The riders clip into their pedals in Manerba del Garda and the route rises false flat and then slightly steeper – 7.3 kilometres at 4.5% – to Lodrino. A short downhill paves the way for the Colle San Zeno – 13.9 kilometres at 6.6%, and with its summit reached at 64.7 kilometres into the race.
The riders descend to Lago d’Iseo and follow the Oglio river for tens of kilometres upstream. Passing through Edolo and then Monno, they reach the foot of the Mortirolo. This is a 12.6 kilometres toil with an average gradient of 7.6%.
After descending into the valley of the Adda River and following it upstream towards Bormio, the riders don’t enter the Stelvio or Gavia passes but instead tackle the ascent to Isolaccia. This climb mostly maintains moderate gradients, except for the 3 kilometres just before the village, which climbs at 7.5%.
The Passo di Foscagno begins right after the intermediate sprint for time bonuses in Isolaccia. It’s a 15 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 6.4%. The summit lies 8.7 kilometres before the finish in Livigno. The first 4 kilometres descend, while the remainder ascends at 7.6% to the finish line.
The initial part of this final stretch climbs the Passo di Eira, but things get tougher when the riders take a left-hander and hit the Mottolino. The final 1.8 kilometres rise at almost 10% to the line.
The Mottolino rises high above Livigno, which is a perfect spot for high altitude training, so all pro-teams know the area inside out. Oddly, the town in the heart of the Italian Alps is rarely visited by the Giro. In 2005, Ivan Parra climbed to triumph and before that it was Eddy Merckx who took the spoils as far back as 1972.
The second and third intermediate sprint come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds each, while the first three riders on the line gain 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX 15th stage 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Another interesting read: results 15th stage 2024 Giro.
Giro d’Italia 2024 stage 15: routes, profiles, videos
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Big, big day today. The wife and I were on a European cycling holiday some years ago, on our Dawes Galaxy tandem; awesome holiday, great fun. We cycled in this very region, and had a monstrous climb just above Largo D’iseo, absolutely murderous, where they descend into today. Huge achievement for us to complete this climb, albeit a little slower than G and Pogacar will climb it today; ah well.