2009 Giro d' Italia Trip

Bella Vita's 2009 trip is taking shape. We have the Stage 17 summit finish near our place. We are riding over to the stage route and up the finishing climb to watch the race. We're also planning on spending a couple days in the Dolomites, near Bormio. We will ride up the passo di Stelvio from the west side, cross into Switzerland over the Umbrail Pass, and return by climbing back up the passo di Stelvio's eastern side(technically called the Stilfserjoch) . Day 2 will include the Gavia Pass and the Mortirolo (passo di Foppa). For an optional 3rd day we can head to the East and ride the Sella Loop, which includes passo di Gardena, Campolongo, Pordoi, and Sella.

In the 2009 Giro, we could see a great battle between Ivan Basso and Lance Armstrong on the brutal slopes of the Block Haus during stage 17. Eddy Merckx blew to pieces on this rarely-used, un-relenting dead-end road in 1972(?). A few years ago I watched Basso win at Passo Lanciano, which is where the 8km dead-end road starts, leading up to the Block Haus summit. We'll ride over and join the race route and ride up this legendary climb.
After winning the Giro in '06, Basso was sidelined for most of 2007, and 2008 for "attempted doping" in the Operation Puerto fiasco. I expect him to enact some revenge in 2009. The verdict is still out on what Lance is capable of. Personally, I'd rather see him suck-it-up and play a support role for Leipheimer. He could also be a good lead-out man for some sprint wins.