Riding a stage of a Grand Tour is tough, but riding 21 stages over Europe’s most brutal climbs is the absolute pinnacl | dG1fVWZzcXY3b21lWGc
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Grand Tour racing is about survival,
00:06 survival of the fittest.
00:08 And ahead of all riders that take them on
00:10 are 21 stages of action-packed racing.
00:14 - The sprint is launched with 200 meters to go.
00:17 This is looking good for the Breakaway.
00:18 It's theirs to lose now.
00:20 - When I rode the Giro and the Vuelta,
00:21 it was about digging in and making it to the finish line.
00:24 I didn't give any thought to the physical
00:26 and mental punishment I had to endure just to survive.
00:29 (upbeat music)
00:32 So I've come back to the Giro d'Italia
00:38 to experience the race with the eyes of four riders,
00:42 two established Grand Tour racers,
00:44 and a pair of rookies heading out
00:46 on their first three-week stage race.
00:50 - Watched the Giro since I was seven or eight years old.
00:52 I won't lie, there's a good amount of nerve.
00:54 - I want to see what it takes
00:56 to ride through 21 days of pain.
00:59 - The crash behind that happened took out Ackermann.
01:01 - Suffering.
01:02 - We're all pushing through no matter what, really.
01:05 (upbeat music)
01:07 - And for the lucky few, glory.
01:10 - Ackermann's there!
01:11 Oh, Milan!
01:12 - They both think they won.
01:14 - I'll also be meeting the support crew
01:16 that tirelessly work to keep the riders in the race.
01:19 - Crashes and injuries,
01:20 potentially broken bones or road rash.
01:24 They are the expected unexpected.
01:26 - And the Grand Tour veterans
01:28 who have ridden into the history books.
01:30 - Not just about the winning,
01:32 it's about the surviving sometimes.
01:34 - The top riders may give the impression
01:36 that winning these epic races is all in a day's work.
01:39 - But what does it really take
01:41 to get through three weeks of solid racing?
01:44 What does it take mentally, physically?
01:46 This is how to survive and thrive at Cycling's Grand Tours.
01:51 (upbeat music)
01:54 (dramatic music)
01:58 (dramatic music)
02:01 (dramatic music)
02:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]