Giro 2014 Route stage 17: Sarnonico

Giro 2014 Route stage 17: Sarnonico – Vittorio Veneto

Wednesday, May 28th – Following the mountain stages of the last 2 days, this day looks like a sprinter’s dream despite the tricky ‘Muro’ with 20 kilometres left to ride. (Slideshow route/profile)

The bunch can almost touch the Dolomites, but it’s a flat day today after the exploits of yesterday. More mountains are in store tomorrow however! With 20 kilometres to go to the finish line the riders face a ‘Muro’, which might cause come havoc. The Muro di Ca’ del Poggio is steep, with an average gradient of 12.2% and a steepest section of 18%, but since it’s still a long way to the end it looks like stage 17 is going to be a sprinter’s party.

The area that we are passing through today is part of Italy since 1918. The Battle of Vittorio was instrumental in ending World War I. The defeated Austro-Hungarian armies surrendered and were forced to give back Italian soil, such as South-Tyrol.