The Giro d’Italia has seen some high-speed sprints, breakaway success Pogačar assaults and the primary mountain end in Oropa however the race rises to a much more intense degree on Thursday throughout the Tuscan gravel roads made well-known by Strade Bianche.
Tadej Pogačar appears accountable for the race up to now, with the Slovenian main Geraint Thomas by 46 seconds and Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) by 47 seconds. The prime 20 riders within the common classification are divided by simply 2:33. Things will certainly be completely different after the gravel stage.
It can be fascinating to see how Pogačar performs. He received Strade Bianche in early March with an 80-kilometre solo assault. Is he as robust now and can he be as aggressive?
Stage 6 can be a day of reality and alternative, even when Pogačar doesn’t appear overly enthusiastic.
“It’s not Strade Bianche, to be sincere, it is only a ‘not good’ stage, I might say,” Pogačar mentioned on Wednesday.
“We have to be actually concentrated from begin to end. We have to be collectively as a group going to the gravel sectors with nice focus and simply arrive to the end line.”
Pogačar, like most riders within the peloton, will go for barely wider tyres and decrease pressures however will use his normal Colnago street bike, simply as riders have executed these days for Strade Bianche and even Paris-Roubaix.
“There’s is not lots of gravel on the stage, however you may nonetheless have to experience on a motorcycle with all of the modification essential to keep away from mechanical points,” Dario Cioni of Ineos Grenadiers advised Cyclingnews as they ready to guard and help Geraint Thomas on stage 6.
“The set-up will in all probability be the identical as a traditional Strade Bianche race. You may probably take the danger of a lighter set-up, however that would go away you extra of an opportunity of puncturing.”
The threat of punctures and mechanicals is much larger and that issues everybody. Team automobiles may very well be held up by chase teams and group radios may be out of vary when a rider wants help most. Teams may have additional employees out on the course, particularly with wheels on the finish of the gravel sectors. It can be a demanding day throughout.
Fortunately, it is going to be dry, with the Italian summer season arriving in Tuscany this week. In 2010, when the Giro d’Italia coated comparable gravel roads in the course of the stage to Montalcino, heavy rain turned the stage right into a battle of survival. Cadel Evans prevailed by the mud and rain to win the stage, however Vincenzo Nibali crashed and misplaced time and any probability of general victory.
Riders have usually questioned the inclusion of gravel sectors in Grand Tours as a result of they will create stress, crashes and time losses however race organisers love them for the drama they add to the race.
“We added the gravel sectors to check the riders’ bike abilities – even Grand Tour riders ought to have the ability to race on the gravel,” race director Mauro Vegni advised.
“The gravel roads of Tuscany are like these of the Strade Bianche race. Many of the gravel roads in Italy, particularly within the Siena space, are beautiful and much better than the asphalt roads. It’ll be a spectacular stage to look at on tv and for the riders to race.”
Stage particulars
Image 1 of 2
The 180km stage begins in Torre del Lago Puccini, the positioning of an annual opera pageant honouring the well-known composer Giacomo Puccini, and heads inland from the coastal city, slicing throughout Tuscany in a south-easterly course, from the coast north of Pisa to south of Siena, into the beautiful Crete Sienese hills for a end in Rapolano Terme.
The stage consists of 1900 metres of climbing however is a decisive day on this 12 months’s Corsa Rosa because of the Strade Bianche roads within the remaining fifty kilometres. There are solely three sectors for a complete of 11.6km however they might spark splits, crashes and important time losses.
A break is prone to go away on the flat roads south of Torre del Lago, with the climb to Voletta the one categorised climb of the stage after 80km. The remaining 100km are on the rolling roads of southern Tuscany on nation roads, with few moments of respite. There is an intermediate dash in Casole d’Elsa earlier than the method to the gravel roads.
The first sector, from Vidritta-Bagnaia, is 4.4km lengthy and is straight away adopted by the 4.8km Bagnaia-Grotti sector. They will type a nasty block of 10km of gravel racing, with a lot of the second sector climbing as much as the village of Grotti. It is a fourth-category climb however features a sector at 15%.
The third sector to Pievina is simply 2.4km lengthy but in addition climbs to the hilltop and follows the ridge to Asciano, providing spectacular views. It comes simply 25km from the end. The Intergiro dash is on the finish of the Pievina sector, with three, two and one second awarded to the primary three riders. They may very well be an additional motive to assault there.
Both sectors and the excessive velocity they’re raced will certainly spark picks within the peloton and amongst the GC contenders. If anybody is distanced on the primary sector, they’ll certainly battle to shut the hole on the rolling roads to the end. If anybody is dropped on the ultimate Pievina sector they might lose a big period of time.
There is a steep 20% kick-up to Serre di Rapolano with 4.5km to go, adopted by a rising end into Rapolano Terme. The time gaps and the brand new common classification will solely be identified past the end line.
Stage 6 Gravel Sectors
- Vidritta-Bagnaia, 4.4km (km 130.5)
- Bagnaia-Grotti, 4.8km (km. 140.4)
- Pievina, 2.4km (km.162.1)
Stage 6 Sprints
- Intermediate dash, km. 103.8
- Intergiro bonus dash, km. 152.7
- Time bonus dash, km. 164.5
Stage 6 Mountains
- Volterra (cat. 4), km. 80.4
- Grotti (cat. 4), km. 140.4