Giro 2015 Route stage 20: Saint Vincent

Giro 2015 Route stage 20: Saint Vincent – Sestrière

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Saturday, May 30, 2015 – Until kilometre 150 one may wonder: is this really the queen stage of the 2015 Giro? And then all of a sudden the Colle delle Finestre looms. After cresting this steep and partly unpaved monster another 30 kilometres are waiting, over half of it uphill. The penultimate stage from Saint Vincent to Sestriere totals 196 kilometres.

Leaving Saint Vincent (550 metres) the riders follow the River Dora Baltea to head for the Po Valley. They pass Turin to the north and cruise eastwards. Not a cloud in the sky, until they arrive in Susa. The village is located within at an altitude of 500 metres and within 18 kilometres the riders will be gasping for breath when they are atop Colle delle Finestre. Located at 2,178 metres it is the highest point of the Giro, the rider who is cresting first wins the Cima Coppi.

The steepest section of the Finestre is right at the foothill when the road goes up by 14%, whilst the average grade is 9.2%. But the climb’s grades is not the most threatening part to many riders. The ascent totals 18.45 kilometres and 7.8 kilometres of these are unpaved. So the Cima Coppi was rarely as applicable as this year.

In over 11 kilometres go down to Pourrières (1,410 metres) and then the last climb of the 2015 Giro awaits them. The ascent to Sestriere (2,035 metres) is 9.2 kilometres with an average grade of 5.4% and a maximum grade of 9%. Theoretically no too tough, but it is very doubtful whether this also applies after over 3,000 kilometres of cycling in three weeks time and the climbing Colle delle Finestre just moments ago. Or actually that’s not doubtful at all, it’s a sure thing…

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