RACE DR HUTCH & THE TEAM
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CATANIA > VILLAFRANCA TIRRENA 140KM | MOUNTAINS
The Giro’s own website denotes today’s stage as ‘hilly’. But with an 1,100-metre peak plonked in the middle of the route climbed practically from sea level, we’re happy to go with ‘mountains’. What today won’t do, however, is make any appreciable difference on GC. For while the Portella Mandrazzi climb is 30km long, it only averages 3.6 per cent.
Climbing north from Catania on Sicily’s east coast, over Portella Mandrazzi and on to another coastal destination, Villafranca Tirrena, the profile of today’s stage resembles a particularly wide-brimmed witch’s hat.
Today is ripe for a break, but any escapees will have to contend with sprinters looking for a bunch finish.
MILETO > CAMIGLIATELLO SILANO 225KM | MOUNTAINS
There’s no-let up on this first day on the Italian mainland. Not only is it monster-long at 225 kilometres, it’s also incessantly hilly from the get-go. A brace of cat-three climbs in quick succession around the halfway mark is likely to see the race ignite. This is primo breakaway territory and could easily be the first day that an escape survives. But the final climb to Valico di Montescuro looms large over the whole stage. It’s not especially steep at 5.6 per cent, but its 25km length is significant, as are the 18 per cent ramps tackled halfway up. There’s a 9km descent to the finish, and any GC contenders who fancy themselves on the downhills (we’re looking at you, Vincenzo Nibali) could get a gap at the top and hold it to the line.
CASTROVILLARI > MATERA 188KM | HILLY
Today’s northbound stage begins with a pair of sizeable lumps as the race crosses the Pollino national park before the route settles into a downhill trend to the finish, only interrupted by the cat-three climb to Millotta with 26km to go. This should allow the sprinters to gather themselves, and although they’ll have to negotiate a handful of lumps and bumps in the final kilometres, today should offer the fastmen a rare chance to flex their fast-twitch muscle fibres.
GIOVINAZZO > VIESTE 200KM | HILLY
After yesterday’s brief, gradient-free interlude, the race returns to the hills for this lengthy and entirely coastal day in the saddle. The first half of the stage is actually completely flat as it continues its northerly meander along the coast, but when the riders hit the 90-kilometre mark they are in for a rude awakening, as the cat-two Monte Sant’angelo rears up and takes them from the beach to 747m of altitude. It’s the only big climb of the day and is likely to see a group of hopers go clear – and with the second half of the race peppered with small hills, including the cat-four climb to La Guardiola at 157km, the break will dare to dream. The final 40km are a pretty straightforward affair culminating in a 14km circuit around Vieste which starts with a steep, kilometre-long ramp that is likely to see the day’s final selection.
SAN SALVO > ROCCARASO 207KM | MOUNTAINS
After a lengthy coastal sojourn it’s time for the riders to pack up their buckets and spades as they head back inland for what is the second full-fat mountains stage of the race, replete with summit finish and 200-plus K-count.
With a rest day tomorrow that is more deserved than usual given the terrain of the past week, the riders will see today as an opportunity to leave it all on the road, including any GC men who have time gaps to either defend or close.
We’ve been here before in the Giro as recently as 2016, when Lotto-soudal’s Tim Wellens soloed to victory at Roccaraso, 1.19 ahead of best of the rest, Jakob Fuglsang.
The total altitude gain today – 4,000m-plus – puts this stage firmly in Queen stage territory, but it actually starts out perfectly innocuously. A flat and coastal first 40 kilometres offer the riders a last look at the gleaming Adriatic for a day or two, before they hang a left and make for the Apennines – the ‘spine’ of Italy.
The climbing starts soon after, slowly at first, but at 90km the riders hit the cat-one Passo Lanciano, which takes them right up to 1,300m. After losing a lot of that hard-won altitude, the gradient begins again, with the long cat-two Passo San Leonardo quickly followed by the Bosco di Sant’antonio.
Amazingly, there’s still yet more to come. The final cat-one ascent up to Roccaraso is 10 kilometres long with steep ramps towards the end, which is almost certain to detonate the GC group, even if a breakaway may well have already taken the spoils.
Expect two things at the end of today: a bit more shape to the GC, and a lot of very tired legs.
LANCIANO > TORTORETO 177KM | HILLY
Re-entering the fray after a rest day can easily go either way for a Grand Tour rider. Much depends on how they spent their day off, and a lot, obviously, rests on the nature of the stage that restarts the race.
This lumpy day out in the Abruzzo region, as the race continues its march northwards, is peppered with climbs – one cat-three and two cat-fours to be precise, one of which is climbed twice. Hardly easy, but it’s a let-off in Giro terms.
