Giro d'Italia 2020: Stage 21 preview
October 25, 2020: Cernusco sul Naviglio - Milan, 15.7km
Stage 21: Cernusco sul Naviglio to Milan
Date: October 25, 2020
Distance: 15.7km
Stage start: 13:20pm CEST
Stage type: Time Trial
It’s Super Sunday, when the Giro’s finale will be competing for attention with the men’s and women’s editions of Paris-Roubaix and the Tourmalet summit finish at the Vuelta a España. Given these clashes, it’s perhaps appropriate that this final time trial is shorter than the equivalent tests in recent editions of the corsa rosa, extending to just 15.7km into the centre of Milan from the suburb of Cernusco sul Naviglio to the north-east.
Totally flat, the riders will find themselves on straight, wide roads once they’ve negotiated three 90-degree turns in the opening few hundred metres. From that point until the intermediate time check at 10.3km, there isn’t a bend of note. A chicane just on the approach to that checkpoint will provide a brake, but once through it the riders will be quickly to full speed again until they’re in the very heart of Milan.
There are three tight turns in the final kilometre, the last of them on the cobbled section that runs all the way into the Piazza del Duomo, where the 103rd Giro d’Italia will finish.
Will its final test produce the kind of dramatic turnaround that we witnessed at the 2020 Tour de France? Unless the time gaps between the overall contenders are very small, it’s unlikely anyone is likely to gain or cede a significant advantage in a time trial that will be completed in little more than a quarter of an hour. It should, instead, offer a chance to the time trial specialists for a final shot at a stage win, and effectively act as a very high-speed lap of honour for the rider in the maglia rosa.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
National Cycling League prepares for takeoff - Deciphering the rules, prizes, teams
'One team with $1 million, it’s a cool headline,' says co-founder Paris Wallace about who NCL is adjusting plans -
Tour of Flanders recon gallery gets a twist: Belgian paper labels Ceratizit riders 'cyclotourists'
Team responds by inviting HLN to join them at Tour of Flanders on Sunday -
Tadej Pogacar: I need to finish alone to win the Tour of Flanders
Slovenian aims to lose Van Aert and Van der Poel before Oudenaarde -
'I can either follow or I can't' – Pidcock cautiously optimistic about Flanders
Briton aiming to do battle with 'big three' in Flanders finale