The Giro d’Italia may have been created in the image of the Tour de France but it very quickly created its own identity and unique style and its own heroes. The fact that it stands full comparison with the Tour, the world’s biggest annual sporting event, serves only to underline what an extraordinary bike race and sporting spectacle it has become in its own right.
Colder, steeper, often higher, snowier, wetter, foggier, muddier, dustier and yet often more colourful than the Tour, the Giro can also be noisier, harder, friendlier and arguably more beautiful. With the Italian love of drama and intrigue, it has also witnessed more than its fair share of low-life cheating, skulduggery and rank unsportsmanlike behaviour in the ruthless pursuit of glory, fame and financial gain.
Historically the Giro has usually started in late April or the first week of May. Barely a month separates the end of the Giro and the start of the Tour these days and increasingly the dramatis personae are very different, with few GC riders now attempting the double. Its early season slot sets the tone, with the weather as uncertain as the riders’ form, and the elements can play a massive part in the narrative of the race particularly in the Dolomites and the Alps. The possible wintry condition of those big climbs, and therefore their scheduling as late as possible in the race, also ensures that the Giro builds to a natural crescendo in the last four or five days. Yet the rest of the Italian peninsula is so rugged and hilly that the decisive move or break can occur at any time.
The media interest and hype in the Giro is considerable, and following it can be a chaotic but more informal and intimate experience than the Tour. The crowds are often huge – particularly in the city finishes and mountaintops – and the tifosi are perhaps the most knowledgeable and passionate fans in the sport. Like them, we should appreciate the enormous challenge the riders face each year in this most brutal and beautiful of all cycling’s contests.
Brendan Gallagher
April 2017