Ice, snow, fog, rain and epic summit finishes. Some of the images of last year’s Giro D’Italia are seared in my mind.
I’m hoping we get more of the same over the next three weeks, and I’m hoping our boys are in the thick of it.
Matching last year’s record tally, 10 Aussies will begin the Giro when a 21.7-kilometre team time trial opens the race in Belfast, Northern Ireland, early Saturday morning Australian time.
Undeniably, in possibly his final Grand Tour, Cadel Evans should be the best performed of the Aussies.
Last year he was so close to finishing second before fading into third, but given his indifferent form it was a tremendous feat. Despite being another year older, there’s no reason he can’t come close to matching that achievement.
The Tour de France is a massive distraction removed from his life. Cadel now knows there’s nothing to hold back for. He got everything out of the Giro de Trentino, a race win giving him the perfect lead-in, and has had some time for resting and perfecting his knowledge of the Giro parcours.
Cadel didn’t win a stage last year, but one Aussie did and he’s back again in 2014 for his seventh straight Grand Tour start.
Adam Hansen is achieving cult status in cycling in this run of Grand Tour rides. Should he get through this season unscathed he’ll equal the feat of Spaniard Marino Lejarreta, who rode all the GTs between 1989 and 1991. Lejarreta also completed all three in 1987.
Hansen comes into the Giro off the back of ninth on GC at the Tour of Turkey, and with “permission” to ride his own race, like Cadel, Lotto-Belisol’s hard man will be eyeing some personal glory.
Last year, Mark Cavendish took the sprinter’s honours at the Giro with five stage wins. He’s not there this year but Marcel Kittel is, and could dominate a sprint field that will provide two Aussies with a barometer of how good they really are.
Michael Matthews and Nathan Haas have had good seasons.
Matthews has continued to build on his twin victories at last year’s Vuelta a Espana with two wins in April and a second-place finish at Brabantse Pijl. It’s a strong Orica-GreenEDGE squad with quality in all the disciplines, but Matthews is the man when it comes to the fast, flat stuff. The confidence the squad will have gained from their recent deluge of wins can only be a boost.
Over at Garmin Sharp, Haas is gearing up for his second GT, which just happens to be his second Giro. He’ll be aiming to finish this edition after failing to start Stage 16 last year.
But solid results all through this season, including 12th overall at the Criterium International, sixth at Brabantse Pijl, and finishes in Amstel Gold, Fleche-Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege have given him a perfect preparation.
Another Aussie sprinter is a late addition to the Giro start list. Chris “CJ” Sutton replaces Peter Kennaugh in the Sky line-up after the Brit succumbed to illness that has bugged him since before Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Sutton has just finished Tour de Romandie, where his results gave no indication as to how well he’s riding – he never finished higher than 111th in any stage – but he did finish the race. Likewise, Sutton finished 100th in the Tour of Flanders.
Those numbers don’t suggest a big Giro awaits, but he’s a wily customer and while he’ll be expected to ride for Ben Swift, an opportunity is only a crash away.
I was expecting a lot from Cam Meyer at the Tour de Romandie, so was a little disappointed not to see him rise above 40th on GC. This is Meyer’s sixth Grand Tour and fourth Giro. Four times he’s finished top 10 in a stage, but he’s never finished higher than 130th on GC. He’ll go better this year.
Luke Durbridge will have his eyes firmly on the team time trial, and on the individual time trial on Stage 12. His only GT experience was at last year’s Giro when he finished 142nd, so ‘Turbo Durbo’ knows what it takes to complete a three-week race.
A second place at VDK-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde, where Durbridge finished ahead of names like Marcel Kittel and Nicki Terpstra in the early April race, was followed by a solid 90th at Paris Roubaix, but he hasn’t raced since.
The TTT will get Durbridge fired up, and the undulating nature of Stage 12 could see him threaten the pointy end of the stage.
There’s a Grand Tour debut for Michael Hepburn, who’s been exposed to some serious racing this season. The Tour de Romandie, Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wavelgem, E3 Harelbeke, Tirreno Adriatico and Tours of Oman and Qatar – Hepburn has been one of Orica-GreenEDGE’s busiest riders this season. A three-week test will be unlike no other, and way longer than anything he’s ever attempted.
The final Aussie at Orica-GreenEDGE is suiting up for his eighth Giro. Brett Lancaster won a Giro stage nine years ago but, like last year, his preparation this time included a DNF at Romandie. He didn’t finish Milan San Remo or the Volta Catalunya either, but his engine here will be vital in the team time trial and on the sprint stages.
Finally, David Tanner arrives with the Ardennes Classics as his Giro preparation. His only Grand Tour prior to this was last year at the Vuelta, where he rolled across the finish line in 106th.
It’s quite a young team for Belkin at the Giro with 23-year-old Wilco Kelderman given leadership responsibilities and a free ride to mix it when he feels he can. Tanner is one of the oldest Belkin riders at the race so will be expected to help Kelderman deal with arguably the hardest parcours of all the Grand Tours.
But most Aussie eyes will be on Cadel. Can he take out a fairy-tale second Grand Tour? It will mean beating the likes of Nairo Quintana, Ryder Hesjedal, Joaquim Rodriguez and Rigoberto Uran.
For me Quintana is probably too good but Cadel’s toughness and experience are a match for the others. The battle for this podium promises to be better than the one for that race in July.
Can. Not. Wait.
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