PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 17

The 2024 Giro d'Italia will take place from the 4th to the 26th of May. The first Grand Tour of the season, the main goal of the season for many and one of the most spectacular and history-rich cycling races in the world. We preview the stage ahead.

Stage 17 is another contender for queen stage. 154 kilometers with five tough ascents. It is the third consecutive high mountains day and dare I say the hardest of them all? It is a day with no flat roads, just up and down mountains throughout several hours.

The riders start off the day immediately with a tough climb. The Passo Sella is 8.9 kilometers long at 7.4%, the stage starts at it's base and it goes up to 2244 meters of altitude. A lot can already happen here, strong climbers and GC contenders will try to take advantage and set off from the peloton.

A long descent follows, into the second of the day which is also the longest. The Passo Rolle is 19.8 kilometers long at 4.8%, with a rather flat section in it's middle, and two steeper ones in it's start and finale. Finishing with 90 kilometers to go, it gives way to a technical descent which leads straight into climb number 3.

This will be the Passo Gobbera, the easiest of the day's ascents; it's 5.7 kilometers at 5.8% and ends with 58 kilometers to go. A warm-up for the final mountain of the day. This will be the Passo Brocon, but the ascent will be climbed through two different sides.

The first of which ends with 31 kilometers to go. It's 13.2 kilometers at 6.4%, a difficult climb but taking into consideration the difficulty of the last one; it should still be somewhat of a warm-up.

The final climb, coinciding with the stage finish, is where the serious damage can be done. Through it's hardest side, this time around the Passo Brocon can make massive differences. The climb is 11.9 kilometers long at 6.5% but has a portion which is significantly harder.

The climb does not end at altitude but it does feature 4 kilometers at over 10%. This in itself could make huge differences, but it comes in the middle of the ascent. Attacks will come here, and there will still be a few kilometers before the finish line where they can grow even further.

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Prediction Giro d'italia 2024 stage 17:

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