Woke up this morning and was reading the sports- Lo and behold, the Giro del Friuli is today, and they are doing 5 circuits of the climb from Sarone to Castello di Caneva. So I decided to ride over and watch. I took the back way down through Marsure, Aviano, Budoia, Santa Lucia and Polcenigo because it's all downhill. Hate to admit it but I hurt my legs walking yesterday. The tire shop was workin on my car for a couple of hours so I decided to walk around the perimeter of the air base, about 10 km. When I finished, the area where my quads connect to my torso was killing me. I guess those muscles don't get used much pedaling.
So after Polcenigo I headed up the climb at Sarone. There were lots of people lining the road waiting for the peleton, so I took it easy- didn't want them to mistake me for Andy Schleck or Franco Pellizotti. A race motorcyclist told me "Arrivano" so I pulled over and got out my camera. The riders had just been given their musettes, so they were pretty laid back. After all the riders and team cars passed (with roofs covered with DeRosa, Colnago, Pinarello Dogma, Wilier Cento Uno, Ridley Noah, Kuota, Cippolini, Bianchi 928) I continued on up the hill to the Bivio di Sarone at 200 meters. I waited there with other folks who were riding up on beautiful bikes, or walking from the town below. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. Finally the bunch came through on their second circuit and I snapped more pictures. After they were gone I headed down past Castello di Caneva, then down to Caneva. Very nice descent. I headed east on Via Pedemontana Occidentale past Fiaschetti, when a race motorcyclist told me to pull over "A destra" by a farmhouse. A big black malinois barked at my intrusion. A lady from the farmhouse came out to watch the race and after the battistrada zoomed by, there was a long wait. "Che distacco!" she said, wondering where the main bunch was. Finally they came by, faster now because they were on the flats. Again the team cars loaded with bikes zipped by, and I headed on my way.
After riding up/down several rollers (the climb from Caneva to my town is like taking two steps up and one step back down, repeatedly) I was on the penultimate hill, at Marsure. A guy the size of Jan Ullrich on a Pinarello FP was going slow ahead, I passed him spinning and said "Salve!" I then noticed he'd caught back up, and when we reached the last climb (the steepest) he stood and passed. He explained that he'd ridden all the way up the Consiglio and down to Vittorio Veneto and was heading home. I was impressed, and felt bad for making him speed up when he was tired. But it worked out- after the top, he accelerated and I got to draft while he zoomed along about 35 kph. Very refreshing cool down.
Back home I checked the news and found the results of the race:
I was sad to see Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso, or Franco Pellizotti didn't place higher, but maybe they're saving up for later. But it was good to see Italian national champion Pippo Pozzato did well.
The race report from Velonews:
Italian rider Roberto Ferrari (De Rosa) won Wednesday’s Giro del Friuli in Italy.
A big group of 24 riders couldn’t stay away in the 190km race in the Pordenone region of northern Italy.
With the break neutralized, Ferrari out-kicked Jacobo Guarnieri (Liquigas), with Enrico Rossi (Flaminia) crossing the line third. Italian champ Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) crossed the tape in fifth place.
The 26-year-old Ferrari is on a hot streak, also taking the flowers in Sunday’s GP di Lugano in Switzerland.
The one-day race returned last year following a five-year absence, with Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) taking the flowers. Cyclists cover two laps on an opening circuit around Brugnera, then head north toward a five-lap finishing circuit that includes steep Castello di Caneva climb in the final 10km.
Among the big names were Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), making his season debut after suffering with knee pain earlier in the season, former winner Franco Pellizotti and Ivan Basso (Liquigas).
and some pics:
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