Slovenian race potential winner for the Giro d’Italia – preview
Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) talked about small details all week, and when Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) felt the unwelcome impact of the rim on the road in the Treviso final, he had to fear for a while that it was the least, he was maddened by the question just cost the entire Giro d’Italia.
Luckily for Hindley, he was already within the final 3km of the stage and when his initial panic subsided due to a mechanical problem, he was able to gently roll towards the finish line, safe knowing that his slim deficit at the top of the total would be just as he left it at the beginning of the day. After about 3,086 kilometers of racing, the lag remains at three seconds.
Not even an accident, it seems, can separate Carapaz and Hindley, who have finished every day since stage 3 at the same time on the shores of Lake Balaton during the Giro Hungarian Overture. Since then, the race has climbed Mount Etna, crossed the Strait of Messina and crossed the entire length of the peninsula, but Hindley and Carapaz have not indulged in cycling length in all this time.
Only time bonuses have moved the dial in the last two weeks, although other challengers – most recently João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), who dropped out on Thursday after being diagnosed with COVID-19 – have dropped out in this slow-burning elimination match. Also Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), third at 1:05, is not out of the hunt yet.
The last time trial in Verona is available, as it was two years ago in Milan, as a penalty shootout in case Saturday’s Dolomite Tapon still can’t decide the Carapaz-Hindley match.
But while the high peaks of Passo San Pellegrino, Passo Pordoi and Passo di Fedaia have been attracting attention for a long time on stage 20, Friday’s penetration of Gira into Slovenia already has the potential to equalize.
Pot
The 178 km long stage from Marano Lagunare to Santuario di Castelmonte was certainly interesting enough to convince Bora-Hansgrohe, director of sports wrestler Enrico Gasparotto, to go explore the lies of the earth in the depths of last winter. “I did this back in November because it’s in the area where I grew up,” Gasparotto said. Cycling news. “This is the day when you have to take into account the remaining forces on the court and the remaining energy in the peloton.”
The opening phase in Friuli is relatively gentle, even if the fight to enter the early break will be difficult given the huge number of teams at risk of leaving this Giro empty-handed. The first intermediate sprint is in Buje after 55 kilometers and it would be a surprise if Alessandro De Marchi (Israel-Premier Tech) was not among those who want to impress.
The terrain becomes more varied with the ascents of the 3rd category to Villanova Grotte and Passo di Tanamea, which bring the race from Italy to Slovenia.
“From the moment we cross the border, it starts to become a phase of movement with some important problems,” said race director Mauro Vegni BiciSport. This corner of the world was sharply controversial during the First World War, and the town of Kobarid is particularly interesting. Better known by the Italian name Caporetto, it was the place where Austro-Hungarian forces defeated the Italian army on the Isonzo Front in 1917.
The passage through Kobarid is before the most difficult section of the Giro march to Slovenia and one of the most demanding ascents of the entire race. The ascent of the 1st category to Kolovrat climbs by 10.3 km on average by 9.2%, but the already dotted statistics probably conceal its real difficulty. Were it not for the kilometer-long plateau in the middle, the average slope of this ascent would be double-digit.
“It’s hard,” Gasparotto said. “It’s a very challenging climb and in the end the Gira, even if it’s far from the finish line, can cause damage.”
The top of Kolovrat is still 43 km from the finish line, but although Carapaz, Hindley and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) will certainly not delay the offensive here, they will definitely put their teams to work on relentless slopes in order to isolate each other before the final across the border .
After all, in Turin on the 14th stage Bora-Hansgrohe tore the Giro when he pushed some 80 km from the finish line. Gasparotto was shy about whether his defendants could take matters into their own hands in a similar way.
“Clearly, I have a plan and I’m going to talk to the guys about it, but if you want to make it happen, you always have to consider the pros and cons of each plan,” he said carefully.
Maglia rosa Carapaz, meanwhile, confirmed that he had not seen the stage in person. “Personally, I don’t know the climbs on Friday or Saturday,” he said. “But as a team, we looked at and studied everything.”
After descending back to Italy, the road ascends again to Cividale del Friuli, just over 7 km. Transport to the finish line in Santuario di Castelmonte is ‘only’ 612 m above sea level, but the ascent of the second category should not be underestimated. The two-part ascent averages 7.8%, but the slope briefly rises to 14%, another 4 km to the end, while another series of 12% ramps is closer to the top.
“I don’t know if the GC men will have the strength or the desire to attack,” said former Italian coach Davide Cassani. La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The last 5km of this climb to the finish line is quite difficult and I could encourage some GC rider to do a swim to assess the remaining strength of his competitors.”
In a Giro with such tight margins, you may not need a mammoth like Marmolada to make a difference after all. Saturday’s dolomite tapon will already be on Carapaz’s, Hindley’s and Land’s minds, but if the opportunity presents itself the day before, they certainly won’t miss it.