Giro d'Italia 2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 18: Rovereto – Stradella 232 km

May 5, 2010
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Since when did I become the thread-starter?

You know the drill; Eshnar's done the work:

Stage 18: Rovereto – Stradella 232 km

Thursday, May 27th, 11.35 CEST


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Technical Overview:

The longest stage of the Giro is, like last year, a transitional stage in the final week. Unlike last year’s stage to Asti, however, this stage has good potential with an extremely interesting finale. The finale itself has been changed after the presentation, when it was nothing special, in sort of the opposite way they did to stage 3. The stage starts in Rovereto and proceeds west for around 200 km through the Po Valley, without any notable difficulty. At km 196 the flat roads end for good, and what comes after it are 35 km without any respite along the vineyards, although also without steep ramps. The first climb of the day is uncategorized, Montu’ Beccaria (3.4 km at 4.1%), little more than a false flat but it is only the beginning. A short and twisty descent leads directly to the only categorized climb of this stage, Castana (GPM4, 5 km at 4.2%). Once again, the descent is short and twisty and might cause splits in the peloton if a team puts the hammer down. The third climb is the shortest and steepest of the day, Cicognola (1.4 km at 7.5%), and its descent brings to the intermediate sprint of Broni and the foot of the final climb. Canneto Pavese (2.6 km at 5.7%). The top is at 6 km to go, 3 km of descent and 3 of flat and straight roads to the finish.



Final Kilometers

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The Climbs:

Castana: GPM4, 5 km at 4.2%


Hard to understand why this climb is the only categorized one of the stage. No profile obviously.





What to expect:

I would expect the breakaway to battle it out, considering this stage is sandwiched between four mountain stages. If the peloton wants to bother (and if the riders do not strike in case of rain…) the finale is perfect for an attacker or at the very least a Sanremo-style resolution.



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Stradella
 
Feb 20, 2012
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I thought this was a very nice Sanremo like stage earlier, but the finale is way harder than that and there's barely gonna be any teams interested in controlling this.
 
Jul 14, 2016
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no sagan is not gonna win this stage, in fact bora will do everything they can to let a non threatening breakaway take the stage. For tomorrow you can count out Sagan, Gaviria, Cimolai. This should be a stage for the likes of Tratnik, Affini, Mollema, Hermans, Vanhoucke, Oliveira.
 
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May 12, 2015
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If the stage is as hard as you guys think, what about Bernal trying to sprint for stage win?

He needs all the time he can get if he is not feeling 100% in the mountains.
In all honesty if the break is caught I think they'll be GC action. However, the odds of the break being caught are extremely low.
 
Feb 18, 2015
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Campenaerts will try, but I'm not convinced. I think Sagan should try to go into the break. Nobody will be willing to help Bora to control things and even if they manage to do alone that finale is completely uncontrollable.
 
Jul 27, 2009
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Cimolai won't survive the final hills, will he!?

If so ain't nobody's gonna help Bora chase. But ain't nobody's gonna pull turns in a breakaway containing Sagan either.

The likes of Riesebeek & Van der Hoorn might want (another) stage win.

Pellaud & Marengo for the former intergiro classification!
 
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May 19, 2011
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First 50km when there's the mother of all fights to get in the break, and the last 50km when the break are attacking the hell out of each other should be great fun.
 
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Apr 12, 2015
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Castana:

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Canneto Pavese:

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Found the climbs.

They don't have any steep parts. Don't know if they are made for ambush attacks.
 
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KZD

Feb 21, 2019
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The kind of climbs that Rembo likes but I doubt that he will do anywhing after today's crash
 
Oct 14, 2020
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I thought Bora could pace this - after all Buchmann is out so it's not like they have something to do in the mountains - but yeah, it's probably a bit too long for one team to do it alone and who else might be interested? Considering how strong Ulissi looked today, maybe UAE for both him and Gaviria? Or perhaps we will see a few of these guys in the break.

I think Sagan will be focused on keeping the maglia ciclamino, unfortunately. But on paper it looks like it could easily be another win for him.
 

Bonimenier

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Apr 1, 2019
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I thought Bora could pace this - after all Buchmann is out so it's not like they have something to do in the mountains - but yeah, it's probably a bit too long for one team to do it alone and who else might be interested? Considering how strong Ulissi looked today, maybe UAE for both him and Gaviria? Or perhaps we will see a few of these guys in the break.

I think Sagan will be focused on keeping the maglia ciclamino, unfortunately. But on paper it looks like it could easily be another win for him.
Every Bora rider should try to get in the break. Sagan, Grossschartner and Fabbro could all win this stage.
 
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