Giro 2015 Route stage 12: Imola

Giro 2015 Route stage 12: Imola – Vicenza

Thursday, May 21, 2015 – It’s a 190 kilometres ride taking the pilots from Imola to Vicenza in stage 12. Almost the entire route is tailor made for the sprinters, but then the finale in marked by three climbs plus a top finish at Monte Berico in Vicenza.

Flat, flatter, flattest – a proper way to describe the first 126 kilometres of today’s route. Parallel to the Italian east coast the pack cruises through Ferarra and Rovigo to arrive at the beautiful city of Vicenza. In Castelnuovo – not far from Padova – the road goes up for the first time and interrupted by flat sections the remainder of the race sees two more climbs. The first of these is at Crosara (elevation 397 metres) and then at Perarolo (elevation 244 metres). The finish is atop a 1.5 kilometre climb at 7.1% and with a max grade of 11% just before the line.

The finish is at Monte Berico in Vicenza. According to legend, Mary appeared here both in 1426 and 1428 to a simple farmer in a time the Black Plague was torturing the Veneto region. She told him the citizens of Vicenza would be redeemed if they were to build a church on the hill.

And so it happened. Proudly adorning Monte Berico is the The Church of Saint Mary.

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