2019 Giro d'Italia, stage 3: Vinci - Orbetello 220 km

[Laplaz]

Weather should be ok, no rain probably. The wind will be strong though, and it will mainly be tailwind.

Stage 3: Vinci - Orbetello 220 km

Monday, May 13th

START TIME: 12.10 CEST

FINISH TIME: ~17.15 CEST

Technical Overview:
The first Monday of the race offers the first clear chance for a mass sprint... maybe. Starting from Vinci, a town famous worldwide for being the birthplace of one of the Ninja Turtles, the riders will head towards the sea, through quite a long route with only a few difficulties along the way. The first one is also the toughest: the uncategorized climb to Poggio all'Aglione (6.8 km at 5.4%) will be the perfect spot for the formation of a good breakaway. The descent of this climb is followed by 45 km of little note, before a small climb, Cantoniera di Montebello (roughly 2.5 km at 5%). This climb opens the way to 80 km of rolling terrain that should not present any particular challenge for the peloton, that will just focus on calculating how high they can let the gap to the breakaway go. The final climb, which is also the only GPM of the day, is Poggio l'Apparita (GPM4, 3.8 km at 4.9%) marks the beginning of the final sector of this stage, which might still be hiding a trap for the riders: the finishing town of Orbetello is on a lagoon, and the last 20 km of the stage run all around it. This is perhaps the only stage of this Giro where crosswinds are a concrete possibility, since these final km feature only long straights along or in the middle of the lagoon, with the highlight of the final stretch being on a 1 km long, fully exposed bridge between two bodies of water. As long as there is any wind at all, it's going to affect the race.

The Climbs:
Poggio l'Apparita , GPM4, 3.8 km at 4.9%
No profile provided. Nothing much to note.

What to expect:
A sprint surely, but crosswinds (or lack thereof) will determine how big the leading group will be. Only the final 20 kms are good for crosswinds, so I don't expect huge gaps anyway.

This bridge will be the final km of the race. The finish is just inside the town

 

[johnymax]

Echelons tomorrow?

 

[SafeBet]

40 km/h wind from NE are forecasted in the last 50 km. Dangerous day for Superman ahead.

 

[search]

given the wind direction, the best place for potential echelon action should be within the final 5k, by the look of it

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

given the wind direction, the best place for potential echelon action should be within the final 5k, by the look of it

true, but also before the long straight that starts at around 12 to go.
In the straight it will be full tailwind, not sure how would that play out if a split has already happened.

 

[Laplaz]

Stressful day ahead for everyone. In the last km there should be headwind, so timing will be crucial.

 

[Red Rick]

Any chance of crosswinds on the little climb at 40km to go?

 

[SafeBet]

Re:

Any chance of crosswinds on the little climb at 40km to go?

I think it's absolutely possible if a team puts the hammer down and the forecast is correct.

 

[Lequack]

Wind will be mostly a tailwind all day, unless you count the last few kms that they turn east.

No chance of anyone losing time because of wind.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Wind will be mostly a tailwind all day, unless you count the last few kms that they turn east.

No chance of anyone losing time because of wind.

Er, yes? From Grosseto to the top of the Cat 4 climb there will be a direct cross-wind. Definitely possible that there can be splits (unless the roads are not exposed at all). It could also happen (but more unlikely due to cross-headwind) in the last 5 kilometres where the pace in any case will be quite frantic.

 

[Lequack]

Going to be more of this:

 

[movingtarget]

The usual suspects re yesterday will fight it out. GC riders will want to be careful.

 

[Nirvana]

If they are going to find the same gusts that there are here now we'll see Gent-Wevelgem 2015 like scenes with riders thrown out of the road.

Anyway at the moment the wind near the finish it's not much, around 20/30 km/h from N/NW.
http://www.sir.toscana.it/monitoraggio/dettaglio.php?id=TOS11000508&title=Orbetello%20-%20Orbetello%20(GR)&type=anemo

 

[Nirvana]

Probably the beginning will be more interesting, 60/70 Km/h from N/NE in Peccioli close to the first part of the stage, and on the climb should be stronger than in the valleys, if exposed.
http://www.sir.toscana.it/monitoraggio/dettaglio.php?id=TOS11000507&title=Legoli%20-%20Peccioli%20(PI)&type=anemo

 

[Robert5091]

Seems to be a Giro version of some of the stages in the Emirates - finish out in the sea, windy - expect Viviani to go very late again and probably win this time (QS being masters of blowy days - if Nibali can hang onto their coat-tails it could stir things up)

 

[MartinGT]

Re:

Going to be more of this:

:lol: I bet that was a riveting conversation. Yates sounds like Stephen Hawking.

 

[Lequack]

Video of the winds today:
https://twitter.com/MitcheltonSCOTT/status/1127860482898046976

 

[Robert5091]

Chaves will need a couple of bags of pennies in his jersey to stop him being blown out to sea. Does the MS car have a lifebuoy handy, I wonder.

 

[Lequack]

Current pink Biachi:

From the days of Pantani:

 

[Rollthedice]

Hatsuyama alone in the break.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Hatsuyama alone in the break.

Hoping for the man the tailwind is legendary

 

[Laplaz]

Re:

Hatsuyama alone in the break.

Poor man

 

[Sestriere]

That's what you get when you don't categorise any of the hills in the first half of the stage.

 

[Carols]

Flobikes Not showing live stream

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Flobikes Not showing live stream

There will be a few hours of Sho Hatsuyama riding his bike through Italy.