Giro 2017 Favourites stage 16: King of the Stelvio

Who is favourite to win the Queen Stage in the Giro d'Italia? The route takes in the Mortirolo and a double ascent of the Stelvio, so a big name on the podium would be great. Yet, don't be suprised if the best climber in the break away powers to glory. (Slideshow route/profile)

Mortirolo, Stelvio and Umbrail – stage 16 kick-starts the last week of the Giro d’Italia with a tough stage that takes in three enormous climbs. The finish is at the end of a 18.5 kilometres drop and a flat last kilometre in Bormio. Adding the distance of 222 kilometres, it is clear this race will seperate the men from the boys.

In succession, the riders face a 12.6 kilometres climb at 7.6% (Mortirolo), a 21.7 kilometres torture at 7.1% (Stelvio) and a 13.4 kilometres toil at 8.4% (Umbrail, which basically is in ‘side pass’ of the Stelvio). Yes, that’s a tough course. As the rest of the week is played out in the high mountains also, we can expect to GC guys to keep their powder dry until late in the race. So let’s assume a break away to form early in the day with the strongest climbers making it to the end before the main players can catch them. A good descent would come in handy given the downhill finale.

On the other hand, Quintana en Pinot are more than 2 minutes down on maglia rosa Dumoulin. Given the ITT on the last day it would be wise to try something when it’s not too late. And obviously, it would be great if the GC guys would battle it out on such a fantastic route.

Quintana turned out on top on Blockhaus, ahead of Pinot and Dumoulin. What is the Stelvio going to bring us?

Favourites stage 16 Giro d’Italia 2017

*** Pierre Rolland, Mikel Landa, Thibaut Pinot, Adam Yates, Vincenzo Nibali
** Steven Kruijswijk, Nairo Quintana, Tom Dumoulin, Davide Formolo
* Domenico Pozzovivo, Joe Dombrowski, Dario Cataldo, Diego Rosa