Giro Stage 14 Preview

The main time trial stage of the Giro and a big day to shake up the overall classification.

Stage 13 Review: the kind of stage the Giro can do so well, flicking into the hills to take on sharp climbs with double-digit percentages, enough to hamper the sprinters but only just. The two climbs set up a thrilling finish with Arnaud Démare dropped and chasing a group with Peter Sagan who had been dropped as well and he was in turn chasing the maglia rosa group. In the sprint both UAE and Decuninck-Quickstep had several riders and Brandon McNulty was a precious guide for Diego Ulissi who came off the Quickstep train to win the sprint with half a wheel on João Almeida and Patrick Konrad. With Sagan dropped it was status quo for the points competition although Démare did poach one point at the intermediate sprint.

The Route: a 34km time trial amid the Prosecco vineyards with the steep climb of the Ca’del Poggio (1km at 12%) early and then on fast open roads. It’s all on familiar roads to the peloton, the Ca’del Poggio has been in the Giro and Italian championships before and much of the route copies the 2015 TT stage used in the same area.

The Contenders: who’d bet against Filippo Ganna (Ineos)? He was streets ahead in Palermo, sometimes the only uncertainty today for a younger rider is the length but today is only 34km and he’s done similar distances for the Worlds and Italian time trial and won them both. Team mate Rohan Dennis could be closer than in Palermo too and has had a quieter time compared to Ganna who has been in molto moves of late.

Other time trial specialists include Alex Dowsett (Israel), Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Emirates) and Victor Campenaerts (NTT) who crashed in the opening TT so his result that day didn’t reflect what he can do.

Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) is the GC rider to watch because he’s not put a foot wrong yet and the time trial is where he’s got the advantage on rivals like Nibali, Fuglsang, Pozzovivo. Can he take 40 seconds on João Almeida? The race leader should do well today and could hope to keep the race lead, the big question is tomorrow’s Piancavallo summit finish.

Filippo Ganna
Rohan Dennis
Kelderman, Campenaerts, Bjerg

Weather: weak sunshine and cool temperatures, 16°C and little wind but it could switch, a northern wind for the early starters, a southern for the later one but gentle.

TV: the last rider Almeida will roll in for 4.30pm CEST.

24 thoughts on “Giro Stage 14 Preview”

  1. I would have thought a star for Almeida? He was best of the GC guys in Stage 1 TT.

    Inside Ineos, will be interesting to see how TGH goes, he has been looking increasingly sprightly as the week has gone on, not that they need another GC rider!, but if he can pop into the top 10, will be a good ride.

    Sunweb just look so good, Kelderman, Hindley and Oomen, are they the strongest team?

    • TGH has a mixed bag of TT results which include some good results and even a win.
      He’ll likely have a good showing.
      Could be a long day in the COVID hot seat for Ganna today.

      • I never see the point of those hot seats, especially in a grand tour TT when a specialist could be going off very early. We can see who’s in the lead on the leaderboard, we don’t need to see them sitting awkwardly in a seat. Let them go and relax!

        • From an organisational point of view it ensures that the winner doesn’t just walk off to their hotel room, and avoids the embarrassment of a lengthily delayed winners ceremony.
          I quite like how they do it in snowboarding where they have a throne and sometimes a crown, while also having second and third place Competitors hanging around. It creates a bit of camaraderie and banter between the competitors, and it’s better than been stuck in a isolation both of advertising.

        • It’s a bit of a gimmic but it’s the reality TV aspect, the rider showing anxiety as someone might beat their time, and the expression when someone does. TTs need production help on the TV side to make them more interesting whether it’s live time gaps, hotseats etc

      • Very encouraging performance for his future GT ambitions. Top 10 on the day, you know this lad has the minerals now.

  2. Will Masnada (9th) and Knox (15th) be allowed to ride in defense (or better) of thier GC places or will they be told to economise and save energy for helping Almeida tomorrow?
    If Ineos can obtain another stage win, then four stages (and counting) plus a top ten for TGH sounds like fair compensation for the loss of Thomas and his GC bid.

    • When they’re counting up the prize money I’m not so sure. But from the team perspective the morale will be high, and lots of personal gratification.

    • They absolutely have to help Almeida in rest of Giro. No question. He has a winning margin plus another TT -it’s also great to keep them in vague range so other teams have to chase but you can’t no back a rider at this point even if we don’t know his capability just in case!

  3. Only in the Giro could a drag strip finish end up as a GC sprint.

    I do wonder if we shall see some surprisingly good times from some of the less experienced GC contenders but then a bad day on a mountain stage like Simon Yates a couple of years back.

  4. ‘Yay it’s the weekend TT of a GT’ -said nobody ever.

    Almeida deserves a lot more credit for his performance in rosa. He so nearly won yesterday and has always been in contention whenever the GC group came to the line, regardless of the stage profile or weather.

    Really wonder what RCS is going to do instead of the mountain stages of the coming week. Search Passo del Stelvio on meteo.it and look at the webcam link… these snows are no Spring showers.

    • I agree with everything above, sad that they decided to put the TT on a Saturday, presumably when more people get to watch the full stage. I enjoy watching Almeida in pink, another up-and-comer who seems further up the hierarchy than most would have anticipated, hopefully his performance will help bring a bit more media attention to pro cycling in Portugal.

      And the October weather could mean that TT performances are even more important than anticipated, which is good news for him and Kelderman, but it makes me feel bad for Pozzo, who’s enjoying a good vein of form. Because of what he’s been through and his infectious smile, surely a good performance from him, on home roads no less, would be a crowd favorite.

      • TT on a Saturday is good for roadside spectators though , you get to see a continuous succession of riders rather than the usual ‘wait for three hours beside the road and they’re gone past in three minutes….‘

        🤗

        • I did think that watching today, crowd looked pretty pumped. Probably a great spectacle for the roadside viewer tbh, you get to see everyone going full gas.

          • They’ve done it next weekend as well but the other way around. I like it. Weekend GC battle. I really don’t mind the TT, can be a bit samey but it’s the race of truth and should be respected as such. I do think my view is a very Anglo-centric one though, I’ve been conditioned by Dave Brailsford if we’re being completely honest. Still tho I like the TT and I like how they’ve set up the stages. Ppl know they have to hit the go buttons tomorro

    • The current webcam (11:30 CEST) shows the road clear and shops open at the top of the Stelvio. The ski area car park is pretty full and a fair number of folk skiing (the ski area is only open when the road is safe to drive up). There is plenty of snow on the surrounding area but that is pretty normal. The weather forecast is for dry weather until after the race is due to pass through. There could be an issue with high winds (wind chill might be a problem) which are forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

      The Agnello might be more problematical as there is light snow forecast for Friday which might mean the Finestra instead.

      Hope not but there might be some other challenges for the race before any of this becomes relevant.

  5. 512 test, 512 negative resulta. The Bubbles Is working (probably the first cases came from before the Giro). Now, weather is expected nice and cold on Piancavallo, nice and warm on Monte Ragogna, Madonna di Campiglio and Stelvio (maybe some clouds here). Vegni will sleep tight tonight…

  6. I never get to say I told you… in the best tradition of a bad winner… and it’s especially unimpressive for something where the winner was the favourite – but did say earlier this Giro Ganna would storm today when others said the parcours favoured Dennis… patting myself rather pathetically on the back!

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