Who will pay hommage to Il Campionissimo by winning at the Sanctuary? The route of stage 14 travels on relatively flat roads until the last 11.8 kilometres, where the riders ascend a total of 733 metres – the Oropa climb averages 6.2%. It’s another opportunity for GC men to gain time on rivals but also a chance for the mountain goats not involved in the GC to escape to victory.
Names that spring to mind if an escape is to succeed are Mikel Landa, Pierre Rolland, Ben Hermans, Laurens De Plus, Omar Fraile and Enrico Battaglin (three years ago winner in Oropa). After all, these riders are not too high on GC and they know how to climb the tricky Oropa.
If the GC riders do end up battling it out for the stage honours it’s hard to look past Nairo Quintana. The reality is that he will not win every stage that goes uphill however and today we’re expecting that someone further down the GC will ride to the win, honouring Fausto Coppi in doing so.
As said, the 11.8 kilometres ascent to Oropa is averaging 6.2% with a steepest sector of 13% approximately halfway. In the sector 2.5 to 1.5 kilometre before the top the average gradient is 9.3%, so this is a perfect spot to strike.
A place in the early break may be too much to ask, but a late attack by Adam Yates could be successful given the fact that he lost minutes due to the crash in the stage to Blockhaus.
Favourites stage 14 Giro d’Italia 2017
*** Mikel Landa, Rui Costa, Pierre Rolland, Omar Fraile, Enrico Battaglin
** Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Tom Dumoulin, Thibaut Pinot, Bauke Mollema
* Steven Kruijswijk, Adam Yates, Davide Formolo, Laurens De Plus
Giro 2017 stage 14: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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