CESENATICO > CESENATICO 204KM | HILLY
The guts of this stage are actually the course of the Gran Fondo Nove Colli. While it might lack the superstar mountains on later stages and only reach a high of 789m above sea level, beyond the warm-up and the run to the finish, there isn’t a metre of flat road.
The riders will tackle five categorised climbs, but between them they’ll also be climbing and descending with little chance to establish a rhythm on narrow, windy roads. It provides a good opportunity for an outsider to launch an assault on the general classification. A tasty prospect.
man ahead of him that day, Julian Alaphilippe, isn’t set to be here. Astana leader Jakob Fuglsang is though and he should also thrive on this stage. Simon Yates, serially underrated as a tester, should also be able to hold his own on a course like this.
However, it is only 34km long and while the gaps will be significant, they are unlikely to hand a single rider a margin that they can simply sit back and defend. Best to take it easy on the bubbly that evening.
“This isn’t somewhere the time trial specialists can count on sipping the pink fizz in celebration”
UDINE > SAN DANIELE DEL FRIULI 229KM | HILLS
This looks tailor-made for a breakaway win. The big GC teams are unlikely to exert themselves too hard given the tests to come and the final finishing circuit contains two climbs that look tough enough to dislodge even the most dogged of sprinters.
The only thing going against them is the majority of the early part of the stage will be on wide, straight roads, making it difficult to disappear out of sight. The first of the final climbs is short but steep. That’s followed by Monte di Ragogna. Then, from the final summit, it’s 13km to the finish.
PINZOLO > LAGHI DI CANCANO 207KM | MOUNTAINS
This is the 13th edition of the Giro to feature the Stelvio and it’s certain to be unlucky for someone. The Cima Coppi (the highest point of the entire race) isn’t the last climb, but it seems likely to be the decisive one. They’ll tackle it from the north-eastern side – historically more popular with the organisers, appearing eight times – this year, which is 25km long and averages 7.5 per cent.
Before the riders even get to that thought though, there are two categorised climbs in the shape of the Passo Campo Carlo Magno. This starts from the drop of the flag, so expect there to be riders warming up on the turbo beforehand, because there’s a good chance there will be one team that judges it to be to their advantage to push the pace early on.
The race will then descend and tackle the Passo Castrin. After a long descent through the woods, the slow wind up to the Stelvio begins on gently climbing roads.
The last time the Giro climbed this side of the pass, Mikel Landa was the first to the top after a day on the
“The Cima Coppi isn’t the last climb, but it’s likely to be the decisive one”
attack. He’s not at the race this year, but the second-placed rider on that stage – which included a further climb after the Stelvio – Vincenzo Nibali, is.
The Stelvio isn’t the end of the action. The riders then scale the Laghi di Cancano, which features 21 hairpins itself, giving the Stelvio’s famous twists a run for their money, and averages seven per cent over its 9km. It’s sure to hurt after this day out, but it does at least have a constant slope. By the top, we’re certain someone will have stamped their authority on this race.
MORBEGNO > ASTI 251KM | FLAT
For the GC men, this stage will be a welcome break from the previous two days’ mountain assault; for the sprinters, it’s a reward for sticking around. Don’t expect much more than a perfunctory breakaway for someone as the sprinters’ teams won’t want to miss this last opportunity for glory. The biggest obstacle will be the road furniture as the stage passes through several towns and the final 5km is a pan-flat run in. That’s not to say it’ll be simple for the sprinters, as within the final 550m there are a couple of turns, so positioning will be important as there’s always the threat of crashes.
ALBA > SESTRIERE 198KM | MOUNTAINS
This Queen stage features 5,000m of climbing and not wishing to be accused of doing anything by halves, the Giro d’italia race directors have crammed the four categorised climbs that make up the bulk of that into the last 100km of this stage. The riders are given no pause for breath in more ways than one, because three of those go over 2,000m, where the air gets thin – the highest of these is the Colle dell’agnello, which tops out at 2,744m.
It’s that beast that’s first up after 95km of relatively calm, though generally upward, riding. They’ll hit the bottom of the climb already at 1,600m in altitude. All the climbs are pretty similar with gradients of, on average, eight per cent, and peaks of up to 15 per cent. So it’s the cumulative fatigue of not just today, but the whole Giro, that’ll be the difference-maker.
Sestriere has been in various editions of the Giro since it was first included in 1911 – the third running of the race, though that day they climbed the other side. The western ascent is probably better associated in recent years with the Tour de France after Lance Armstrong claimed a famous victory up it while wearing the yellow jersey in 1999.
While the town of Sestriere features in the Giro regularly, this side of the mountain is a rarer occurrence. The last time it appeared was on stage 10 in 2009 when Stefano Garzelli was the first rider over the top of what was the Cima Coppi climb. Danilo Di Luca won on the road that day in Pinerolo, but was banned after testing positive for CER A later in the race.