Stage 19 Preview: When we went to Napoli back in April to look at the climb of Vesuvio, we only imagined and hoped for an epic showdown on the immense climb. At that point, a showdown between Danilo Di Luca and Denis Menchov wasn't possible, but here we are, the day has come, and it's time for the world to meet Mt. Vesuvius.
I've read a lot all over the place about Stage17's Blockhaus stage and today's climb of Vesuvius. Many have said that Blockhaus was the final epic climb of this year's Giro, and that the climb to Vesuvius isn't up to par.
If you're one of those people - you're wrong. Let's take a little look at a famous climb you might have heard of:
Alpe d'Huez: 13.8, 7.8%
Vesuvio: 13k, 7.3%
I'm not saying that Vesuvio is Alpe d'Huez, but it's in the ballpark. There is more than enough opportunity for the players to get in one final uphill Hail Mary.
Let's face the hard facts here: the run-in to Vesuvius is not super mountainous, but it's hilly, the road on the Amalfi Coast is constantly turning, narrow, up, and down. The riders will not arrive to the base of the final climb in Ercolano fresh and happy. This stage should be fantastic.
Back To The Original Tale
First off, Napoli isn't the first place I'd go for a bike tour. Outside of the city a bit, things are lovely and peaceful, but anywhere near the sprawling metropolis of Napoli and you're in for some major car dodging. Feel like you've seen some crazy driving before? You haven't seen Napoli. The cars seem to have an elevation limit though - once you cross a certain meter mark above sea level, they seem to disappear. Thankfully, Vesuvius is a welcome benefactor to this imaginary barrier.
It isn't too awfully hard to find the base of the climb. We took the local train, Circumvesuviana, to the Ercolano stop, hopped out, and started asking everyone we saw: Vesuvio? Vesuvio? It isn't too tough when you ask every other person you see walking down the street.
The climb gains 1000 meters in just under 13km.
As for the riders? They'll have survived 18 previous stages, and a lumpy parcours mostly along the Amalfi Coast before they hit Ercolano - and then it's all uphill from there.
The road starts out moderately as it moves upward through and out of town. The climb will not be confused with beautiful along this section, but as for all things Neapolitan, there's something attractive about the grunginess. It's endearing.
As you move out of the city buildings and up toward the upper reaches of the town, the road begins to steepen. For once, the above picture actually gives an indication of the steepness. There's a fair bit over 10% along this stretch.
And just in case you were thinking that this was a basic paved climb, ha, we've got about 50m of cobbles for you to enjoy. There's the off-hand chance that this could have been the wrong road for this small section, but after much research and map staring, this looks right, which means there's a little bit of pave (steep!) to take care of en route to the top.
Soon after the tiny tromp across the cobbles, the sculptures begin to show up. I know absolutely nothing about the sculptures, but they come in any and all shapes and sizes throughout the middle section of the climb. They're interesting, sometimes amusing, and all of the time pleasantly distracting.
This was the amusing one. It still makes me smile.
At this point, we were fairly far removed from the bustle of Naples and Ercolano. We hadn't seen a car in quite sometime, and yet the road was absolutely jam-packed with garbage. Where does it come from? Is there a party up here on the weekends?
As for the road itself? It's uniformly steep along this stretch and quite curvaceous. The road enters a beautiful, lush forest for a bit before emerging back out into the open mountainside.
The double digit percentage grade was tough, but never ridiculous. If anything, it was pleasant, as we were able to get ever higher over Napoli, and the threatening clouds actually lifted a bit, allowing us to get expansive views of the area. Ok, so it's not evident from the picture. Bear with me, it gets better on the way down.
I'm no race tactician, but I'm guessing that this is where the race will be really hard. This is the hardest part of the climb, and if a rider wants to make a difference, this will be the section to go.
See, I'm not lying, it's steep here. I think the steepest section goes up around 14% or so.
The climb is actually really entertaining throughout. It starts in town, moves up through the many buildings, then alternates between lush forests and open mountainside. After a couple swaps between forest and open, the road widens and with it, a leveling of the grade a bit.
I don't mean that the grade is easy or anything, but the double digit grades gradually recede, and a more Tour de France-esque 7-9% grade is the order of the remainder of the climb.
At this point, we were in the middle of the clouds. The rain that had been threatening, was finally delivering on its promise, but for once, it wasn't all that bad. The temperatures were warm, the raindrops almost pleasant.
There's something nice about climbing in the clouds. Normally, I'm not too keen on riding in the rain and all of that nonsense, but the riding through the clouds deal is awesome. It feels all hardcore. Tough. It isn't really, but hey, it never hurts to get a little bit of that tough feeling, especially when you're getting to the latter part of a 13k, tough climb.
Just as I was getting used to the fact that we wouldn't see anything beyond about 50m fore and aft, the clouds suddenly rose, the sun poked through, and we were almost done.
The upper part of the climb shows off the unique everything that is a volcano. Sometimes it's hard to keep it in mind that you're riding up a volcano, not to mention a volcano that obliterated a civilization. That fact is by itself fairly sobering, but basic things like the trees, plants, and rocks are completely different. I have never seen anything like it. I'm not botanist, but I do know when something is different than normal - and the flora on Vesuvius is definitely different. Yet another aspect to keep you thinking about anything but the actual physical effort of climbing...not that the likes of Basso or Armstrong or Leipheimer will notice.
As we finally reached the summit, we ran smack into the tourist hordes. The tour buses bring the people to the top, they get out, take pictures, hop back in, and then the poor bus driver gets to honk 'round every corner the whole way down while everyone inside talks louder than the person next to them, until...I digress. This particular American tourist didn't know we were American I think and scoffed the following obnoxious utterance: "Oh my GOD, I can't BELIEVE anyone would do something like that." She wasn't very nice. We don't like you either.
