Siena hosts the start and finish of the Strade Bianche, which is fast becoming one of pro cycling’s most popular classics. The photogenic race on unpaved roads takes place to the south of Siena, but instead stage 12 heads north to Florence.
The first 60 kilometres to the regional capital of Tuscany is lumpy, but proper climbing is going to happen afterwards. Just outside the city the Monte Morello appears, which is an ascent of 7.6 kilometres at 6.6%. After the first kilometre the riders enter a brutal section of 2.5 kilometres with an average gradient of 11.2%.
The riders reach the summit of the Monte Morello at kilometre 85 and continue on a plateau for awhile. The descent leads into Le Sieci and shortly the Passo della Consuma appears. The 17.1 kilometres climb averages 5.7% and ramps up to 10% halfway up the climb.
A 15 kilometres descent leads into Stia and onto the Passo della Calla. Which is a 15.3 kilometres ascent, while the average gradient sits at 5.3%.
A long descent takes the riders to the foot of the last climb of the day. The Passo del Carnaio is 10.8 kilometres long and averages 5.1%, although that’s a biased statistic, as it’s an extremely irregular toil. The middle section of the Carnaio climbs at 9.5%.
A 6 kilometres descent leads onto a flat run-in to the finish of 4 kilometres.
The second intermediate sprint comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds, while time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds are awarded to the first three riders on the line.
Another interesting read: results 12th stage 2021 Giro.
Giro d’Italia 2021 stage 12: routes, profiles, more
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