After a challenging couple of days, Tom Dumoulin laid his hands on the most important maglia rosa of the Giro d'Italia, the final one. Dumoulin put in a superb effort in the final time trial from Monza to Milan, to take second place on the stage and make up more than enough time to climb above Nairo Quintana in the overall standings. Dumoulin beat the Colombian by just 31 seconds with Vincenzo Nibali finishing third overall.
An emotional Jos van Emden made it a doubly good day for the Dutch with the stage victory, just ahead of Dumoulin.
2017 marks a special year for the Giro d’Italia as it gets ready to celebrate its 100th edition. Event organisers RCS Sport presented the official route on October 25 at the luxurious Palazzo del Ghiaccio in Milan.
The Grande Partenza will set things off in Sardinia on May 5 in Alghero with a lengthy 206km road race to Olbia and overall winner will be crowned three weeks later upon its conclusion following a flat 28km time trial to Milan on May 28.
The route will showcase some of the most famous mountain passes used in the history of the Italian Grand Tour with climbs that include Blockhaus, Mortirolo, Stelvio, Umbrail Pass, Monte Grappa and Pordoi, to name a few.
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There are six mountaintop finishes set to shake up the overall classification at the GIro d’Italia 2017.
Stage 4 will be the first of the summit finishes with the 181km stage beginning in Cefalù, passing a mid-race ascent over the Portella Femmina Morta and finishing on the steep slopes of Etna.
Stage 9 will take the peloton on a short 139km race that starts in Montenero di Bisaccia but it will end on the mighty Blockhaus, a near 30km climb.
Stage 14 will start in Castellania and is one of the shorter stages at only 131km. It will give the riders some reprieve during the mostly flat run-in toward the final ascent to Oropa.
Stage 17 will be a longer day at 219km beginning in Tirano but ends with a more gradual climb to Canazei.
Stage 18 is a 137km race from Moena to Ortisei/St. Urlich. The day will include five King of the Mountain ascents over the Passo Pordoi, Passo Valparola, Passo Gardena, Passo di Pinei Panidersattel and the Pontives on the way to the finish line.
Stage 19 will bring the peloton on a 191km race from San Candido/Innichen to the top of Piancavallo.
Back-to-back Mortirolo, Stelvio, Umbrail Pass feature in queen stage
The Giro d’Italia 2017 also showcases three key mountainous stages that could prove as or more demanding than the six mountain finishes listed above.
Stage 11’s 161km race from Firenze to Bagno di Romagna will force the riders over the Passo Della Consuma, Passo della Calla, Sella di Raggio and Monte Fumaiolo.
Stage 16, the queen stage, will be one of the toughest challenges of the race with its 222km from Rovetta to Bormio routed over the trio of daunting climbs: Passo del Mortirolo and Passo dello Stelvio, which the riders will contest twice, followed by a third and last climb over Umbrail Pass before finishing on a descent to Bormio.
Stage 20 will pass over the Monte Grappa and then cover the climb to Foza before finishing 15km later in the Asiago valley.
Between the mountains
The 2017 Giro d’Italia will offer two time trials on stage 10 in Umbria and during the finale stage 21 to Milan but because of the extent of climbing over the course of three-week race, they aren’t expected to make big changes in the race for the maglia rosa.
There are also several opportunities for the sprinters on flatter stages during the opening week. Stage 1’s flat 206km race will finish in Olbia and present a prime opportunity for a sprinter to capture the first leader’s jersey.
Stage 3 is a flat 148km route from Tortoli to Cagliari and possibly the second test for the sprinters. In addition, the cluster of stages 5, 6, 7 and 8, although lumpy in sections could be races that cater to breakaways, classics riders and puncheurs, and teams with strong sprinters.
Finally, in between the big mountain passes during the second and third weeks, stages 12 and 13 end with flat run-ins to Reggio Emilia and Tortona, respectively, and will likely be the last two opportunities for the fast men.
