MADRID, 5 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The 106th edition of the Giro d’Italia will begin in Pescara this Saturday and will end on May 28 in Rome, with the novelty of the presence of up to three time trial stages, two flat, including the inaugural one of the ‘corsa rosa’, and a time trial in the twentieth on the unprecedented Monte Lussari.
In the route of this first “big” one, “mythical” ascents such as Zoncolan, Mortiloro or Stelvio are missing, but it is compensated by others with less history, but the same difficulty, such as Crans Montana, Lavaredo and the unprecedented Monte Lussari. An extremely tough Giro, with seven summit finishes, and where the mid-mountain will also play a leading role, but not the stages for sprinters, since they will not have many opportunities this year.
In addition to the initial Pescara time trial, the first week will have the dangerous stage in the fourth stage ending at Lake Laceno, an appetizer in the Apennines, which accumulates 3,500 meters of unevenness in a continuous ‘up and down’ of long mountain passes. little average slope. In the seventh stage, the first high end will come, with a brutal climb of almost 45 kilometers to Campo Imperatore.
The second week of competition will begin with a flat 33.6 kilometer time trial, ending in Cesena, in which the favorites can open up the gap in the standings. The sprinters will have their best options with the arrivals at Viareggio and Tortona, two consecutive opportunities for a massive arrival, something that will not be common this Giro.
The peloton will reach the Alps on day 13, with the final ascent to Crans Montana, after a stage of more than 200 kilometers and 5,000 meters of elevation gain, where they could begin to open up the gap in the general classification. Just before the last rest day, the peloton will arrive in Bergamo in a mid-mountain stage, with a route reminiscent of the Giro di Lombardy, with the finish line at the same point as the legendary classic at the end of the season.
The last week, extremely hard, begins with a 198-kilometre stage that accumulates more than 5,000 meters of unevenness, in a chain of climbs that ends on Mount Bodone. On day 18, the Dolomites arrive, with a short stage (160 km), but intense, ending in the Val di Zoldo.
The following day is considered the ‘queen’ stage. A chain of ports in which 5,000 meters of unevenness accumulate in the last 100 kilometers, ending in the well-known Tre Cime di Lavaredo, a special category port with slopes of up to 19 percent.
If the classification arrives open, it will be decided in the penultimate stage, a time trial of 18.6 kilometers that will end in Monte Lussari, a 7.5-kilometer port, with slopes that reach 22 percent unevenness. The race will end on May 28, with a flat 115-kilometre stage starting and finishing in Rome, where the winner of the ‘Maglia Rosa’ will be crowned.