Cervinia lies on the southern slopes of the Matterhorn, a giant that’s peaking at 4,478 metres. The village itself is located at 2,006 metres and to get there the riders face a long and irregular climb. False flat sections are interspersed with steeper parts, while the real drudgery is the sheer length of 18.2 kilometres. Just before halfway the steepest kilometre goes up at 9.3%.
In the 2015 Giro Fabio Aru won in Cervinia after a 236 kilometres mountain stage. Three years before that, in 2012, Andrey Amador took the stage honours, while Ryder Hesjedal climbed to pink in the ski-resort.
Following 130 kilometres on the flat the Col Tsecore and Col de Saint-Pantaléon are the prelude to the last climb to Cervinia. Arguably, the Tsecore is the hardest climb of the day. At 16 kilometres, the average gradient is 7.7%, while the last 5 kilometres go up at 9.3%.
Up next is the Col de Saint-Pantaléon, a 16.5 kilometres climb at 7.2%. The first half is averaging 7.9% before the second half is an irregular affair with kilometres at 3.2% and 4.1%, while the steepest section is the last 2 kilometres before the top, which rises at 8.9%.
The first 3 kilometres to Cervinia go up at 3.2% and then the slope continues at 7% until halfway up the mountain. But that average gradient is biased as some parts are merely a false flat and the riders also tackle the aforementioned kilometre at 9.3%. After 9.5 kilometres the climb becomes more steady with an average gradient of 6.6% before the last 2 kilometres flatten out to 1.3%.
The first three riders on the line win time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the last of two intermediate sprints (at kilometre 96.3 and at kilometre 130.4) comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 20th stage 2018 Giro d’Italia.
Giro d’Italia 2018 stage 20: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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Details Col Tsecore
Details Col de Saint-Pantaléondelle
Details Cervinia climb
Profile final kilometres
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