We stopped at the top as well, parked the bikes, let them take a nap with the local dog, and had an ice cream.
Trash? We've got your trash. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere, there's trash a'plenty. I ask again: where does it all come from?
The views heading back down were spectacular. The constantly changing cloud cover made for an entertaining viewing experience. Sometimes rain, sometimes negative visibility...
...and sometimes huge views. The descent itself is tons of fun. There's nothing worse than a tough climb that doesn't at least give up a good descent. Vesuvio offers up a lovely descent, so take heart in that.
Towards the bottom, we were bumping over the miniscule cobbled section when we ran into a group of men playing bocce. Ashley said ciao. They stood agape, staring at her, and no one said a word. She said ciao again, and they suddenly snapped to attention and a chorus of ciao bella's rained down. Gotta love it.
Questions? Comments? Happy? Angry? Even if you just feel like chatting, send me an email: jered at pezcyclingnews dot com.
Looking for more pictures? Head on over to Flickr for the full tour.
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
When the now defunct Belgian newspaper Het Volk first organized Omloop Het Volk in 1945 to capitalize on the growing popularity of bicycling racing ... More....
When you get an invite from the nation’s premier component maker to join a metric century in wine country that is fully catered, you grab the clean ... More....
Six Day racing comes to Berlin for the 99th time on Thursday, 28th January, 2010 with the great tradition of winter track racing in Germany in a ... More....
One more day, one more sprint! Sky had the goods to finish the week Down Under the same way they started: 1-2. The rest of the favorites were hot on ... More....
American Classic spent the last couple of years reworking their line up and the 420 Aeros are the latest to leave the bench. Take a look at the new ... More....
A couple years in the making, Pez head up to see arguably the top custom builder on the planet. We hit Serotta's NY shop, take a peek at their ... More....
You’ve still got today and all of tomorrow to ‘git ‘er done! Your holiday shopping that is… and armed with the complete set of 4 gift guides ... More....
If the stocking's not full - somebody's not doing their job. Good thing we're here to help with a big ol' bag full of the kind of stuff we'd love to ... More....
Winter riding is almost upon us - except for you lucky Aussies - and that means less riding outdoors. But with an indoor trainer and a Netflix ... More....
Many ergogenic aids, both legal and illegal, have been touted as the magic bullet that will improve cycling performance. What about something that ... More....
Having goals is one of the important first steps in achieving your dreams. They can be small goals or they can be big goals, but without them you’ll ... More....
Is cycling your religion, or at least one of them? If so, you’re not alone. Many people define themselves as “spiritual,” even if they don’t practice ... More....
Post-Giro Roadside: I love Scotland; but there’s no Gazzetta in the morning, most of the coffee tastes like John Wayne brewed it beside the ... More....
Sunday July 20th 1969; that’s 40 years ago now but I remember it clearly as the day that I first became aware of professional bicycle racing – I was ... More....
Roadside Recap: As we make our merry way through the rounds of the PEZ Looks Back, Ed is up for his retrospective on the Tour that was. As the ... More....
Coming on four years ago, Saul Raisin was one of THE big things in US pro cycling. Top 40 in a hard Tour de Suisse and mountain king at the Tour de ... More....
The last time we spoke to Garmin's Steve Cozza was after the 2008 Paris - Tours; where he produced another solid performance from a consistent and ... More....
Just about to start his second season with Cervélo - thanks to strong Classic rides and his first Grand Tour finish, in the Giro - Englishman, Dan ... More....
In October, nine-time Tour de France rider Frankie Andreu announced that he would be Director Sportif of the Ohio-based KENDA Pro Cycling p/b ... More....
With so many (too many?) others looking back to best-of-2009 or decade highlights, why not look ahead? A new decade beckons, after all, so who better ... More....
We first talked with Lostende Bike Tours owner and avid cyclist Allan Reeves about his Pyrenees Cycling Challenge, from the Atlantic to the ... More....
So, riding in Texas is mostly flat, with only tumbleweeds and armadillos to avoid right? Well, not exactly. You see, Austin is situated in what’s ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
When the now defunct Belgian newspaper Het Volk first organized Omloop Het Volk in 1945 to capitalize on the growing popularity of bicycling racing ... More....
When you get an invite from the nation’s premier component maker to join a metric century in wine country that is fully catered, you grab the clean ... More....
Race report: Alejandro Valverde stayed upright to seal his Vuelta victory – the first Grand Tour win of his career. On such a short stage, ... More....
Race Report: Today David Millar won his 5th stage in all his Vuelta’s, he was given one of the swords that Toledo is famous for along with the ... More....
Updated! Hallelujah, they're racing in Qatar, and I just got back from celebrating with every other New Orleanian on Bourbon Street. There's ... More....
It was a dark Sunday morning in Italy when the news services announced that Franco Ballerini, ex-professional, former dual Paris-Roubaix winner and ... More....
The maracas shake, 'Cara mia, mine !' blasts from the PA. Bang! The little cannon fires and the hall fills with smoke. Yes, this is the right place, ... More....
When the K-Mart Classic of West Virginia stormed through the state in the mid-90s, it opened awareness as to just how great the bike riding is in ... More....
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
As the final Madison got underway the arena was packed to the rafters, all the talk of Six Days in crisis forgotten for now. The finale was ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/amclass/amc420alarge.jpg",900,698);)
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/serotta/meilarge.jpg",2000,1244);)
