Terrible and seems to never end

Team Barloworld’s Mauricio Soler and his team mates John-Lee Augustyn and Daryl Impey checked out the finish of 14th stage of this year Giro d’Italia to Alpe di Pampeago on March 19.

“It was a great day, it was 14 degrees and so it was a perfect training ride. It was important to see the final climb because it will be a key moment of the Giro d’Italia,” directeur sportif Valerio Tebaldi said.

Soler and his team mates rode for a total of 90km, including the final 25km of the stage and the 8km of the climb to the finish. “It’s a really tough climb. It’s hard but the long straight sections of road also mean the riders will be in sight of each and that always makes a difference. I’ve memorised the climb and I’ll talk with the Team Barloworld directeur sportifs about what gears to use,” Soler said, who will ride for four hours on Thursday, his last training ride before Saturday’s Milan-Sanremo.

Valerio Tebaldi explained: “We only saw a part of the 14th stage of the Giro but it was a worthwhile trip. In the Giro the riders will also climb the Passo del Manghen and then faced the descent that isn’t easy. It’ll be a crucial stage and it’s important that the riders who want to perhaps win the stage, study it in detail before the race.”

Soler has now completely recovered from his knee problem caused by a crash in February and is already focused on the major stage races of the season. For this reason he is including two hours of training on his time trial bike in his training schedule because he knows the stages against the clock can be decisive in races like the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.