Giro d’Italia – Preview, stage 19: Queen’s stage on the roof of the Giro to the mountain finish at the Three Peaks of the Dolomites

30 bumpy kilometers at the start, but then the big climb begins on the queen stage of the Giro d’Italia:

From Belluno it climbs into the Dolomites. The ascent to Passo Campolongo takes more than 50 kilometres, but descends increasingly flat.

After the top of the pass, the peloton stays consistently above 1,200m for the rest of the day and mostly moves around the 2,000m limit, which is so important for oxygen supply.

It’s a short descent and then up to the first 1st category pass of the day, the Valparaola (14.1 km at 5.6 percent).

It can be reached after 112 kilometers and after its descent you immediately climb to Passo Giau (9.9 km at 9.3 per cent, cat. 1), beyond which you descend to Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Who will follow in Nibali’s footsteps?

The Passo Tre Croci (7.9 km at 7.2 percent, cat. 2) then forms the launch pad towards the final ascent of the Drei Zinnen with a maximum of twelve percent at the top. Because after the mountain premium, it is only undulating for seven kilometers, but at an altitude of over 1,600 meters.

The brutal finale begins in Misurina with a 1.5 kilometer ramp up to Lake Antorino with a gradient of up to 18%.

Another short descent follows, before the 7.2 km long and averaging 7.6 percent gradient finally awaits us to the stage destination, which also has an 18 percent gradient about two kilometers before the end.

Six stages of the Giro have finished at the Tre Cime since the first visit in 1967. The Giro d’Italia last arrived here on the penultimate stage in 2013, when Vincenzo Nibali took stage and overall wins in the freezing cold and in the thick snow.