Route and Stages
The first Giro d'Italia was held in 1909, and the 2009 route was designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary, though interruptions due to World War I and World War II meant this was only the 92nd race. Milan, which had for years been the city in which the Giro concluded, was the site of a ten-lap criterium on the same circuit that began the first Giro d'Italia. Every city that hosted a stage start or finish in the first Giro was visited in 2009 with the exception of Genoa, although Arenzano (in the province of Genoa) hosted the finish to stage 11. The 11th stage also went over the Passo del Turchino, a climb used every year in the classic cycling race Milan – San Remo.
The tenth stage was planned to mimic stage 17 of the 1949 Giro d'Italia, which was won by Italian cycling legend Fausto Coppi en route to the overall victory. That route originally included the Col d'Izoard, a climb in France which has been featured in the Tour de France numerous times. Race organizers were forced to alter this stage to cover only the Italian side of the Alps rather than also visit France, as there were concerns over radio communication in the area, and the roads stood the risk of landslides. It was subsequently made longer than first planned, with an additional, shorter climb added. Stages 10 and 16, the latter of which went over Monte Petrano and two other first-category climbs, were both called the race's queen stage.
The route received a small amount of criticism for failing to include any well-known and especially difficult climbs such as the Passo del Mortirolo or Monte Zoncolan, instead including stages featuring multiple climbs with lesser ascents. Race director Angelo Zomegnan responded to the criticism by saying, "I won't follow the philosophy that the selection of climbs has to be determined by their names."
The 21 stages of the 2009 Giro d'Italia were divided into five categories: one team time trial, seven flat stages, four intermediate stages, seven mountain stages and two individual time trials. The type of stage together with the average speed of the winner decided how much time each cyclist would be allowed to finish that stage before being eliminated from the race.
Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 May | Lido (Venice) | 20.5 km (13 mi) | Team time trial | Team Columbia-High Road | ||
2 | 10 May | Jesolo to Trieste | 156 km (97 mi) | Flat stage | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) | ||
3 | 11 May | Grado to Valdobbiadene | 198 km (123 mi) | Flat stage | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) | ||
4 | 12 May | Padua to San Martino di Castrozza | 162 km (101 mi) | Mountain stage | Stefano Garzelli (ITA) | ||
5 | 13 May | San Martino di Castrozza to Alpe di Siusi | 125 km (78 mi) | Mountain stage | Denis Menchov (RUS) | ||
6 | 14 May | Brixen to Mayrhofen, Austria | 248 km (154 mi) | Intermediate stage | Michele Scarponi (ITA) | ||
7 | 15 May | Innsbruck, Austria, to Chiavenna | 244 km (152 mi) | Intermediate stage | Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) | ||
8 | 16 May | Morbegno to Bergamo | 209 km (130 mi) | Intermediate stage | Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR) | ||
9 | 17 May | Milan circuit race | 165 km (103 mi) | Flat stage | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | ||
18 May | Rest day | ||||||
10 | 19 May | Cuneo to Pinerolo | 262 km (163 mi) | Mountain stage | |||
11 | 20 May | Turin to Arenzano | 214 km (133 mi) | Flat stage | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | ||
12 | 21 May | Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore | 60.6 km (38 mi) | Individual time trial | Denis Menchov (RUS) | ||
13 | 22 May | Lido di Camaiore to Florence | 176 km (109 mi) | Flat stage | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | ||
14 | 23 May | Campi Bisenzio to Bologna | 172 km (107 mi) | Mountain stage | Simon Gerrans (AUS) | ||
15 | 24 May | Forlì to Faenza | 161 km (100 mi) | Intermediate stage | Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA) | ||
16 | 25 May | Pergola to Monte Petrano | 237 km (147 mi) | Mountain stage | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | ||
26 May | Rest day | ||||||
17 | 27 May | Chieti to Blockhaus | 83 km (52 mi) | Mountain stage | |||
18 | 28 May | Sulmona to Benevento | 182 km (113 mi) | Flat stage | Michele Scarponi (ITA) | ||
19 | 29 May | Avellino to Mount Vesuvius | 164 km (102 mi) | Mountain stage | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | ||
20 | 30 May | Naples to Anagni | 203 km (126 mi) | Flat stage | Philippe Gilbert (BEL) | ||
21 | 31 May | Rome | 14.4 km (9 mi) | Individual time trial | Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU) | ||
Total | 3,456.5 km (2,148 mi) |
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Famous quotes containing the words route and/or stages:
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—Edgar Allan Poe (18091849)
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—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)