The Corsa Rosa is the first Grand Tour of the season and this year it will include a start in a nation that will for the first time in it's history host a Grand Tour, Albania; and also several mountain stages in it's second half whilst the first half will feature some tricky stages including one that goes through a lot of the Strade Bianche course. We
preview stage 19.
Stage 19 will take place in the Valle d'Aosta and truly it will feature what the region has the most, technical climbs and descents, all of them long and steep but very similar in it's characteristics. It's trully a very difficult day with climbing right from the start, but then also three very long and difficult ascents on the Col Tzecore, Col de Saint Pantaleon and finally Col de Joux, each of them 16 kilometers in length and averaging around 7%. A day of endurance and where in the final week huge differences can be created.
Biella - Champoluc, 166 kilometers
Right at the start of the day there is an 11-kilometer long climb at 4.65 which starts after only 3 kilometers of racing. A lot can happen here, and the GC teams will want to send riders up the road before entering the brutal terrain. Tzecore ends with 99 kilometers to go, Saint-Pantaléon ends with 56 kilometers to go (the first descent extremely technical, the second extremely fast in it's majority).
Then comes the Col de Joux which, because it's the last of the difficult ascents, should see the main attacks. 15.1 kilometers at 6.9% will be a proper ascent to split the entire race and the climb ends with 20 kilometers to go.
Before arriving in Champoluc however there will still be another small ascent to Antagnod, one that has nothing to do with the previous ascents, but will prolong the spectacle and who knows, perhaps even create further differences at a point of the stage where most will already be on their knees. The climb is 9.5 kilometers long at 4.6%, but the second half has ramps going up to 11%. The climb ends with 4.6 kilometers to go before the downhill finish.
The Weather
Map Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 19
Prediction Giro d'Italia 2025 stage 19: ***
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Pick:
Original: Rúben Silva