Giro d'Italia 2021: Stage 9 preview
May 16, 2021: Castel di Sangro - Campo Felice (Rocca di Cambio), 158km


Stage 9: Castel di Sangro-Campo Felice
Date: May 16, 2021
Distance: 158km
Stage start: 12:40 p.m. CEST
Stage type: Mountains
There’s the same amount of climbing today as yesterday, but it’s packed into a shorter stage with a much more difficult finale at the ski station of Campo Felice. It begins in the small Abruzzo town Castel di Sangro, renowned for the exploits of its football team in the 1990s that American writer Joe McGinniss wrote about so engagingly in his book The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.
Will this stage produce a miracle of its own? Perhaps, as there are six climbs on the menu, two of them uncategorised, and very little valley riding at all. The final gravel section at the finish will be a question mark for many climbers, which is more common to Strade Bianche than the Giro.
The first climb begins right from the start, the road rising quite gently to the Colle della Croce. After a short descent, a more difficult climbing test looms in the form of the second-category Passo Godi, which extends to 14km and averages 4 per cent.
After more than 30km of steady descent, the route kicks up again to Fonte Ciarlotto, the second uncategorised climb of the day, then drops immediately to the second climb counting towards the mountains jersey, the third-cat Forca Caruso, 14km long but never getting much above 5 per cent. From here, the riders will follow a shallow descent into the first intermediate sprint at Celano.
This marks the start of the stage’s decisive final section, which begins with another longish (14km), but steady (4.5 per cent) ascent to Ovindoli, which tops out with 23km remaining. The first half of this final section is gently downhill, before the route kicks up into the second intermediate sprint in Rocca di Cambio, which is followed by a brief drop to the foot of the final climb, category 1 this time.
Six kilometres remain, the gradient moderate to begin with, then sharpening drastically as the road exits a tunnel and, soon after, follows a very steep stretch of gravel road for 1.8km to the line, which should create some significant gaps between the maglia rosa favourites.
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.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Amazon Prime Day 2025 Live: The best savings for cyclists on day two of the sale
From finding best-ever prices on Garmin Edge computers to snagging stunning savings on brilliant Camelbak bottles, our deals experts have been busy on day two of the sales -
Lotte Kopecky suffers from back pain, Anna van der Breggen 'not super' as SD Worx-Protime miss the GC mark in Giro d'Italia Women
'It’s not what we hoped for, but panicking now or drawing conclusions before the Tour won’t get us anywhere either' says team manager Danny Stam -
'This win is revenge for last Saturday' - Remco Evenepoel back in Tour de France contention after superb time trial victory and GC time gains
'I'm one step closer to the final podium' - Belgian says after overcoming 'bad start' to Tour de France -
'I don't have an explanation' – Visma left without answers as Jonas Vingegaard suffers heavy defeat in Tour de France time trial
'Luckily, the Tour is long' says Dane as he tries to remain upbeat despite new 1:13 deficit to close rival