It’ll be a sleepless night for many. Organization, fans, journalists, photographers and cameramen. And of course Franco Collé’s friends and family, that - from all - is forecasted the winner of the Tor des Géants® 2017 edition.
Forecast at the moment easy, if we consider the enormous advantage that the athlete from Gressoney (Aosta Valley) has on his direct follower, the Basque Javier Dominguez Ledo, followed at his time by Oliviero Bosatelli, the winner of the last edition.
According to estimates, the rhythms sustained since the Gressoney live base, Collé should arrive to the Frassati hut before the midnight, to continue in direction of the last climb, the legendary Malatrà, at at least 3000 meters of altitude. Since there to the arrival at Courmayeur “it’s all downhill”, with a lot tiredness but also a lot of adrenaline in him.
At the end, Collé could be at the arrival at 4.00 a.m. of Wednesday morning, it’s means 4 hours less than Iker Karrera, the other Basque athlete and peer of Javier Dominguez (class ’74, good year!) that, since now, he’s stil the race recordman in 70h04.
If everything goes according to that Italian fans expectancy, thanks to his 3 hours of advantage on the Basque athlete after Ollomont life base, at “just” 43 km from the arrival, for Collé it would be his second success to the Tor (after the 2014 victory in 71h49). It would be the first time that an athlete will step on the highest step of the podium, while the double victory have been already gain in the feminine field with Anne Marie Gross (2010 and 2011) and Francesca Canepa (2012 and 2013). The bis could be gain again this year by Lisa Borzani, still winner the last year and - at the moment - in the head of the race with 4 hours on the Spanish Silvia Trigueros Garrote.
Well, Italy and Spain this year can end 2-0.
We have used deliberately the conditional because, as the Tor as teach us, in the last kilometers of the race everything can happen.
The victory is decided inly by the crossing of the arrival.