Giro d'Italia stage 19: Terni - San Quirico d'Orcia (179 km)
The penultimate stage starts in
Terni, not far from Rieti. Shortly after the start there is an easy hill to San Pellegrino, which could decide the breakaway. The stage remains easy - for now - and goes to
Orvieto, a city dating back as far as the Etruscan age. However, the route doesn't go through the old part of the town (located on a volcanic hill) but only through Orvieto Scalo (below the hill). There is an intermediate sprint in Orvieto Scalo, shortly followed by the feed zone in Sferracavallo.
Not long after leaving Orvieto, things start to get interesting. The riders will have to face
this. That's right, sterrato. The first section of the day is 6,5 km long and contains a climb within. The climb isn't hard, but the road becomes
narrow after a while. The gravel is also rough in some places. The riders that want to win will have to be at the front very early.
After this first section, the riders head to Castel Giorgio but just before entering the town, they take a right turn and enter the
second sterrato sector of the day. It's not a hard sector, but the first part is on a narrow road. On the first two sectors, there won't be team cars, just like on many cobble sections in Paris-Roubaix. The sector is 1400 m long. The
third sector (1300 m) is almost immediately after it, again not too hard and this time the road is even reasonably wide. It ends on the region border between Umbria and Lazio. Again, it doesn't last long until the
next sector. It's just 600 m long, but quite rough and on a narrow road.
After four sectors, the riders get some rest but things should have been shaken up. There is an intermediate sprint in
Acquapendente. Then there is a short downhill followed by 10 km of easy flat roads, before they pass through Ponte a Rigo and the roads turn white again.
The longest sector of the day starts, and it's the longest one of the day at 9,5 km. It starts flat but after a few km it goes uphill, although it isn't steep. The gravel isn't rough, but at some places there are stones in the middle of the road. Some pictures: the
flat section, the
uphill part (2). It's also a part of the Via Francigena, a pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome (although in the other direction). After the sterrato ends, it's just 1 km to the top of the climb, located within the village of
Radicofani.
The riders take a descent to the Formone river, where another climb starts. This time it's on normal asphalted roads. It is on the slopes of the
Monte Amiata, but the riders won't go to the top. The first few km are steep, with a 10% section of 2,5 km in length. After passing through
Campiglia d'Orcia, the climb gets easier with also a short flat section. The top is located just outside the village of Vivo d'Orcia. One could make the climb a bit harder by taking the road through Belvedere, but it's not a big difference as the hardest part is still before Campiglia d'Orcia.
The downhill doesn't start immediately, but there is 7 km of false flat (with a short actual downhill section in it) first. It's not a difficult descent, but there are some turns. However, what comes next will cause some havoc. The riders take a narrow road onto a short but very steep climb. And after a few hundred meters, it becomes
sterrato too. Overall, the climb to Poggioferro is 1,3 km at over 12% average.
The descent is on an asphalted road and not steep, so the sterrato climb to Poggioferro is perfectly usable. The next
sterrato section starts with a very short downhill part, but it becomes
uphill after a while. It's also steep, the average slope is 9,4%. On the descent the riders pass through
Castiglione d'Orcia, but there are also some hairpin bends.
Right after the descent, the final climb and sterrato section starts. It's named after the village of Bagno Vignoni, at the foot of the hill. It's another steep one, being 10% average. The
sterrato isn't hard, but it will have an influence. The descent of the Bagno Vignoni climb is also mostly on
sterrato, but it doesn't contain any sharp corners so it should be doable. The finish is in
San Quirico d'Orcia, just 1 km after the final sterrato section ends.
This stage should create quite some gaps and make the winner of this Giro a very all-around rider. The disadvantage of this stage is that the Giro may be decided by bad luck. However, the riders can adapt to it by choosing the right equipment.
Climbs:
cat. 3, San Pellegrino (3,7 km @ 5,8%)
cat. 3, Citerno (3,6 km @ 7,3%)
cat. 2, Radicofani (8,9 km @ 5,2%)
cat. 2, Vivo d'Orcia (10,9 km @ 4,8%)
cat. 4, Poggioferro (1,3 km @ 12,4%)
cat. 3, Poggio Rosa (2,6 km @ 9,4%)
cat. 3, Bagno Vignoni (2,5 km @ 10,2%)
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