[Mellow Velo]

Stage 20: Belluno – Marmolada 167 km
Saturday, May 28th, 12:15 CET

A colossal stage through the Dolomites, the Giro's last mountain stage presents 168 kilometres with a total elevation gain of 4,490 metres. The riders are to conquer the Passo di San Pellegrino and Passo Pordoi before finishing at the Passo Fedaia. Finally, the Giro hits 2000 metre territory, where the rarefied atmosphere comes into play.



Starting from the town of Belluno, just at the foot of the Dolomites, this stage will offer the first, uncategorised difficulty of the day after just 18 km. Next a short diversion across the valley of the Piave river through Sedico, Santa Giustina and Sospirolo, the route passes Agordo and Cencenighe, crossing the Val Cordevole upstream. The first 65 kilometres are the calm before the storm.
After the Passo S.Pellegrino, the peloton enter the Val di Fassa, a valley that they will have to ascend for 17 km all the way to the end and to the foot of the next climb and the Cima Coppi ascent of the Passo Pordoi. The descent is very technical and leads to the town of Caprile, where the final climb of the day will begin: The mythical Marmolada.



The Climbs:

Passo S.Pellegrino: GPM1, 18.5 km at 6.2%
A long and hard climb, very irregular in the first half and then just consistently steep in the second.



Passo Pordoi: Cima Coppi, 11.8 km at 6.8%

First used on June 5, 1940. It was Giro stage 17, from Pieve di Cadore to Ortisei. Coppi and Bartali set out on a legendary two-man break, and the young Fausto staked his claim on the Giro. When Bartali punctured on the Sella and Coppi tried to pull away, Pavesi ordered him to wait for his teammate, who had previously been waiting for him when Fausto had punctured.





Passo Fedaia: GPM1, 14 km at 7.6%

Not since that stage to Gardeccia 2011 that Fedaia (also known as Marmolada) has featured in the Giro.



The Giro d’Italia first tackled the Passo Fedaia on June 5, 1970.
The climb was already supposed to feature in the route of the Trento-Malga Ciapela stage the previous year, but the inclement weather stopped its debut: the stage was cancelled because of snow and wind on the passes, and rain and hail in the valley.
Curiously, though, when the Giro first tackled the Marmolada, it didn’t really climb the Passo Fedaia, just the first 9kms. The full ascent arrived in 1975, in the second to last stage of the Giro.



Final kms
The ramps are steep over the last 14 km. After a technical ascent from Caprile to Rocca Pietore, the route becomes a 2% false-flat up. The gradients go up again past Sottoguda, then the road dips a little before Malga Ciapela (passing through a curved, well-lit tunnel). The average gradient over the last 6 km is around 12%, with a mid-climb 18% peak. The home straight is flat, on tarmac road.




What to expect:
The final battle for the GC. Doubtful that will kick off before those brutal final kilometres.

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