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What an incredible stage it was as Fabio Aru makes it two stages in a row on the final two stages in the mountains of the 2015 Giro d’Italia.. Meanwhile Alberto Contador, despite struggling has done everything but win the pink jersey and general classification battle.
Aru’s win wasn’t without drama, or a near change in the general classification after the race exploded on the Colle Delle Finestre.
Early in the stage however there was a 9 rider breakaway that went away. The riders that made the move were Julien Berard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli), Nicola Boem (Bardiani CSF), Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling), Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), Jon Izagirre (Movistar), Giacomo Berlato (Nippo VIni Fantini), Matteo Busato (Southeast) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha).
They were held at close to just 2 minutes off the lead all day as Saxo and Lotto Jumbo controlled the front of the peloton over the mainly flat first 150 km of the stage. The two intermediate sprints were both won by Nicola Boem and the race was set up to explode on the highest climb of this year’s Giro D’Italia.
The climb started without to much incidence as the battle for road positioning drove the pace up and ruined the breakaway. Ilnur Zakkarin was the only one able to stay away, as Astana assumed control of the peloton.
It was Tanel Kangert who attacked first for Astana, shedding the pink jersey group to just nine riders, with three from Astana. With the tempo being set by Ryder Hesejdal and Steve Kruijswijk, Mikel Landa with just a couple of kilometres to go decided to attack. He was able to dump everyone by the way side and ride off.
As his gap began to grow both Kruijswijk and Hesejdal were able to attack and suddenly Contador was in massive trouble. Landa caught Zakkarin at the front of the race and set about inflicting pain on Contador who was obviously struggling to stick with it. By the time the riders went over the top of the first climb Contador was already 1:30 behind.
As the riders descended it looked like Landa out in front had one goal, to gain as much time as possible. However in the second group things were a lot more complicated as Aru refused to work or cooperate with Rigberto Uran and Ryder Hesejdal. As they started coming back uphill, Contador had shaved the gap down to about 45 seconds and Landa was beginning to sit up and allow Aru back on, one of the craziest decisions of the cycling season so far.
As the front pair were caught. Zakarin was caught and Landa set about the pace making. He managed to put a minute back into Contador before Aru inside the last 3 km attacked. No one could follow and he ran away to another victory. Ryder Hesekdal was able to attack and take out second place whilst Contador finished about 2:30 behind, still 2 minutes ahead of Fabio Aru who will finish second.
Astana’s tactics were close to the weirdest I have ever seen in a bike race today.
In the end an incredible stage that had a bit of everything as Aru wins and Contador secures the general classification.
The peloton of the 2015 Giro d’Italia face one last challenge before they ride into Milan on tomorrow’s stage. Stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia will be the final hit out for the climbers in the peloton as they take the 199km trek from Saint – Vincent to Sestriere. Join The Roar from 10:15pm (AEST) for our live coverage of the stage.
Yesterday, on Stage 19 we saw Fabio Aru (Astana) bounce back and take a stage, moving himself back into second on the general classification. Ryder Hesejdal (Cannondale – Garmin)finished in second place with Rigoberto Uran (Etixx – Quickstep) finding some form and finishing in third place.
Despite the stage win, Aru still sits 4:37 behind race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) and will require a miracle to move into pink on this penultimate stage of the Giro.
Today’s stage, number 20 of the race is another long one, clocking in at 199km. There are only two categorised climbs on route, but with a summit finish on Sestriere and the gravel ascent of the Colle Delle Finestre, they are two very very tough climbs where anything can happen.
The stage starts off mostly flat for the first 150km. There are two intermediate sprints on route which come after 97 and 151km of racing respectively. The sprinters will probably have a crack at them, because they are essentially the finish line of the race for them. Over this first 150km a breakaway should be allowed plenty of time on the peloton as they save their energy for what really counts.
After 151km of racing the peloton will hit the first climb of the day. It is outside of categorisation and the high point of this year’s Giro. It is 18.5km long and has an average gradient of 9.2% with a maximum ramp of 14%. The steepest part of this climb is actually in the first kilometre and we could see attacks launched as soon as the road starts to rise.
The rest of the climb is fairly consistent at around the 9% mark, before the last 7.8km of the climb is raced over gravel roads. If anyone is not feeling perfect here big time could be lost, as the gradient sticks to around the 9% mark for the entirety of the climb.
The descent that follows is on narrow roads, is steep and is very technical. Upon reaching the bottom there are about 7km of almost false flat before the category three climb to Sestriere begins.
The climb is 9.2 km and has an average gradient of 5.4%, which compared to what the riders have just finished will seem like a walk in the park. The gradient at one point gets up to 9% with a section of 3km about half way up the climb that averages over 6%. The final kilometre of the stage however, has very low gradients and the final couple of hundred meters, like yesterday are virtually flat.
Alberto Contador, who is yet to win a stage will probably go all out to win this. Astana will be looking for another victory and others such as Steven Kruijswijk (Lotto Jumbo) along with Benat Intxausti and Giovanni Visconti (Both Movistar) will be looking for king of the mountains points.
Others to target the stage win would include Leopold Konig (Sky), Ryder Hesejdal (Cannondale – Garmin) and Rigoberto Uran (Etixx Quickstep)
Prediction: Attacks will fly as riders fight for the minor General Classification places. Either Fabio Aru or Mikel Landa will possibly try a long range attack, but Ryder Hesejdal has been in excellent form and is my tip for the stage today. Again, just like yesterday the breakaway will probably have next to no chance.
Join The Roar for our live coverage of the penultimate stage in the 2015 Giro d’Italia from 10:15pm (AEST) and don’t forget to leave a comment if you’re following along!