Cycling News

Viewers’ Guide to the Giro d’Italia, Part II

FBL-EUR-C1-JUVENTUS-PSG

OK, resuming our Guide to the Giro via a hot-take rating (also reflected by the chili-strength of the take)… Wait, what? Right, so the bit is that the hotter the stage, the more you should try to watch — hence this is a viewers’ guide. How will you perceive our watch recommendation? Via a hot take, which like all good (I know) hot takes, contains a mixture of truth and bullshit, not just pure entertainment. The take hotness is in turn rated by a corresponding chili:

  1. Hottest: Carolina Reaper — >2 million scoville units, which, whatever they are, that’s a lot of them!
  2. Habañero — Up to 500,000
  3. Cayenne — 50,000
  4. Jalapeño — 8,000
  5. Calabrian chili — 750

In Part I of the Viewers’ Guide, we covered the party phase of the Giro. Now, we get down to the business end. I’m not sure how hot I can make my takes, but I’m going to try.

A photo of Juventus players feeling sad
Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images

Stage 12: Bra — Rivoli

Thursday, May 18, 179km

What’s It All About? Skirting around Turin, a city cursed by its horrible soccer team. Positioning, getting the climbing legs warmed up, staying out of trouble. Closing out the semi-serious phase of the Giro.

Mappa:

Giro ‘23 Stage 12 map

Profile:

Giro ‘23 Stage 12 profile

About that climb…

Giro ‘23 Stage 12 Colle Braida

Hm, 10km uphill on some not insignificant gradients might make for some action. I just can’t believe the maglia rosa contenders will be tempted though.

What’s Along the Way? The race does a loop around the western fringes of Torino, home of the Taurini tribe, continuing the theme here. But I don’t know how to make the rest of this route sound very interesting. Even the start in Bra is not nearly as interesting as you would hope. Apparently “Bra” in the local lingua refers to an “open plain,” not mountains. [And “brassière” is the French word for child’s undershirt.] That said, the city is the birthplace of the “slow food” movement, emphasizing local fresh ingredients —…

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