Giro 2020: Preview of the last mountain stage to Sestriere

After the shortened sprint stage to Asti, the peloton goes one more time into the mountains. Not the Colle dell’Agnello and the Col d’Izoard are on the program, but a triple climb of Sestriere. Is that in favor of rosette bearer Wilco Kelderman? An important mountain stage with only the time trial to Milan on the program after this. Cycling Flash previews the route and the favorites for the stage to Sestriere.

Route

The organization of the Giro d’Italia had a grand final in mind for the 103rd edition of the round. A very tough final weekend with a heroic mountain stage on Saturday over the Colle dell’Agnello and the Col d’Izoard towards the winter sports village of Sestriere, followed by an all-decisive individual time trial to Milan. The time trial to Milan continues, but the twentieth stage of the Giro d’Italia has been thoroughly overhauled.

The passage over the Agnello, Izoard and Montgenèvre has been replaced by a triple ascent to the ski village of Sestriere. Mauro Vegni, the big boss of the organizing RCS Sport, explains. “We have to change the penultimate stage. The permission of the French prefecture for the passage of the course has been withdrawn. Due to the tightened corona measures adopted by the trans-Alpine authorities, we have been told we cannot cross French territory. ”

As a result, the Colle dell’Agnello, the Col d’Izoard and the Montgenèvre cannot be driven up. Instead, there are three climbs to Sestriere; once from Pragelato, from the east side, and twice from Cesana (the west side). Vegni: “It is a stage that gives us the guarantee that it will also take place in bad weather.” Still, it is bad news for the riders who want to pull out all the stops one more time in the hope of turning the Giro d’Italia upside down.

The redesigned stage will also start in Alba, in the hills of South Piēmont and not so far from the famous cities of Milan and Turin. As a tourist you can marvel at the ancient churches and remains from Roman times. The Giro also organized two finishes in the city on the bank of the Tanaro River. Guido Reybroeck (1964) and Alessandro Petacchi (2004) were allowed to raise their hands here a long time ago.

Starting from Alba, the route initially ran via Brossasco to the Colle dell’Agnello, where the border was crossed. Now the route goes north before Brossasco, to the intermediate sprint in Saluzzo. From there you drive in a northwestern direction (10 km at about 6%) via Pragelato up to Sestriere. The riders will pass there for the first time after 137.9 kilometers. The first climb is really a runner.

Via Cesana, there are two more climbs in two laps of 26 kilometers to Sestriere (more than 10 km at 6%), where the finish is after 190 kilometers. The center of gravity of these last two climbs, which are more difficult than the first climb, from Cesane Torinese is in the last 6.5 kilometers. There, the gradient is barely below 7% on narrow roads.

The (triple) climb to Sestriere is certainly not the toughest climb in this Tour of Italy, especially compared to the deleted Agnello and Izoard. However, after three weeks of suffering, the differences will also increase here.

Who will soon be in a row with Eduardo Chozas, Miguel Induraín (climbing time trial), Pascal Richard, Jan Hruška (another time trial), José Rujano, Vasil Kiryienka and Fabio Aru? These riders managed to win a Giro stage in the past, arriving in Sestriere.

When all the riders have trickled in and the powder fumes have cleared, we can measure the damage and draw up a ranking. And we also know immediately whether we can expect another thrilling denouement in the final time trial to Milan.

Start: 11:00 am in Alba
Finish: between 4.10 and 4.45 pm in Sestriere
Distance: 190 kilometer

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Favorites

For the favorites of the stage, we take a look at the situation at the top of the classification. Wilco Kelderman leads with a minimal lead over teammate Jai Hindley (12 seconds) and INEOS Grenadiers leader Tao Geoghegan Hart (15 seconds). Pello Bilbao is fourth at 1.19 minutes and João Almeida at 2.16 minutes. Behind that, Jakob Fuglsang is number six at four minutes.

The mountain ride to Sestriere is the last chance to put the competition behind in a direct fight. But the battle is not over after Saturday, because the (flat) time trial to Milan is still on the program on Sunday. Hindley is the least time trialist of the top-5, so he will have to start that time trial ahead if he wants to have a chance to win the overall. Kelderman, Hart and Bilbao in turn have a more than excellent time trial. So keep the day of Sunday in mind when playing games on the way to Sestriere.

