16/04/2023

PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 20

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.

The final mountain stage of the race, a quite different one than the normal. The Corsa Rosa's final mountain challenge will be on one of the most epic Italian climbs, which will be tackled twice. But the day of racing is long, starting in Alpago.

PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2024

Early on, the riders climb the famous Muro di Ca' del Poggio. Far from the finish and possibly not important for the day's outcome, but a breakaway may still be formed in it's slopes. The climb is tremendously popular and, with 1.1 kilometers at 11%, can still see riders attack to try and jump across to the head of the race.

But the focus on the day is on the Monte Grappa. And what a beast it is. The ascent is 18.1 kilometers long at 8.1%, without any meaningful resting areas. It is by all means a gruesome climb and it's final 3.5 kilometers average almost 10%, and is where it's toughest ramp of 17% is located. All-in-all, it will destroy the peloton to bits. But this will only be the first of two. It first summits with 78Km to go.

Then, the riders climb up it's slopes once again which will ultimately be finished with 31 kilometers to go. This will be the final categorized climb of the Giro and with no doubt one of the hardest.

The descent is extremely technical and rather long. In fact, there is a very explosive 1.5-kilometer climb halfway through the descent which averages over 9%, an actually hard climb which is shadowed by the monster that comes before. In any way, differences can still be made in the dozens of hairpins of the downhill, which is 25 kilometers from top to bottom - and most of them, steep.

The riders end the descent only with 5 kilometers to the finish, that still go downhill a little bit. Very quickly the riders finish the stage in Bassano del Grappa, with the overall classification finally sealed.