Giro 2020 Favourites stage 13: Back to the fast men, or…?

Without these uphills the race would have been flat. The steep climb up the Via Roccolo is crested 29 kilometres before the line. The ascent is 4.1 kilometres long and ramps up to 13.4% in the last kilometre before the summit. Obviously, no sprinter is going to survive those gradients, but there remains enough distance to rejoin the peloton.

Complicating factor is the climb to Calaone. It is half as long as the Rocollo climb but the average gradient sits at 9.8%. Ouch! After Caleone the route descends towards Baone before the last 12 kilometres are played out on the flat.

In a way the finale is similar to Milan-San Remo, although the uphills are much tougher. On the other hand, the sprinters have more time on the flat to regain contact with the peloton, while their legs are still fresh when they hit the steep slopes. After all, the route would have been pan-flat without the Rocollo and Calaone climbs.

Favourites 13th stage 2020 Giro d’Italia
*** Peter Sagan, Arnaud Démare
** Diego Ulissi, Fernando Gaviria, Mikkel Honoré, Mikkel Bjerg
* Andrea Vendrame, Enrico Battaglin, Gianluca Brambilla, Sebastian Molano

Another interesting read: route stage 13 Giro d’Italia 2020.