Stage 17: Commezzadura - Anterselva/Antholz 181 km
Wednesday, May 29th
START TIME: 12.20 CEST
FINISH TIME: ~17.15 CEST
Technical Overview:
After the queen stage, the riders face a tricky medium mountain stage which might catch someone off guard. The stage starts from the town of Commezzadura and heads north-east the whole day, featuring three GPMs with an uphill finish. The first climb of the day is the easy side of the Passo della Mendola (uncategorized... 8.4 km at 4.5%), an irregular climb with some good ramps but never very steep. The descent is very long and quite technical, and leads to the beginning of a 45 km long easy section in the valley, where the road will only slightly go uphill until the town of Bressanone, where the second climb of the day starts, Elvas (GPM4, 3.4 km at 7.6%). It is a short and fairly easy climb that should not be see any particular action, even though it does have a pretty hard ramp in the middle. The descent is even shorter, and leads to 10 km of flat that lead to the third climb of the day, Terento (GPM3, 6.6 km at 7.6%). This is a much more serious climb, with the gradient often going above 10%, and it tops at 45 km to go, so it could do a lot of damage if a team puts the hammer down. The descent is fairly easy, and after it the riders will hit a 20 km ascending false flat that bring to the town of Anterselva di Sotto, where the road will start climbing again for good. The riders will have to climb to the Biathlon Stadium, to celebrate/advertise the Biathlon WC to be held there in 2020. The climb of Anterselva (GPM3, 5.5 km at 6.9%) starts with a 3 km ramp at 4.9%, but after a 2.5 km false flat section the road ramps up to an average of 8.2% for 4.5 km, ending at 1 km to go, which will be in the stadium itself.
The Climbs:
Passo della Mendola, NOT-A-GPM, 8.4 km at 4.5%
Not as easy as its numbers suggest, as the descent near the top lowers its average gradient. Also, it starts a few km before Fondo...
Elvas, GPM4, 3.4 km at 7.6%
A very short but quite steep climb.
Terento, GPM3, 6.6 km at 7.6%
Pretty nice climb with a tough central section. Climbed in the Giro only once, in 2004, in the great stage to Falzes that gave the pink jersey to Cunego.
Anterselva, GPM3, 5.5 km at 6.9%
See final km profile. Short and steep, with a final flattish km in the stadium.
What to expect:
It depends heavily on the GC situation. If the GC are not interested in a real fight, the break of the day will win this by 15 minutes, with only a few seconds up for grabs in the uphill sprint between the head of state. But if someone wants, the stage has some potential for setting up a team move, maybe attacking on the Terento and connecting with teammates ahead...
Anterselva, Biathlon stadium