Male Team 11 - 19 Sep
Giro d'Italia Donne
969 Kilometers 9 Stages
Following a couple of years where the race sought for the big elevations of the Alps, Dolomites and the Friuli region, the Giro Rosa will leave those heights behind in 2020 -the Tour de l’Ardèche as the most mountainous race this season- as it covers the regions of central Italy, from Tuscany to Puglia, over tough hills and shorter cols than in previous seasons. The most demanding aspect of the race, though, will be its length, with nine days and no rest.
A 17km team time trial in Grosseto (Friday 11th), on long, flat straights, will set some early time gaps. A day later (Saturday 12th), a lumpy course towards Arcidosso, with two gravel road sectors and the ascent to Seggiano (Cat-2) close to the end, will continue to reduce the field of contenders before the first hill-top finish on Sunday 13th, with the steep, beautiful climb towards Assisi (last km at 14%). It will be back-to-back ‘wall climbing’ courses, as Monday 14th brings plenty of little, difficult hills before the finish of Tivoli (2.2km @ 7% > 500m of flat).
After two days for the sprinters and/or attackers in Terracina (Tuesday 15th) and Nola (Wednesday 16th), the key stages will loom: a circuit race in Maddaloni (Thursday 17th), over 2x the Santuario di San Michele (4.2km @ 5.5%); the finish in San Marco la Catola (Friday 18th), after 2.4km of climbing at 13% (!!) avg.; and the final loop around Motta Montecorvino (Saturday 19th), with four ascents towards Volturno.