It’s a mountain pass in the Alps of northern Italy, and today some of the best male cyclists on Earth will tackle its slopes. 

It’s the second last day of the Giro d’Italia, one of the three Grand Tours of professional cycling.  Isaac del Toro from Mexico leads Richard Carapaz from Ecuador by 43 seconds.  Today’s climb should tell the story of winning and losing the tour.

And guess where I’ll be?  Sitting in my living room, stuck to my TV.

The Colle delle Finestre is the star of the show today.  The road goes uphill for about eighteen kilometres.  And for seven of those kilometres the surface is gravel.  The average gradient is nine percent.  Here’s what that looks like.  Imagine yourself on a bicycle for an hour or two climbing this …

The maximum slope on the climb is sixteen percent.  Oi!  A battle for the strongest.  The rest will fall back.  Team strategy will mean nothing.  The legs and heart (physical and emotional) will rule the day.

Ten years ago, my television gluing would have been about the Toronto Maple Leafs fighting for the Stanley Cup in professional ice hockey, not the heroics of Richard and Isaac.  Times change.  Passions come and go, to be replaced by new ones.  A life flows.

My favourite rider is Carapaz.  He attacks (which admittedly is a strange word for sports).  Basically he speeds up out of the large group of cyclists (the peleton) and tries to leave them all behind.  So exciting.

And so …

Go, Richard!