The riders head north in the direction of the Alps. The roads are as good as, but not entirely flat in the first 85 kilometres. The net elevation gain in this section is 350 metres.
The climbing begins when the riders follow the Torrente Chiarsò upstream. This 7 kilometres section goes up at 4%. It’s a prelude to the Passo Duron, which is the hardest climb of the day: 4.4 kilometres at 9.6% gemiddeld. There are still 51 kilometres left to race at the summit.
The Sella Valcalda appears right after the downhill. It’s a 7.6 kilometres ascent at 5.6% with a relatively tough middle section. The Sella Valcalda is the penultimate climb, just like in 2018. Back then, it was followed by Monte Zoncolan, where Chris Froome soloed to victory.
No brutal finish climb this time, although the descent to Comeglians is the same. You turn left for the Zoncolan and the riders go right. There are still 27 kilometres remaining at this point. The first 3 kilometres go up at around 6% before it evens out and continues in undulating fashion to the foot of the Cima Sappada. This is a 8.5 kilometres climb at 5.4% with a 2.6 kilometres section at 8.6% just before the summit.
The last 6.2 kilometres go downhill and then uphill at moderate gradients.
Sappada last hosted a Giro d’Italia stage finish in 2018. It was the day after Chris Froome’s solo victory at the Zoncolan and pink jersey Simon Yates Yates took the spoils. That race did not come down the Cime Sappada though, but from the oter side.
The second intermediate sprint comes 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 19th stage 2024 Giro d’Italia.
Stage 19 starts at 13:05 and the race is expected to finish around 17:10 – both are local times (CET).
Giro d’Italia 2024 stage 19: routes, profiles, videos
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