- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Two days ago, it was Giovanni Visconti who conquered hellish conditions on the Col du Galibier to claim his maiden Giro stage victory. Today, the race enters its final week with the 238km 16th stage from Valloire to Ivrea.
Join our live updates as we pick up the action at 11:00pm AEST.
Stage 16 is a medium-mountain stage, set to start atop the Col de Telegraph with a quick descent and an immediate start to the first climb of the day – the Col du Mont Cenis, which gradually climbs 1363m over 50km.
At such a slight average gradient, it shouldn’t trouble too many riders, and those who do fall off the pace will have a long descent and over 100km of flat road to bridge the gap to the peloton.
The flat middle portion of the stage features two intermediate sprint points, potentially rewarding any sprinters who succeed in maintaining contact over the climb, before the peloton reaches the second categorized climb of the day – a punchy 5.7km climb to Andrate at an average gradient of 9%.
From the summit of this climb, it’s a quick but potentially treacherous 17km to the finish line in Ivrea.
Look out for:
1) Back-up Plans – The growing list of teams desperate to salvage their race with a breakaway stage win now includes Blanco, whose hopes were yesterday given a killer blow when a bad ride for Robert Gesink dropped him out of the top 10.
2) A Battle of the Elements – 24-hour forecasts have predicted a 70% chance of rain on stage 16, and slippery roads could entice one or two GC riders to chance their hand on the final climb and descent to take time out of a currently unfaltering Vincenzo Nibali.
Unfortunately for them, the man they’re trying to unseat is among the very best descenders in the world.
3) History repeating – It’s perhaps a little optimistic to expect a repeat performance, but if the rain does come, Cadel Evans may be feeling a slight sense of deja vu as he lines up for today’s stage.
En route to his 2011 Tour de France victory, it was during another rain-soaked 16th stage, also following a rest day, and finishing with another punchy climb and wet and hazardous descent to the finish where Evans managed to put significant time into his main rivals, Andy and Frank Schleck.
It may only be a medium-mountain stage, but a list of GC contenders desperate to steal time from Nibali, as well as teams looking to salvage their Giros with breakaway stage wins, will ensure that there is action aplenty as we kick off the Giro’s third and final week today.
Live updates will start at 11:00pm AEST.
Fancy a wager on your favourite sport? Head on over to PlayUp for great odds and friendly customer service and pick a winner. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.