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2015 Giro d'Italia Route Revealed
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:01
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The first Grand Tour to reveal it's route for the 2015 season is the Giro d'Italia, with Damiano Cunego aiming for a 7th title after breaking the record last season on taking his 6th. He will have to do so on a new team, and after another round of stat decreases.
Who knows which riders will line up to contest the race against him? What we can say is the route the race will take. With key French mountains and a start abroad, it is not the most Italian Giro routes we have ever seen.
All credit to Johan92 for creating the stages, and writing the descriptions of each stage.
Giro d'Italia will start in Greece and the village of Marathon. Rather than the 26 mile route all the way to Athens, the MG version will be just under 26km, ending in Pallini. A team time trial to open the race.
Stage 2 starts in Athens and the riders go along the coast before the finish in Athens. The stage end with three rounds in the same circuit as in 2004 Olympics, a race Paolo Bettini won. A stage with many scenarios, maybe Cavendish in a fast sprint, Hushovd with a heavy finish or Gilbert with a great attack in the end.
Stage 3 is one of the longest stages this year and start in the historic town of Corint. Yesterday the stage finished in the olympic lap from 2004. Todays stage finish in the birth place of the olympic games, Olympia. A natural end of the historic tribute in Greece. The next day will be a rest day and transfer to Italy.
4: After a rest day the Giro have transferred to Italy and the fourth stage is so far the hardest one. The hilly finish is suited for attacks and the GC favourites have to pay attention. Not the hardest hills, but a warm-up.
The fifth stage is easy. The sprinters have the main role between Altamura and Bari.
6: Another flat and easy stage, but things are about to get harder.
7: The first mountain stage is short and intense. The final climbs Passo della Maielleta, just above Passo Lanciano, is hard. 14 km with 8%.
8: After yesterday's efforts it's good for the riders with a flat and easy stage. Will the sprinters or a breakaway fight for the win?
9: The start in Civitavecchia is close to Tuscany and the Giro therefore move into the heart of Tuscany for an interesting finish on the 9th stage. Tuscany + Giro d'Italia = gravel roads. THe riders will ride about 18 kms on the white gravels roads and will be a key factor along with the short, but steep hills in the end. The finish go up to Montepulciano after a hard last kilometre. The stage winner can enjoy a good red wine from Montepulciano after the stage.
Stage 10 goes from Siena to Pisa, two well known cities. It's a sprinters stage, but we're half trough the race and maybe the sprinter teams will let a break away win.
It's two major difficulties on the 11th stage, Passo Xon and Passo Zovo. A hilly finish that can create problems, the last climb have percentages up to 14 %. The hills are short, so you have to be on the alert.
12: We're now moving into the decisive phase of the Giro d'Italia. The second mountain stage go over Monte Grappa before the semi-hard finish p to Asiago. Monte Grappa is a really hard climb and the favourites can attack each other, but also be very waiting.
The 13th stage go from Trento to the ski resort of Montecampione. THe final climb is very hard and will guaranteed split the favourites. Before the final climb the riders will pass Passo di Croce Domini. After the sprint in Riva del Garda the riders will follow the same route as they did in 1998. If yesterday's stage didn't create gaps this stage will.
14: Today's stage is easier than the last two, but far from easy. The stage start in Boario Terme and go along Lake Como and Lake Lugano before the finish in Lugano. The last climb is close to the finish and it's possible to create gaps for the GC favourites.
15: The longest stage of this years Giro is 247 km between Lugano and Varse, mainly along Lake Maggiore. The finish is quite challenging, first about 2,5 uphill before the flat and last km. It's been a while since the last rest day. So the riders will have to complete the longest stage of the Giro before the second rest day, well deserved.
16: After a longed for rest day the Giro starts again with a very hard mountain time trail. After 40 km the riders one by one reach the top of Colle del Nivolet. A very hard time trail were you have to be fit for fight. The GC favourites can loose minutes with a bad day. The last week of the Giro start with a bang.
The 17th stage starts in Saluzzo and Italy, and finish after 21 hairpins up Alpe d'Huez and France. The Coppi tribute also include Colle dell'Agnello, this years Cima Coppi. A very hard stage, even for the big GC riders.
18: Four mountains and the two hardest in the end of the stage is on the menu on the 18th stage. Fauniera and Sampeyre is close to each other and will decide who the stage winner will be, maybe the winner of the whole race. After Sampeyre there is a long and technical decent. Heaven for some, hell for others.
19: After three hard days in the mountains it's time for the last time trail. To keep the excitement in the mountains to the full, the last time trail will come before the last mountain stage. The time trail is 35 km long between Cuneo and Savigliano.
20: The penultimate stage of the Giro starts in Villar Perosa, and continue up to Sestriere, before the downhill to Susa. Colle delle Finestre is next, a hard climb known for its kilometres on gravel road. After Finestre there is a short downhill before the riders enter Strada dell'Assieta, a beautiful gravel road that lead the riders back to Sestriere. Then the riders will downhill back to Pragelato before the last hill up to Grand Puy. A stage that decide Giro d'Italia.
21: The Giro will be round off with a 105 km criterium in Turin. The sprinters, if there are any left, will fight for the win.
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| roturn |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:08
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This is a great route.
I remember when Johan presented it and I unfortunately never found the time to race it in my careers. So it`s a pity I will most likely have no chance to participate here.
