Stage 6: Cassino - San Giovanni Rotondo 238 km
Thursday, May 16th
START TIME: 11.20 CEST
FINISH TIME: ~17.15 CEST
Technical Overview:
Stage 6 is a very long (238 km!) and quite demanding stage, despite not having any particularly hard climb (in fact, it has only one categorized climb, even if it should have more...). From Cassino the riders will head all the way east, crossing the entire peninsula and reaching the other side. The first difficulty of the day arrives at km 11, and it's a small climb of roughly 4.5 km at 4.5%. From there, the road becomes a slightly ascending false flat until it transforms into a proper climb at km 42. This second climb of the day, passing near the town of Isernia, measures 13 km at 3%, and it is very irregular, hiding some proper ramps. After this comes an easy section of flat roads, leading to another climb just before the town of Campobasso, with around 9 km at 3%, again with some decent ramps, this time at the end. From here on, descent and another flat section towards another uncategorized climb, 3 km at 5.5%, before the road gets down again and flattens out. This is by far the easiest section of the day, which ends just at the foot of the only categorized climb, starting at 32.5 km to go: Coppa Casarinelle (GPM2, 15 km at 4.4%) is a long uphill drag, with some good ramps here and there but overall it is second category only because it's close to the finish. The top is at 18 km to go, but it's not the last climb of the day. In fact, after 5 km of descent to reach the town of S. Marco in Lamis the final ramp starts, which looks to be 2.5 km 6% average. From the top there are 10.5 km to go, 5 of which are on an easy and fast descent, while the last 5.5 are mostly flat and run though the roads of S.Giovanni Rotondo, where the finishing line is located.
The Climbs:
Coppa Casarinelle, GPM2, 15 km at 4.4%
Just a long and steady climb.
What to expect:
A decent selection in the peloton, and someone to attack on the final ramp and win it. Or maybe nothing at all, with the break of the day for the win. Depends on who in the peloton is willing to set the pace, and how much.
San Giovanni Rotondo, Sanctuary of Padre Pio