Are the stages too long at the Giro d’Italia? Whoever gets bored, change the channel

Throw a strange air to the Tour of Italya dualism that is not the one, announced and expected, between Remco Evenepoel e Primož Roglič. Unexpected at least in ways because, although the subject has been whispered several times over the years, this time it was blatant, broadcast on Rai. On the indictment of the “Process at the Stage” the length of the stages was named as the main defendant. Guilty of undermining the spectacular nature of this sport, of the Giro d’Italia in particular and, specifying even more, of the live broadcast on television.

Se i 202 kilometres dishes of the second stage, the Teramo-San Salvo, had triggered a few coughs among the animators of the Process, at the end of the third the duel took place between Mauro Vegni, director of the Giro, and the Rai team, led by Alessandro Fabrettito advocate this anti-yawn campaign.

Stages of 120 kilometres, sprints with bonuses to the Gpm and other variants of “original” solutions, the accusation seemed to want to suggest this to an astonished Vegni whose facial expressions alone were worth to understand the doubts and perplexities that were revealed in front of him . There are two critical aspects of such a “riot”: 1) wanting to replace the organizers in the name of the people who follow, and Vegni rightly replied that “we listen to the people too, on the street and in the squares”. I would add that the further the Giro goes, the more people it reaches and takes to the streets; 2) it seems that a controversy was wanted to be made public which could have been the subject of technical meetings between RCS and Rai, as they say, dirty laundry is washed at home.

It has been, and I believe it will be, a tough tear to overcome without consequences. Back to the question girlif the problem falls on the television product which becomes difficult to manage, review the terms of the contracts, Rai give up the integral and broadcast only the last 50 kilometers of the so-called “flat calm” stages.

I stop here because I don’t know these terms and I don’t want to make the mistake of substituting myself for those who should know how to do their job, on both sides. The Giro has existed since 1909, the Trial since 1963 and TV had already embraced and expanded the popularity of the Corsa Rosa. Who knows with what joy fans of the 60s would have enjoyed watching 200 or even 250 kilometers on television, from the first to the last metre, without ever getting bored.

The Giro d’Italia is a competition sporty but it also tells the story of the territories, a country, its people. Anyone who suffers from boredom can use the remote control if they don’t fall asleep.