THOMAS DE GENDT
LOTTO SOUDAL
The Stelvio has great signi icance because of my stage win in the Giro in 2012. It was a ride that ultimately put me onto the podium
L ater this month, the Giro peloton will ride over the Stelvio and the Umbrailpass on stage 16. They are two of my favourite climbs and I’ll be watching the race very fondly. The Stelvio has great significance because of my stage win in the Giro in 2012. It was a ride that ultimately put me on the podium. I also love the Umbrailpass which is basically the Swiss side of the Stelvio and which the Giro peloton has the pleasure of riding this year. It’s one of the most beautiful climbs I’ve ever done. I’d say to everyone, don’t miss it.
In the 2012 Giro I did the climb from the Bormio side in one hour seven minutes or something [1:08:05 according to climbingrecords.com]. I had a 380 watts average or thereabouts, but that was in the days before I used Strava.
I also got to know the area well from training camps there. I used to go at least once, maybe twice a year, but now that the Tour is a big focus for me, it means I have to do altitude training in May. Unfortunately the weather there isn’t very reliable at this time of year. I got to know the Stelvio, at least well enough to know that I didn’t need to do the climb that often - once or twice in a trip maybe. You have to show the mountain some respect.
The last time I was there was in 2015, between the Tour and the Vuelta. I was staying in Solda, a little village at a dead end around the mountain from the pass. It’s basically a 16km climb all of its own to the village. I remember doing one of my hardest training days there. I was trying to simulate the very hard Andorra stage in the Vuelta. My coach told me to do as many altitude metres as possible in six hours. Pretty simple. So my first idea was to do all three ascents of the Stelvio but when I started planning it I realised that was a bit too crazy. So instead, I decided to repeat the 16km climb to the village six times. Even that was a bit hard and I did five before climbing off. I did four thousand and something metres, so still a bit short of the 5,000-plus metres that the Andorra stage covered. I’ve still got the Strava KOM though, which is something. I’m a professional, but I also just like riding my bike. Doing these long distance or adventurous bikes is something that appeals to me. I would like to do more. In preparation for the Classics this year I rode the 220km from my home to the team hotel in the Ardennes. The first 150km were flattish but after the Mur de Huy, which I avoided, it got quite hard. I was pretty tired after seven hours. And something I’d like to do in future is ride from my home in Belgium to my home in Valenciana in Spain. It’s 1,800km and I think I can do it in 10 days or less. Maybe I’ll get to it next year if the weather’s good.