Friuli is a small region, beyond Venicenestled between Slovenia and Austrianot very large in extension compared to the neighboring Venetobut formidable in the memory of Ivan Basso because in Friuli stands the Zoncolana mountainous colossus where Basso began to sentence his second Giro..
The third stage of the virtual Giro walks through these places, for almost 27 kilometers of the final circuit planned in San Daniele del Friuli, finish scheduled for the 16th stage.
"It's a route that has a pass of almost three kilometers at 10% average and peaks of 16%" describes Ivan Basso, who explains the gastronomic value of the place, cradle of the prosciutto crudo of San Daniele, the other great denomination of the jamthe other major appellation of origin in Italy, along with Parma, in neighboring Emilia.
Memories on the Zoncolan
As we ride through Friuli, the Zoncolan comes up every other word in conversation with Ivan Basso. Exactly ten years ago, a crazy Giro took place on the Italian peninsula, with memorable stages such as the sterrato and the breakaway at L' Aquila.
From those stages emerged a cyclist from Talavera, David Arroyowho had options almost to the end, options to win. Basso's assault on the Spaniard had two episodes, the first on the Zoncolan: "It was a very special day, we can consider it a vertical stadium, people should leave the car down and walk up. Here the head counts, don't get overloaded, take the best out of every step and winning is like doing it on the Stelvio or the Mortirolo, it's a mythical summit.”.
Ivan describes the Zoncolan as "the day of the comeback" although it was on the Mortirolo where he took command of the race: "We managed to unhook Arroyo on the climb. The descent was terrible, very complicated, it's incredible how everything can go wrong in one bad step".
In 2006, Ivan Basso had been the first rider to win the race. pink jersey also for the Friuli.
Real sensations in a virtual environment
With two stages already held Ivan admits that "the feeling of competing in virtual is good. You coincide with names like Ballan, Chiapucci or TafiWe are connected by Zoom of the Gazzetta and we talk about old times".
He hopes to be able to go out soon with his bike, but today more than ever "digital is our ally in the day to day and I think it has come to stay and be a perfect complement".
Texts:JoanSeguidor's Notebook
