BEAUTIFULLY BRUTAL

THE GIRO D’ITALIA MARKETS ITSELF AS ‘THE TOUGHEST RACE IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE’. IN 2021, THE ORGANISERS HAVE STAYED TRUE TO THAT SLOGAN. PROCYCLING LOOKS AHEAD TO LA CORSA ROSA

During the past year, ‘Everesting’ has become a popular activity. Last month, Irishman Ronan McLaughlin broke the record by climbing the equivalent of the 8,848 vertical metres of Everest in six hours 40 minutes. This year’s Giro d’Italia attempts something similar on stage 16, as the riders will climb 5,700m in their 212km race from Sacile to Cortina d’Ampezzo, through the Dolomites.

This is just 64 per cent of Everest. But the 5,700m of vertical metres are more than any mountain in Europe, almost 1,000 metres more than Mont Blanc. It is about the equivalent of cycling up Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Russia at 5,642m, so the peloton at the Giro will be