CQ22-Digital

Hiroki Nishimura of Nippo Vini Fantini Faizanè after he failed to make
the time cut of this year’s Stage 1. In a prologue such a struggling rider
could game the rules by having an ‘accident’, missing the end of the
stage and still starting the next day. In a true stage this rider would not
be presented with any such temptation.
So perhaps this is the reason for dispensing with the prologue.
More likely, perhaps everyone has simply forgotten why we had them
in the first place. If so, it is fervently to be hoped that Bologna 2019
serves as an effective reminder.
One last thing. For 2019 the Giro’s organisers entered into a
partnership with online training platform Zwift, who created a virtual
replica of Stage 1. Not only could members sample the course, but also
Zwift held an ‘exhibition prologue’ which saw four of the participating
teams take to their turbos for two virtual races up the route.
After this exercise rumours swirled that the 2020 Giro might even
start with a virtual prologue. Of course traditionalists were aghast at
the thought of a maglia rosa being disbursed on the basis of riders on
a static trainer controlling a laptop. And of course the organisers have
resisted the temptation, announcing that Stage 1 will be a traditional
prologue-like 9.5 km ITT around the streets of Budapest.
Which is great news for prologue fans. But, just for a moment,
suspend your disbelief and imagine a Grand Tour opening with
an e-stage. You could broadcast it around the world on the internet.
Punters could join in, riding the same course at the same time as the
stars. You could hold it in a stadium, with straining riders appearing on
a massive screen like rock stars.
No, forget the stadium. Imagine instead a city-wide event, with
riders on turbos in every bar in Budapest. What might that be a
prologue to?
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