Male Team 03 - 25 Oct
Giro d'Italia
3360 Kilometers 21 Stages
The situation the entire world is currently going through brings us a very particular calendar for this 2020 season, whose biggest ‘anomaly’ shows up with the 103rd edition of the Giro d’Italia. It won’t be held in the sprint, but in the autumn; its Big Start won’t take place, as originally scheduled, in Hungary, rather than being raced almost entirely on Italian soil; and will have to battle, on the one hand, against the weather in October (especially the bad conditions that can be expected in the big heights of the final weekend), and on the other hand, with the disruptions of a pandemic whose ‘second wave’ affects the different European territorios unevenly.
The start of the Giro will be Sicily, with four stages instead of the three initially planned before the Budapest start was scrapped. We will start (Saturday 3rd) with a 15km individual time trial in Palermo, probably one of the fastest in history as, despite its uphill start with a Cat-4 climb -1.1km to hand over the first ‘Maglia Azzurra’-, the first part of the route is a descent, and the final section is held over long straights. From there, the race will tackle three more demanding stages, finishing in Agrigento (Sunday 4th), with a final 4km at 5%; the Etna volcano (Monday 5th), up to the Piano Provenzana (18.8km at 6.6%); and Villafranca Tirrena (Tuesday 6th), with a long climb to Portella Mandrazzi (Cat-3) halfway through.
Roads will still be hilly as we get back to the continent. Stage five (Wednesday 7th) will be no less than 225km long, with the GPM of Valico di Monte Scuro (Cat-1; 24km at 5.6%) right before the finish in Camigliatello Silano. The finish of stage six in Matera (Thursday 8th) will include some ramps -one of them, 750m at 6%, just 2km away from the line-, and it won’t be before the peloton reaches Brindisi (Friday 9th) and Vieste (Saturday 10th) when the sprinters will enjoy their first real chances of victory after a less likely one in Villafranca. The first week will end with another mountain stage (Sunday 11th), over the Passo Lanciano (Cat-1) in the early stages before two Cat-2 climbs and the finish up Roccaraso / Aremogna (Cat-1; just under 10km at 6%; maximum finishing slopes of 12%).
The second week, the journey between southern and northern Italy, will be the most suited for the fastest legs in the peloton, with lumpy stages -plenty of hilly terrain towards Tortoreto (Tuesday 13th) and Cesenatico (Thursday 15th), perfect for breakaways- in between flat routes before the third weekend of racing. Saturday 17th, the peloton will tackle the second ITT of the race, 23km towards Valdobbiadene with the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio early on plus a long ascent to Guia before the finish. Then, Sunday 18th, comes the first visit to the Alps in Fruli, climbing Sella Chianzutan (Cat-2), Forcella di Monte Rest (Cat-2), Forcella di Pala Barzana (Cat-2) and the finish in Piancavallo (Cat-1; 14.5km at 7.8%).
While the second third of the Giro seemed like less demanding, readers should be advised that the final week will be absolutely exhausting. Each and every stage before the final ITT in Milan (15.7km of flat; Sunday 25th) will be over or close to 200 kilometers, and all of them will be playing a significant role. Tuesday 20th, riders will cover a final circuit in and around San Daniele del Friuli (229km), with three ascents to the Monte di Ragogna (Cat-3). A day later (Wednesday 21st), the race will enter Trentino, over the GPM of Forcella Valbona (Cat-1), the famous Monte Bondone (Cat-1), the Passo Durone (Cat-3) and the finish up Madonna di Campiglio (Cat-1). Thursday 22nd will feature four climbs crowned with what could be a spectacular finish, up the Stelvio (Cima Coppi) and Torri di Fraele (Cat-1), already crested by the Giro Rosa last year, before the finish in the Laghi di Cancano.
And following a final chance for either sprinters or escapees over 258km (!!) -we already told you all stages would take its wear and tear- to Asti (Friday 23rd), a final mountain stage, not as hard as initially scheduled yet with 3,500 meters of elevation gain and three climbs to Sestriere (Saturday 24th).