‘Glad it’s over’: Cyclist complains Israel trip put spoke in Giro D’Italia wheel

Defending Giro D’Italia champion Tom Dumoulin blasted the Israeli organizers of the first three stages of the 21-day race Sunday, after finishing a 229-kilometer (142 mile) ride from Beersheba to Eilat to close out the Israeli leg of the contest.

“That was the worst, most hazardous sprint I’ve ever done,” Dumoulin told reporters at the finish line, cycling news website VeloNews reported.

“It was really dangerous. I am glad I survived that one.”

Riders complained about strong winds that buffeted desert sand into their faces, as well as urban hazards such as roundabouts, speed bumps, and rough roads. Winds in Eilat reached up to 24 kph (15 mph).

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) won the stage, his second stage win in a row. Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) is in first place overall and Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) is in second, as the team landed in Italy for a rest day on Monday.

“I am glad it’s over,” Dumoulin told reporters about the Israel section of the race. “The desert? Boring. The first day was OK in Jerusalem, and it’s nice because I won the time trial. But the past two days haven’t been so nice. It was too dangerous. It was not safe anywhere in the peloton.”

Other riders were also less than charmed with the desert section of the race, which had few spectators and monotonous views. “It was like the moon,” Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) told VeloNews. “We just had to endure it.”

Now that all the cyclists and support staff from the Giro D’Italia cycling race are safely on the European continent, cyclists are wondering if future Giros will travel even farther than Israel.

The Israeli start for the race, starting with a Jerusalem time trial and a ride down the coast before the desert sprint, was the first time the major bike race had held a section outside of Europe. Israel had hailed the event, the most prestigious sporting event ever held in the country, as a major coup, bringing attention and tourists to the Jewish state.

There are rumors of a future start as far afield as the United States, Japan, or other destinations in the Middle East. Some riders are worried about the long flights that could entail. The flight from Eilat’s Uvda airport to Sicily is about three hours, though some riders had to get up at 5 a.m. on their rest day to make the plane.

“[The Israel start] has been something unlike any other race I’ve done,” three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome told VeloNews. “There are positives and negatives. Logistically, it’s a bit of a nightmare. It’s great for the sport in terms of promoting cycling in new territory.”

According to the cycling website, one of the reasons that the Giro D’Italia is looking further afield is money and sponsorships. Israel reportedly paid around NIS 47 million ($13 million) to the Giro in order to lure the Big Start to Israel. The three-day event cost NIS 120 million ($33 million), mostly financed by Canadian-Israeli real estate magnate Sylvan Adams.

Municipalities in Italy cannot provide the same kind of cash. Current tour leader Dennis Rohan told the cycling website he would cap mid-race travel at five hours. “I wouldn’t want to travel more than five hours on a plane on a rest day,” Dennis said. “You never know what the limits are. There has to be a point when we say that it’s too far.”

The Giro D’Italia begins the Italian portion of the route in Sicily with a 198 kilometer (123 mile) hilly ride that ends with a steep incline. The race will end in Rome on May 27, 2018, after a total of 3,546.2 kilometers (2,203.6 miles) with 44 kilometers (27 miles) of vertical elevation.