PREVIEW | Giro di Sicilia 2023

Preview. From the 11th to the 14th of April the peloton will take on one of it's youngest stage-races: the Giro di Sicilia. Taking place in the Italian island, the four-stage race includes opportunities for all kinds of riders as the Italian calendar is further enriched.

Stage 1 of the race will be an interesting start. A mostly flat stage through the western coast of the island, but with a tough finale. Into Agrigento, the puncheurs and climbers will come to the fore. The summit finish is 3.8 kilometers long at 5.3%. Stage 2 from Canicatti and Vittoria will be a day for the sprinters likely, although it is far from easy. The second half of the way won't be complicated to handle, but the first half sees plenty small climbs which could prove to be an issue for the fast men and their teams to control the race. 

Stage 3 is quite similar. Shorter in distance, the 150 kilometers from Enna to Terimini Imerese start off with a section of small climbs which can be raced at high speed. Then follows a technical descent into the north coast of the island after 1100 meters of downhill. The final hour of racing will mostly be flat, but the final 1.3 kilometers are extremely technical and at around 5%.

The queen stage, and a proper one. Unlike the modern trend of making mountain stages shorter, in Sicilia things are done different. 216 kilometers in the final day of racing with over 4000 meters of climbing. A very long ascent ending in Floresta (14Km; 4.1%) will warm up the riders. The main ascent of the day will be up Mount Etna, via Due Monti, which is 18.2 kilometers long at 6%.

Then after a steep descent the riders will climb up the volcano once again, but this time around end the climbing much below. Nevertheless, the ascent to Culmine di Scorciavacca is 10.2 kilometers at 6.4% and finishes with only 21 kilometers to go. The way to the finish is almost completely downhill from there, but the run-up to the line in Giarre has some gradient to it. 

Estimated start and finish times for Giro di Sicilia:

Stage 1: 11:35 - 15:30CET

Stage 2: 10:45 - 15:30CET

Stage 3: 11:45 - 15:30CET

Stage 4: 09:45 - 15:30CET

*** Damiano Caruso, Rafal Majka
** Alexey Lutsenko, Louis Meintjes, Kobe Goossens
* Samuele Zoccarato, Simone Petilli, Walter Calzoni, Matteo Badilatti, Felix Engelhardt, Sébastien Reichenbach, Diego Ulissi, George Bennett

Pick: Damiano Caruso