The best climbers in this last week? Those are clear Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley. They more than demonstrated this in the stages to Piancavallo and Laghi di Cancano. The question is whether the triple climb to Sestriere is difficult enough for the young Briton and the young Australian to make a difference. The pressure will be on INEOS Grenadiers. Hart will, in view of the time trial, want to take a lead on the pink jersey Wilco Kelderman.

Jai Hindley will (again) slide along with Hart as a watchdog, if his leader cannot follow. When Kelderman falls through the ice, all eyes on Team Sunweb are suddenly on Hindley. Although he has a three second lead in the rankings, that is certainly not enough for the climber to start the final time trial. If it actually becomes a Hart-Hindley duel, the Australian will really have to drive away from his British colleague.

The question is whether Wilco Kelderman has fully recovered from his strenuous effort on the Stelvio. The pink jersey will in any case give him confidence and the fact that the climbs to Sestriere are not extremely difficult, also plays in Kelderman’s favor. A running climb at an average of 6% is tailor-made for the pace climber that he is. It is important for Kelderman to hook up his car with INEOS Grenadiers and Hindley. Will he start the time trial with a head start? Then he is the favorite for the overall victory.

Is a dangerous customer Pello Bilbao. The Spaniard of Bahrain McLaren has worked his way up to fourth place in the rankings, within a minute and a half of the pink jersey. His performance in the Stelvio stage was impressive and Bilbao, the Spanish time trial champion, has also had a strong time. If he attacks, the question is who will get him back. Is Tao Geoghegan Hart afraid of his podium, or is Team Sunweb afraid to hand over the overall victory? Bilbao may well play a leading role on the way to Sestriere.

Jakob Fuglsang seems to have also found its second wind. While he disappointed in the first two weeks, he got through well in the stage over the Stelvio. The experienced Dane is now sixth in the rankings, although he seems to have no chance for the overall victory. On the last day of rest, he already hinted at a shot at a stage victory, and why not Saturday? The Astana leader will not be considered dangerous by the top-3.

The difference with the other climbers became clear on Thursday. João Almeida’s spring finally broke, Fausto Masnada stayed with his teammate but couldn’t do much better either, Vincenzo Nibali is not good enough to compete with the young guard, Domenico Pozzovivo had to drop out early and the BORA-hansgrohe duo too Patrick Konrad and Rafal Majka fell through it. If one of them wants to win the stage, they will have to find their top form and attack early.

It is different looking at the escapees. In the first hundred kilometers, a group of attackers can get a big lead. Then, as more often this week, the usual names come up. Ben O’Connor (NTT Pro Cycling) floats on a pink cloud after his stage victory in Madonna di Campiglio and his new contract with AG2R Citroën.

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) will want to make a final shot at stage success, as well Ilnur Zakarin (CCC). Ruben Warrior (EF Pro Cycling) can put the icing on the cake in this ride: finally get the mountain jersey and maybe take a second stage victory.

Team Sunweb will gladly let a leading group ride, then the bonus seconds on the way and at the finish (10, 6, 4 seconds) will in any case be gone. If a classification team wants to bring back the leading group, it will be INEOS Grenadiers. Team Sunweb can then save the forces.

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Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Tao Geoghegan Hart
*** Jai Hindley, Pello Bilbao
** Wilco Kelderman, Jakob Fuglsang, Patrick Konrad
* Ben O’Connor, Thomas De Gendt, Ilnur Zakarin, Ruben Guerreiro

Giro 2020: List of participants

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Weather and TV

On Saturday morning in starting town Alba it will be around 15 ° C, dry and cloudy. It will also remain dry all day on Sestriere, Buienradar expects. The temperature is a lot lower at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, around 5 ° C and 7 ° C. The sun may break through at the end of the afternoon.

Eurosport is the exclusive rights holder of the Giro images. The sports channel starts at 12:25 pm with the live broadcasts on Eurosport 1 and online at Eurosport.nl. The NOS and Sporza do not have the broadcasting rights this year.

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