Giro 2017 Route stage 19: San Candido/Innichen

Giro 2017 Route stage 19: San Candido/Innichen - Piancavallo

Friday, 26 May 2017 – At 191 kilometres, the route of the 19th stage in the Giro d'Italia travels from San Candido to Piancavallo. Chances are the race will be decided on the closing climb. The other peaks are too far away from the finish line for that, yet they will play their part in the attrition.

San Candido is a ski resort in the beautiful Puster Valley. The German name for the village is Innichen.

After the start the route goes up without delay and 13.9 kilometres into the race the first pass is crested. This one goes by the euphonious name of Passo di Monte Corce di Comelico, or the Cross Comelico. Yet, the agony is kept in store for later. Except for 1 kilometre of 9%, the climb is not too steep.

Via Padola and Santo Stefano di Cadore the riders arrive in the valley of the River Piave. A short climb up the Cima Sappada takes them to the next valley: Val Degano. Descending to Tolmezzo the Sella Chianzutan appears, an 11.8 kilometres climb at 5.5%. Steep ramps alternate with short drops.

Between the top of the Sella Chianzutan and the finish line are 86 kilometres. No hurdles until Aviano, which is the base of the closing climb to ski resort Piancavallo. The ascent kicks in hard with an average grade of 9.4% for the first 6 kilometres, while the the sixth kilometre is steepest, averaging an intimidating 11.6%. Until kilometre 9 the ascent shows no mercy but then the climb flattens out bit by bit and the last kilometres before the top are merely false flat.

He who wins in Piancavallo follows in the footsteps of Marco Pantani. In 1998 Il Pirata took a stage here before he went on to win the Giro d’Italia that year.

The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the last intermediate sprint (at kilometre 156.3) comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.

Results/race report 19th stage 2017 Giro d’Italia