- Jul 21, 2012
- 9,860
- 3
- 0
Start time: 12:15, May 23rd
Analysis:
The only ITT of the race is a monster. 59.4 kms of pure power, that will certainly be one of the key points of the race, if not THE key point. The first half of the route is the nightmare of any climber: 30 kms of pan flat, mostly straight, open roads, with likely weak headwind. The second half instead features two little climbs, the first of which serves as a GPM4, to S.Pietro di Feletto (4.9 kms at 3.8%). This climb starts with gradients of 5-6%, but it flattens very quickly so it's mostly a false flat. From the top, the road becomes a twisty descent, that bring each rider into another flat section of 10 kms, before the road points up again. This time the gradient increases all the way to the top, reaching over 7% in the last km (please ignore the obviously wrong 12% marks all over the place). After the top, another tricky descent will lead the riders into Valdobbiadene, where the finish is uphill.
Expectations:
As I said, a key stage. It'll be very tricky to measure the efforts in the first half in order to keep the tank reasonably full for the second. Furthermore, riders are not so used to such a long ITT. The winner will make it between 1h20' and 1h25'. The gaps will be gigantic. The best TTer between the favourites will wear pink at the end of the day.
credit to eshnar as usual.
sorry to all flat stage enthusiasts but it's time to start discussing this stage now.
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