After the start in Canazei the route goes downhill for tens of kilometres. Even sprinters will be tempted to join the breakaway. A short and sharp climb to Sveseri appears after almost 60 kilometres before the route continues to go downhill
It’s only after 140 kilometres that the route changes dramatically. The Passo di San Valentino is 14.8 kilometres long and the average gradient sits at 7.8%. The riders descend back to the valley of the Adige River and after 6 kilometres on the flat the finish climb appears.
The Sega di Ala is an irregular toil of 11.2 kilometres long. The eight kilometre is the hardest with an average gradient of 15.7%, although the Sega di Ala keeps punching up at double digit gradient after that. It’s only in the last 1.7 kilometres that the ascent eases out to 5.3%. From foot to finish the Sega di Ala averages 9.8%.
Is the breakaway going to be successful or are the GC riders going to battle it out for the stage win? Hard to predict in advance. When the breakaway reach the mountainous zone with a big enough lead the best climbers on board are well placed to give it a dig.
Favourites 17th stage 2021 Giro d’Italia
*** Egan Bernal
** Bauke Mollema, Daniel Martin, Davide Formolo, Daniel Felipe Martínez
* Aleksandr Vlasov, Romain Bardet, Hugh Carthy, Simon Yates, Giulio Ciccone
Another interesting read: route stage 17 Giro d’Italia 2021.
Giro d’Italia 2021 stage 17: profiles
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