In fact, the last 50 kilometres of the race go virtually all uphill. So if you want to win you have to keep on pushing. No descent, just grinding your way up amidst the scenic beauty of the rugged mountains. Until your legs are screaming for oxygen. For rest.
Obviously, pure bred climbers are endowed with the stamina and physical strength to survice this kind of terrain. The last Giro visit to the Gran Sasso massive was in 2018 and this year’s finale is an exact replica. Back then, Simon Yates, Thibaut Pinot, Esteban Chaves, Domenico Pozzovivo and Richard Carapaz battled it out for the win. That is, they were still together in the finale. But when Yates kicked it was clear that there would be no battle. He rode away from his rivals and pocketed the win.
The route of stage 7 is very straightforward. Flat run-up, big mountain – another flat run-up, even bigger mountain.
The latter is the 50 kilometres colossus that’s emblematic of the finale. Effectually, it’s two ascents. The first travels in 13.5 kilometres at 6% to Calascio. The route then levels off to a false flat before continuing as a 10 kilometres long climb at 4%. An undulating section precedes the actual climb to the line. The first 3 kilometres go up at 4.1%, while the stamina element is going to weigh heavy in the last 5.4 kilometres at 8.2%. Which, obviously, is going to feel much steeper after the preceding hardships.
Favourites 7th stage 2023 Giro d’Italia
*** Thibaut Pinot, Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic
** Jay Vine, Geraint Thomas, Hugh Carthy, Aleksandr Vlasov
* Tao Geoghegan Hart, Damiano Caruso, Rigoberto Uran, João Almeida
Another interesting read: route 7th stage 2023 Giro.
Giro d’Italia 2023 stage 7: profiles
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