I admit that I witnessed the start of the new one Tour of Italy, the number 105, with various perplexities. The impromptu departure to Hungary. The absence of great champions such as Pogacar, Roglic, Bernal. The restriction of the field of favorites to the final victory to Carapaz alone, who, although he is the reigning Olympic champion, had the merit of having won the 2019 round thanks to a fake escape, underestimated by the more gifted Nibali and Roglic ( it is not the first time in the history of the tour: just remember the victory in 1954 by the Swiss Clerici, an unknown man who mocked Coppi and Magni). I add the scarcity of Italian candidates for a victory, even just in the stage. Because the generational change of Italian riders turns out to be more problematic than elsewhere.
Once again we are forced to hope for the remaining resources of Nibali at 37, the last Italian to have won the Giro in 2016. Like the rest of the Spaniards, they still rely on Valverde, 42, last season, who won only one long tour in his career, the Vuelta of Spain in 2009. Spanish champions like Contador and Indurain are not in sight. Even the French are no match for the greats of the past: Bobet, Anquetil, Hinault, who raided grand tours. It's no coincidence that they haven't won the Tour de France since 1985, the last of the 5 won by Hinault. The only hopes are entrusted to Bardet, who has just distinguished himself by winning the Tour des Alps last month.
Giro d'Italia 2022: the first three stages in Hungary
However, I must admit that already from the first three stages I had to change my mind. The magic of the Giro had its beneficial effect. Starting with the success of the Hungarian stages. Great success with the public, passionate, festive, disciplined. Spectacular television images of the monuments of Budapest, the mythical Danube, Lake Balaton. I was also impressed by the quality of the cycle paths: a real paved road parallel to the road course, safe and traveled by amateur cyclists who enjoyed competing for good stretches with the runners. I don't know how much the cost of the Giro's presence was incurred by the Hungarian authorities, but it certainly proved to be a good investment, if only in terms of tourist attraction. Because these are the grand tours that cross the chosen territories for three weeks. They require a substantial financial commitment from local institutions, which pays for itself with the television images transmitted by helicopters. A show within the show of modern cycling.
Then there are the stage results. They have gone beyond the wildest expectations. Firstly, the quality of the winners, in order the Dutch Van der Poel, the English Yates and Cavendish. All three feed reflections and stimuli of competitive interest.
Van der Poel heir to the cycling of the past
It's not like it used to be when the first ones were just boring approaching stages, with round winners destined to be soon forgotten. Mathieu Van der Poel is one of the great interpreters of current cycling. A talent like few are born. Plus the romantic personal story of being the cycling heir of the past: son of Adri, winner of the Tour of Flanders in 1986 and Liège in 1988, and nephew of the legendary Poulidor, known for never having won a Tour (3 times second, 4 times third) nor having ever worn the yellow jersey. His nephew Mathieu already wore the yellow jersey last year, dedicating it to his grandfather. And he's already in the pink jersey, as a rookie. Pundits wonder if he can ever win a grand tour, to fully redeem the underdog image of the hapless Poulidor. At present he is a day racing greyhound.
To win a grand tour he should plan to prepare for three long weeks of continuous effort. Work more on endurance and the ability to slow down efforts. Asking a thoroughbred could mean distorting it, this is what is feared. It must be said that the same perplexities arose in relation to the first period of Merckx, welcomed as one of the many sprinters, hunter of easy stages, who then surprised everyone by winning on the Blockhous and on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in 1968, the first of the 5 laps won. Eddy won everything, but it didn't last long: he stopped when he was just over 30.
Englishman Cavendish burns Demare and Gaviria
So right from the first stage, the start of the Giro sparked the interest of enthusiasts with basic themes concerning the characteristics of the riders linked to the route to be covered. That in the third flat stage, around Lake Balaton, he has Won Cavendish it came as no surprise, being one of the best sprinters in the history of cycling. World champion in 2011 and winner of the Milano Sanremo in 2009, if anything, he is surprised by his return to victory at the age of 37, after a long dark period. I must say that I don't like flat stages, which are part of a grand tour for two reasons: to attract sprinters, who would have no other chance of winning in the mountain stages, and to allow all the riders to loosen up their muscles, in waiting for the toughest stages.
Nor do I love sprinters, although I may admire them. They are natural wheel suckers, meaning they need to be kept indoors to preserve their explosive sprint for the last 200 metres. If this is the case, it's not clear why they should be dragged along by teammates for over 200 km waiting for the finish straight. It would be as if in athletics the sprinters were made to run in the marathon! I would see them better try their hand on the track of a sports hall, as in the exciting speed races of the times of Maspes e Gaiardoni. Nor does the long and boring television footage of these stages make sense, where nothing happens for over 200km. That said, hats off for the courage to risk a fall in front of a group of one hundred runners at more than 50 per hour and the astuteness of knowing how to wait for a momentary gap in which to promptly slip in view of the finish line.
Giro d'Italia 2022: Yates possible winner
Finally, some considerations on Simon Yates, the only unpredicted stage winner. Seeing him, he doesn't have the characteristics of a time trial, yet he won the time trial stage, albeit by only 28 km, ahead of the predicted Dumoulin, Olympic time trial silver medalist and winner of the 2017 Giro. Simon is a light twig with the characteristics of the climber. I saw him win in the Osimo stage of the 2018 Giro, sprinting at motorcycle speed in the last uphill km on the cobblestones. He kept the pink jersey for 13 stages and then handed it over to Froome, a multi-winner and great wait-and-see, whose athletic "blender" gesture has never thrilled me. Yates has a physical structure and class that reminds me of Contador, who also knew how to win in the time trial.
I think it deserves to be predicted as possible winner of this Giro, as long as he knows how to manage himself at a distance, which he has never been able to do in the past. A Giro defined as very tough, with 5 uphill finishes and about 51 meters of overall altitude difference to overcome.
I note, with dissent, the rush to seek difficulties, to find ways of the past, to insert the so-called walls with increasingly difficult slopes. A competition between organizers of great tours which in the end is only a facade. Modern runners, forced into these tours de force, respond by graduating efforts, with tactics of mutual control, and then reserving the right to attack in the last two or three km of a big stage, in which they have also passed five passes, to erode the opponent a few tens of seconds. After all they are human beings and not TV show heroes as the dominant commercial business would require.
°°°°The author is Professor Emeritus of Economic Policy at the Marche Polytechnic
