Cittadella lies approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Venezia. The riders move further north, initially on flat roads, but things change when entering the Forcella di Monte Rest. Which is a perfect way to stretch the legs ahead of what’s in store in the finale. The ascent is 10.5 kilometres long and averages 5.9%.
On top of the Forcella Monte Rest there are 60 kilometres left to race. The first part is a descent, that’s interrupted by a 2 kilometres climb at 6.5%, before the route continues on the flat to the foot of the finish climb.
The Zoncolan was included six times before on the Giro d’Italia with Gilberto Simoni (2003 and 2007), Ivan Basso (2010), Igor Antón (2011), Michael Rogers (2014), and Chris Froome (2018) turning out on top.
With the exception of 2003 the Monte Zoncolan was always tackled in Ovaro, which is the hardest side: 10.1 kilometres at 11.9%. This time the riders take the more gentle approach in Sutrio. The altitude gain is the same on both sides, but the length is different. The Sutrio ascent is 14.1 kilometres long and the average gradient sits at 8.5%. But that statistic is biased by the false flat approach and a similar section around kilometre 10. After that, the Zoncolan ramps up to 13% on average.
The second intermediate sprint comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds, while time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds are awarded to the first three riders on the line.
Another interesting read: results 14th stage 2021 Giro.
Giro d’Italia 2021 stage 14: routes, profiles, more
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