Tirreno-Adriatico 2015 Route stage 5: Esanatoglia

Tirreno-Adriatico 2015 Route stage 5: Esanatoglia – Terminillo

Sunday, March 15, 2015 - The Queen Stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico leads in 195 kilometres from Esanatoglia to Monte Terminillo. The top finish is at an elevation of 1,675 metres. Will Contador be as omnipotent as he was in last year’s Queen Stage?

The climbing starts with the uncategorized La Morca – a 2.6 kilometres climb at 7.5%. With 32.5 kilometres done the riders are to crest Passo Sallegri, at an elevation of 1,017 metres.

Another 40 kilometres down the road Le Arette is reached after a long and steady ascent. The top lies at an elevation of 1,113 metres, 2 kilometres after passing Sanctuario di Macereto at 998 meters, meaning that last part goes up by a 5.8% grade. Shortly before the sanctuary, the climbing is interrupted by a short descent.

Next comes the opposite: an extremely long 70 kilometres descent. Obviously it’s not a giant-like slope, but still, the section will bring relief to a lot of legs. Then the small 6 kilometres climb up the Forca di Arrone brings the riders to an altitude of 509 metres. At the summit it’s 25 kilometres of preparation-time before the Queen’s-Climb of the 50th edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico.

The summit of Monte Terminillo is located at 2,216 metres. The riders do not reach that high however, since the finish is at an elevation of 1,675 metres.

The racing-rumble starts with 24 kilometres left with an introductory climb to Castelfranco (elevation 624 metres). After a short descent of a few kilometres and the final climb to ski-resort Terminillo begins. In 16.4 kilometres the riders climb from 501 to 1,675 metres, meaning an average grade of 7.2%.

Last year, the Queen Stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico was won by Alberto Contador, who consequently took the GC. The Spaniard won the gruelling 244 kilometres race to Selva Rotonda, besting Nairo Quintana and Daniel Moreno.

The Giro d’Italia featured Monte Terminillo on several occasions, starting as early as the 1930’s. After arrivals in 1936, ’37, ’38 and ’39 it was only in 1987 the pink circus was back on the Appenine peak. Since then the Giro finished atop Terminillo in 1992, ’97, 2003 en 2010. Chris Anker Sørensen was the victor on that last occasion.

Here you’ll read the race results and race report.