Since it’s almost bedtime in the US and nobody’s done it yet I’ll keep copy+pasting @Devil's Elbow until someone stops me.
This stage marks the halfway point of the Giro, and perhaps fittingly it’s also the place where the route switches from the western to the eastern parts of the country. It also marks the halfway point of the sprint stages.
The route
Every GT has at least one stage start or finish in a random village or small town in the middle of nowhere. In this Giro, Foiano di Val Fortore fulfils that role. The Fortore river is one of the few in Campania that drains in the Adriatic, a clear hint as to where we’re heading today. The absence of a road through its valley means that the stage starts with an uncategorised climb, to San Bartolomeo in Galdo.
The first part of the stage is spent ticking off Italian regions as fast as possible. The descent from San Bartolomeo takes the riders into Apulia, which they almost immediately exchange for Molise, most forgettable of all Italian regions. Just after crossing the border, we hit the only KOM of the day, to Pietracatella.
After a rolling section that ends with the intermediate sprint in Casacalenda, it’s a very gradual descent to the Adriatic. The coast is reached in Termoli, where Caleb Ewan won his eleventh and currently final GT stage three years ago. Here, the route turns northwest to head up the boot’s edge, swiftly re-entering the Abruzzo region that was already visited in the second weekend. The Intergiro sprint is in the border town of San Salvo Marina, where Jonathan Milan broke his Giro duck last year. The route mostly follows the flat coastal roads here, and it isn’t an area noted for its wind either. It heads down the Costa dei Trabocchi, through Fossacesia Marina (where the bonus sprint is held) and Ortona, the hosts of last year’s opening TT won by Remco Evenepoel. Fossacesia is also notable as the birthplace of Alessandro Fantini, who won seven Giro stages and two Tour stages in the 1950s in addition to coming second on the fabled Monte Bondone snow stage where Charly Gaul won the 1956 Giro. He died aged just 29, of injuries sustained in a horrible crash in a Tour of Germany sprint in 1961.
From Ortona, it’s only a short distance to Francavilla al Mare, the day’s finish location. The finale is completely flat and the final turn is at 3.5k from the line (assuming they remove the traffic furniture at a small roundabout at 200 metres to go), so expect a very hectic finish. Francavilla was a small port, always overshadowed by nearby Pescara, that only grey into relevance with the advent of tourism from the late 19th century onwards. In what sadly seems to be a recurring theme this race, it suffered greatly during the Second World War: a Nazi razzia, one of the worst in the Abruzzo, killed 20, and it was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing and the retreating German army. It has recovered since, serving both as a beach resort and a commuter town for Pescara.
What to expect?
Anything other than a full bunch sprint would be a big surprise.
Stage 11: Foiano di Val Fortore – Francavilla al Mare, 207.0k
This stage marks the halfway point of the Giro, and perhaps fittingly it’s also the place where the route switches from the western to the eastern parts of the country. It also marks the halfway point of the sprint stages.
The route
Every GT has at least one stage start or finish in a random village or small town in the middle of nowhere. In this Giro, Foiano di Val Fortore fulfils that role. The Fortore river is one of the few in Campania that drains in the Adriatic, a clear hint as to where we’re heading today. The absence of a road through its valley means that the stage starts with an uncategorised climb, to San Bartolomeo in Galdo.
The first part of the stage is spent ticking off Italian regions as fast as possible. The descent from San Bartolomeo takes the riders into Apulia, which they almost immediately exchange for Molise, most forgettable of all Italian regions. Just after crossing the border, we hit the only KOM of the day, to Pietracatella.
After a rolling section that ends with the intermediate sprint in Casacalenda, it’s a very gradual descent to the Adriatic. The coast is reached in Termoli, where Caleb Ewan won his eleventh and currently final GT stage three years ago. Here, the route turns northwest to head up the boot’s edge, swiftly re-entering the Abruzzo region that was already visited in the second weekend. The Intergiro sprint is in the border town of San Salvo Marina, where Jonathan Milan broke his Giro duck last year. The route mostly follows the flat coastal roads here, and it isn’t an area noted for its wind either. It heads down the Costa dei Trabocchi, through Fossacesia Marina (where the bonus sprint is held) and Ortona, the hosts of last year’s opening TT won by Remco Evenepoel. Fossacesia is also notable as the birthplace of Alessandro Fantini, who won seven Giro stages and two Tour stages in the 1950s in addition to coming second on the fabled Monte Bondone snow stage where Charly Gaul won the 1956 Giro. He died aged just 29, of injuries sustained in a horrible crash in a Tour of Germany sprint in 1961.
From Ortona, it’s only a short distance to Francavilla al Mare, the day’s finish location. The finale is completely flat and the final turn is at 3.5k from the line (assuming they remove the traffic furniture at a small roundabout at 200 metres to go), so expect a very hectic finish. Francavilla was a small port, always overshadowed by nearby Pescara, that only grey into relevance with the advent of tourism from the late 19th century onwards. In what sadly seems to be a recurring theme this race, it suffered greatly during the Second World War: a Nazi razzia, one of the worst in the Abruzzo, killed 20, and it was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing and the retreating German army. It has recovered since, serving both as a beach resort and a commuter town for Pescara.
What to expect?
Anything other than a full bunch sprint would be a big surprise.
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