Mt. Etna. Photo by Gnuckx shared under creative commons license.
Stage 9 of the 2011 Giro D’Italia climbs Mt. Etna twice. This year is full of gutbusting climbs, eight ‘mountain’ stages including this volcanic odyssey.
Its the third time Mt. Edna has featured in the Giro.
Franco Bitosi won the stage in 1967 – the first time the Giro included Mt Etna.”The heat was suffocating. The more you climbed, the less you could breathe,” – Bitosi in La Gazzetta dello Sport .
The Sicilian mountain is active – rumbling and smoking. Cyclists will complete a 1900m ascent on one side of the mountain, then attack a final 700m vertical to the finish.
This is the first real coming together of the climbers, GC riders. Saxo Bank’s Riis thinks there will be a selection here.
Meanwhile, volcanic activity has organisers worried in the lead up to the day. Snow or fire for this climb – time will tell? Stage 9 is on Sunday May 15.
The Beehive. Cycling in the middle of the bunch. 
May 14th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
[…] now the riders without the patience to wait another week will make their play for the pink jersey. Mt Etna, the first fireworks of week 2 (Sunday / Monday). Plenty of ambition from Scarponi in the first […]
May 15th, 2011 at 10:10 am
Its the eve of Mt Etna. Tit for tat between Scarponi and Contador – Scarponi pushes it to take points on the first mountain stage, stg7. Contador takes a late charge up a small finishing climb for points on stg8. Strategically, Contador’s bonus seconds today give him some small padding going in Etna.
Kreuziger, Nibali looking good. Le Mevel the surprise and Pinotti the all rounder aiming to steal a podium at the final TT.