcycle behind, with a bicycle over his shoulder. Are those the professional standards you want to propagate as a cycling sport? I think it's a farce," Lefevere concluded.
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