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Marco Pinotti, Saunier Duval-Prodir

19 March 2006

Giro Reconnaissance, Stages 7 & 8

The day after Tirreno-Adriatico we (me, Zaugg, Bertogliati and Trentin) stayed in Abruzzo and went to spot the final climb of Giro d'Italia's Stage 8 of Passo Lanciano. We started early in the morning and covered the final hilly 50K of the stage. The climb is pretty hard, constant in its hardness, with an average gradient of 9% along the final 12K.

At the top, surrounded by lots of snow and some skiers, we had some showers and we started to check out the climbs of stage 7 Cesena to Saltara. [stage profile]

We drove along the "Adriatica", stopped for a lunch, and despite a delay caused by an accident on the autoroute, we arrived at the foot of Monte Catria at 4 PM. We climbed it by car and soon we understood that that stage will be really hard. The road after some kilometers are still covered by lots of snow and it will require lots of work to make it possible to pass. We couldn't cover all of the climb, but were forced to go back by the conditions of the road.

Then we drove through Fossombrone and saw the last climb of stage 7, a 9K climb that requires a 39x28 I think. After the descent it was getting dark, we came back home and I arrived late in the night.

Next step now: Coppi & Bartali, after some recover, of course.

Bye, Marco

Read more of Pinotti's Inside Scoop
News Special: Longing for the Giro, New book by Gijs Zandbergen and Marco Pinotti

Marco Pinotti's website.