For sprinters, it`s a tough course with 3 tough looking sprint stages next to some more flat ones.
Same for pure climbers with a few tough hilly stages. Though with a Alpe d'Huez stage, the climbers will get some nice prestige here. So the Giro queen stage ends in France...interesting. 
And very interesting to have 2 time trials in the final week to eventually change a lot there.
As half Italian team I am highly looking forward to this race and hopefully will be back here in 2016.
Nice preview.
Edited by roturn on 06-04-2015 19:10
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| Kami |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:26
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Classics Specialist
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Great looking course. It has a great combination of hills and mountains. Should also be a good opperunity for climbers who are lacking a bit in the TT department, with only one individual flat TT.
Thanks for the preview!
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:29
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World Champion
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Love the preview. The Giro is probably the most important GT to our team, and hopefully we can do well here. The mountain stages all look very though, but there are still many stages that should go to stage hunters and the Time trials will play an important role in the GC battle too. Opportunity for some better TT riders to make up lots of ground in the final week.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:37
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I think it is mountainous enough for Jose to give this a go, late flattish time trial doesn't disguise that this is a climbers Giro for me.
Great presentation and yes SotD is going to go all girly scream for Greek stages. some fun fantasy stages for sure.
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| fjhoekie |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:38
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Loan out Polychronis or max him out myself by applying for a wildcard? I'll consider both... Would like to ride a GT once...
Manager of Team Popo4Ever p/b Morshynska in the PCM.Daily Man-Game |
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Posted on 22-11-2024 09:19
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| Scorchio |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:39
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Nice looking route, plenty to offer to various type of GC rider. Plenty of options for sprinters in the first 2 weeks, but will be surprised if the majority are not already on the plane home sometime during week 3! Giro has history starting in Greece, so nice to see this variant picking up on that theme.
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:40
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That route. Really good. Should make for an interesting race, hopefully not to be ruined by falls or AI... |
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| SotD |
Posted on 06-04-2015 19:47
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Wow, this is absolutely amazing. And you are right, I was absolutely girly cheering when I saw this start. I absolutely have to bring Tzortzakis here as my captain, and Vlatos here for the first stage. No doubts about that. Perhaps/hopefully I can bring in more greek riders aswell to ride this race - That would be thrilling.
Also this is probably Ricco's final chance to win the race, and as his stats will be very similar to Cunego's this season, I guess I have to give it all. Obviously I know other climbers should be able to win, but Ricco needs to give it a go atleast.
The perfect scenario would be to have Tzortzakis to win stage 2 or 3 (or both) and to where the Maglia Rosa. It would be the perfect way to make a tribute to the greek aspect of my team. All-in!
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 06-04-2015 20:24
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Tough but not overkill as the Giro can sometimes be, looks pretty cool  Anyone know which ascent of Monte Grappa it is?
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| Kagemusha |
Posted on 06-04-2015 21:30
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So disappointed not to be a Pro-Tour team right now...
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| EwanWilson |
Posted on 06-04-2015 21:38
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Kagemusha wrote:
So disappointed not to be a Pro-Tour team right now...
Me too, this route looks intriguing
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 06-04-2015 21:45
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World Champion
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EwanWilson wrote:
Kagemusha wrote:
So disappointed not to be a Pro-Tour team right now...
Me too, this route looks intriguing
Our time will come...
Anyway very interesting route, will be very nice to see who does well on a tough course!
Edited by jandal7 on 06-04-2015 21:46
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant."
[ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT]  Xero Racing
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| beagle |
Posted on 06-04-2015 21:53
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Great route, great preview, thanks to both Johan&SN!
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 06-04-2015 22:21
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wackojackohighcliffe wrote:
Tough but not overkill as the Giro can sometimes be, looks pretty cool Anyone know which ascent of Monte Grappa it is?
It goes up the South ascent, then down the South-west ascent.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 06-04-2015 22:27
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Looks like a very exciting course. I like the Greek start, but I'm really looking forward to stages 9 and 17. I bet the dirt roads will cause some surprises. It will be cool to see the Giro finish on the Alpe d'Huez too! Nice preview.
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| ryant |
Posted on 06-04-2015 22:45
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Looks like a nice course, think I remember getting 3rd overall after losing 5 mins with an old Cadel Evans on stage 9 (in PCM 11), dont think theres a need for me to be here though so I'll just be a spectator
 John St Ledger in Team Bunzl-Centrica and Team U25Red Bull Driver in RFactor
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 06-04-2015 22:56
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wackojackohighcliffe wrote:
Tough but not overkill as the Giro can sometimes be, looks pretty cool Anyone know which ascent of Monte Grappa it is?
Indeed, it looks quite well-balanced which is bizarre for a Giro isn't it? Some very unique features too with the Greek start and the dirt roads.
*Checks pockets for change needed for wildcard*
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 06-04-2015 23:00
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I like the start of the race, looks like last year's Tour which I wouldn't mind repeating here.
Very interesting, gotta have a hard think about this, should be a fun tour though for sure.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 06-04-2015 23:18
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SportingNonsense wrote:
wackojackohighcliffe wrote:
Tough but not overkill as the Giro can sometimes be, looks pretty cool Anyone know which ascent of Monte Grappa it is?
It goes up the South ascent, then down the South-west ascent.
Interesting, thanks, ridden 3 of the nine or so there are, cracking mountain.
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