The route climbs from the start on the Passo Sella. Which is an ascent of 8.9 kilometres at 7.4% with a steepest ramp at 11%. An adequate way to stretch the legs.
A long descent takes the riders to Predazzo, where – after 45 kilometres – the Passo Rolle starts to incline. This colossus of 19.8 kilometres comes with an average gradient of 4.8%, although that’s really a biased statistic. The first 4 and the last 6 kilometres go up at almost 7%, while a section halfway – along Lago de Paneveggio – is actually a false flat.
The riders fly down the mountain to reach the foot of the Passo Gobbera almost 25 kilometres later. This 5.8 kilometres climb at 5.8% is the opening act to the headliner – a double ascent of Passo Brocon. The first ascent is from the east, the second time the riders come from the south and west.
The eastern ascent of the Brocon Pass comes out of the Vanoi valley. It’s a steady test of 15.4 kilometres long. The first 1.5 kilometres rise false flat before the gradients hover around 6% for the rest of the climb.
The Brocon Pass evens out at the summit and the route continues downhill after 2.5 kilometres on the flat. Which is shortly after the Funivie Lagorai ski resort, where the race will finish in 26 kilometres.
The riders fly downhill to tackle the Brocon Pass for the second time. The climb on this side is nothing like the prior one. It starts out as a false flat, continues with 4 kilometres at 5.4%, then ups it up a notch with 2 kilometres at 8.5% only to intensify further with 3 kilometres at 10.5%. The last 2 kilometres flatten out to slightly over 5%, while the entire finish climb amounts to 11.9 kilometres and the average gradient sits at 6.5%.
The second and third intermediate sprint come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds, while the first three riders on the line gain 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX 17th stage 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Another interesting read: results 17th stage 2024 Giro.
Giro d’Italia 2024 stage 17: routes, profiles, videos
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