Verbania is the place where Filippo Ganna was born on 25 July 1996. The time trial World Champion won four stages in last year’s Giro, including three ITT’s.
The first part of the race runs along the Maggio Laggiore into Switzerland. Shortly after Locarno the riders enter the valley of the Moesa river on their way to the San Bernardino Pass.
Starting in Lostallo, the climb to the summit is 31.3 kilometres long. The average gradient sits at 5.3%, which is modest and that’s mainly because the first 8.5 kilometres are a false flat. The gradients hovers around 8% from then on, occasionally peaking out at 9 to 10%. A short downhill appears 8 kilometres before the summit.
Packed with hairpins and surrounded by gorgeous scenery, the San Bernardino Pass is a beautiful mountain road.
The descent leads into Splügen, at the foot of the pass with the same name and situated at 1,460 metres. So that’s still at altitude, meaning that the next climb is not as long. The Splügen Pass serves 7.8 kilometres of climbing at 8.3%.
The summit of the Splügen Pass coincides with the Swiss/Italian border and the riders return into Italy via a 20 kilometres descent. In Campodolcino they loop steeply back up the mountainside on the stunning old road to Madesimo. The Alpe Motta climb is 8.9 kilometres long and averages 8.1%, while the gradients are hardest in the final part.
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.
The 20th stage of the Giro d’Italia starts at 12.20 and the race is expected to finish around 17.15 – both are local times (CEST).
Giro d’Italia 2021 stage 20: route, profile, more
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