Giro Rosa 2019: The Route

Running to Sunday 14 July, the 2019 Giro Rosa treats the climbers to a lot of vertical metres. The route features summit finishes at Lago di Cancano and the steep Montasio mountain, while most other stages are hilly. The Giro Rosa is rounded out by two time trials - one for teams, the other individual. (Slideshow route/profile)

The Giro Rosa kicks into gear with a TTT of 18 kilometres. The route between Cassano Spinola and Castellania is far from flat, so time gaps are expected to be considerable.

The 2nd stage is an out-and-back race in Viù. Although short, the race takes in the Colle del Lis in the first part. The last 15 kilometres run virtually all uphill, although at shallow gradients.

Another tricky race is served on stage 3. The course starts out easy going before the last 40 kilometres turn into a false flat. The route gets gradually steeper, while the last 5 kilometres go up at approximately 5%. The finish is a cobbled ramp.

The 4th stage is a lumpy test in Lombardy. The route avoids many of the steep ramps of the region though, so this one could come down to a sprint finish.

The 5th stage serves an ascent to Teglio in the first 18 kilometres and after the descent the route starts to climb gradually to Bormio. No steep ramps, just false flat through the valley of the river Adda, but tiresome nevertheless. The Giro Rosa would have kicked it up a notch with a summit at Passo Gavia, but the roads are closed due to landslides. The final haul up now leads to Lago di Cancano: 11.4 kilometres at 5%.

Stage 6 is an ITT of 12.1 kilometres from Chiuro to Teglio. The road runs mostly uphill at approximately 5%.

Any chance that the sprinters will have it their way on the seventh day? No way. At 128,3 kilometres, the 7th stage is a hilly contest with five peaks standing out. One of them is the final climb to San Giorgio di Perlena.

Stage 8 is the longest race on this year’s Giro Rosa. At 133.3 kilometres, the riders travel from Vittorio Veneto to Maniago. The most demanding intermediate climb is the Forcella di Pala Barzana in Andreis – 6.7 kilometres at 6.6% -, which is crested at kilometre 61. The ascent to Clauzetto is crested almost 40 kilometre from the finish. The last part is predominantly flat.

Basically, the 9th stage is a prolonged prelude to the final haul up. Some 110 kilometres on the (false) flat run to a 15 kilometres drag to the Montasio mountain, name-giver of the famous cheese. The average gradient sits at 6%, while the riders hit a 2 kilometres section at 11.8% approximately 4 kilometres from the finish.

Arguably, the last stage is the most straightforward of this year’s Giro Rosa. Flat to rolling roads before the 5 kilometres Moruzzo ascent appears with almost 20 kilometres remaining. The route descents into Udine to conclude with a steep and cobbled incline to the Castello di Udine.