2019 Giro d'Italia Stage 13 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 13 of the 2019 Giro d'Italia! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
The 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia finishes in the Gran Paradiso National Park. The final haul up is the unprecedented Colle del Nivolet.
The climb in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy has never been graced by the Giro d’Italia, mainly because it is a dead-end. The pass peaks at an altitude of 2,612 metres, yet the Giro stops at 2,247 metres, which is hard enough with an average gradient of 5.9 percent, the steepest ramp of 14 percent, and a distance of 20.3 kilometres.
The race starts in Pinerolo, and the Colletta de Cimiana is included as a warm-up climb with its peak at kilometre 16.6. The route continues to the foot of Colle del Lys. Beginning at kilometre 35, the ascent amounts to 14 kilometres while the average gradient is 7 percent.
The Lys was included in last year’s Jafferau stage, in which Chris Froom launched his winning attack on the maglia rosa, but tackled from another side. The side that is now a steep, endless descent to the Pian del Lupo.
The second climb is tough. Its steepest ramp at 14 percent is hidden somewhere in a 2.5 kilometres section with an average gradient of 11.2 percent, which starts 2.5 kilometres up the mountain. The Pian del Lupo totals 9.4 kilometres of torture, and the average slope is 8.7 percent. The last kilometre is the easiest one as it rises at 5.5 percent.
\nThe Pian del Lupo is crested with 62 kilometres out. The first 16 kilometres is downhill, and the rest goes up. At first with fairly shallow gradients as the Nivolet tracks on the lower slopes along the edge of the Orco river. This section on non-classified, but it is far from flat either. Shortly after the riders move through Noasca (start of the official climb) a part at 10 percent appears, and 4 kilometres up the mountain the ramp kicks up to 14 percent. This is just before a series of switchbacks hoists the riders away from the valley floor up to the side of the mountain. The route climbs 3 kilometres at 8.7 percent before it flattens out for approximately 8 kilometres. The course moves through mountain village Ceresole Reale and heads to the grand finale. The last 6 kilometres of the final climb rise at 8.9 percent.
For those who have enough juice for a sprint at the top, the 100 metres run-in to the line slopes at 3.7 percent.
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