We head towards another new climb, but unlike Pian del Lupo, this one is very famous between cycling fans: Colle del Nivolet, with all its 2615m of glorious and immaculate scenery, in the middle of the national park of the Gran Paradiso (literally, the Great Heaven). Today we will not climb all the way to the top however, but only up to Lago Serrù (GPM1, 20.3 km at 5.9%), at 2247m of altitude. It's unfortunate... but it's something nevertheless, and hopefully this will pave the way to a finish at the top in the near future.
Unlikely.
Gran Paradiso national park is Italy’s oldest national park and was originally intended to protect the alpine ibex from being hunted into extinction. Nowadays it is a protected area for many species, Golden Eagles most notably for the Giro as it will directly influence TV coverage. There are a number of restrictions placed on the race to allow it to enter the park. As mentioned we will not go all the way to the top of the pass and helicopters also have a number of no-fly-zones to consider in order to not disturb the nests of the eagles. Park rangers will be onboard the TV helicopters to make sure they respect these restrictions.