The legs will be left wobbly and weak from the previous two days in the mountains for the individual test to the never before used Plan de Corones. The climb (1080 metres of climbing) was cut short at the Passo di Furcia due to snow the last time the organisers tried to included it in 2006.
This year race organiser RCS Sport has planned a 12.85-kilometre mountain time trial on the mountain in northeast Italy, which should help see the stage run as programmed. The stage will start in San Vigilio di Marebbe and run 12.6 kilometres before hitting the finale over the sterrato ('gravel road'), which includes sections touching 24 percent gradient.
When the 2007 Tour de France mountain classification winner, Mauricio Soler (Barloworld), tested it in late April, he was left with uncertainty. "It's a hard climb, that's for sure," Soler stated. "It's difficult to say how much it will decide the Giro because when we race here we'll already have two weeks racing in our legs. The race will also be on a better surface than the one we rode today, which has been ruined by the snow." (GB)
Stage Details
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Tom Pidcock second as Benoit Cosnefroy replaces disqualified teammate Jan Christen on the podium -
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Santa Vall reveals a new aero gravel bike has entered the mix -
UAE Tour: Isaac del Toro upsets the sprinters with sensational attack to win stage 1
Mexican outpaces Ceel Bol and Antonio Tiberi on wind-shortened stage
