The accumulation of snow is brutal in the Stelvio a few days before the Giro pass
Stunned, that’s how I was when I discovered, on TV, the magnificence of the Giro passing through the Stelvio for the first time.
It was 30 years ago, that famous Aprica stage in which the Stelvio was at the start of the day, with Franco Vona escaping.
Nothing relevant happened, apparently, although The fatigue of the Stelvio was carried by the Giro favorites with Mortirolo as the next colossus of the day.
This time we see that the monster may not be able to ascend.
The Stelvio is accumulating a lot of events, so much so that several days before the Giro passes, its cancellation is suspected.
Whether it happened or not, I wanted to bring you a story…
A few years ago I was able to attend a very interesting talk that presented a book about cycling from the point of view of port and road engineers.
The edition of it, more than 300 pages in soft cover binding, wide American spine and perfect quality pagination, was carried out by several members of the Barcelona College of such a distinguished profession under the yoke of the passion of the bicycle.
Among other topics of extraordinary depth, I went to mountain passes.
I understood that as port engineers they had something to say.
And they did: They dedicated a chapter called “Why do ports usually have a 7% average gradient?”..
There is an explanation: its construction date.
Modern ports contemplate this difference, the previous ones usually do not respect it.
Currently we have ports that follow the same original layout: Aubisque, Tourmalet, Izoard, La Madeleine, Pailères,… all exceed seven percent, since in their case they were laid out in the 19th century.
At the end of the aforementioned century, people were already beginning to talk about rationalizing the percentages.
In the article titled “Determination of the maximum slope that is appropriate to overcome high heights on roads” the Public Works Magazine shed light on the issue.
There were ports with eight-percent stretches separated by brief “landings.”
The mule-drawn carts and the incipient cars needed these facilities if they did not want to fall downhill and reverse.
In these parameters are located Hautacam, Light Ardiden, Plateau de Beille,.
And yes, the Passo dello Stelvio is among the first.
Its construction is a work of engineering formulated a little less than two hundred years ago.
There was an urgent need to connect the Austro-Hungarian Empire with Lombardy.
The factory, designed by Carlos Donegani, arouses as many compliments as its hardness and undeniable scenic and legendary appeal; these ramps were conquered by Fausto Coppi.
Its 48 horseshoe curves through the eternal valley raised on masonry ashlars cause a sensation among photographers..
Its route linked the cities of Bormio and Pratto Stevio, or what is the same, Lombardy and Trentino by slopes whose gradient exceeds 1,800 meters.
Today that connection is made through modern tunnels and the port has remained a large natural and open-air thematic part of the cycling and human epic, since enormous combats of the First World War were seen here, the one that they say buried the great empires. , but which the Stelvio survived.
For this article I have needed the help of the book “Engineering on the bicycle” by Fundación Esteyco and especially the chapter signed by a bicycle madman, Oriol.
Image taken from
2024-05-16 15:03:12
#Alaphilippes #victory #Giro #welldeserved #award
