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Much has been made pre-stage of how this particular TT will, or will not, lay the ghosts to rest of Roglic’s 2020 defeat on a very similar course in the second last day of the Tour de France at La Planche des Belles Filles. The last rider to start as race leader, Roglic ended up losing the overall to compatriot Tadej Pogačar in one of the most memorable upsets in Grand Tours of recent years.Roglic was spotted on the course this morning, incidentally, doing a recon of the time trial which will decide if he can finally secure his fourth Grand Tour win of his career and first in a Giro d’Italia.
Back in the Giro, the key battle today will be for the GC and in particular the top three. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) commands the overall ranking with a 26 -second advantage on closest pursuer Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and 59 seconds on Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). The next closest rider, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) is at 4:11, so the overall victory will almost certainly decided between Thomas, Roglic and Almeida.The million-dollar question is how much time can be won and lost on a course as challenging and unusual as this one, particularly when all three are such skilled time triallists.
It goes without saying that other major news is happening in the world of cycling right now outside the Giro, and here’s our latest update on one of the biggest, courtesy of my colleague Kirsten Frattini, who spoke to the UCI president about their upcoming discussions on a key transgender policy.UCI to weigh if transgender policy guarantees fair competition
No following cars are allowed on the climb, instead they can only go as far as the bike swapover zone at the foot of the Lussari, after which riders will be followed by a mechanic on a motorbike with spare wheels.
The weather is sunny for now, by the way, but as the riders know to their cost, in this year’s Giro, that’s no guarantee it will continue that way throughout.
Checkpoints on the time trial are at kilometres 10.8km, 14.3 and 17.8.
This is what the riders face in the second half of the time trial. It kind of goes without saying that calculating your effort will be key.
Much discussion too about exactly how the riders will tackle an 18 kilometre time trial which is so much a day of two parts, the pan flat approach to Monte Lussari and the jaw-droppingly difficult ascent that then follows.The riders will almost certainly all use a TT bike in the first half, then move onto a regular bike for the rest of the stage. Many of these regular bikes will have adapted for the forbidding uphill slopes of the Monte Lussari. The usual zone for riders to change their bikes at the foot of the climb is in place.
For those looking for an excellent in-depth preview of the whole day of racing and its implications for the Giro d’Italia, you need look no further than my colleague Barry Ryan’s article here: Giro d’Italia goes down to the wire at Monte Lussari – stage 20 preview
Countdown chants from the crowd, then Dalla Valle rolls down the start ramp. Stage 20 is officially underway.
Given the logistical challenges of this particular time trial, which basically goes up the side of a house cunningly disguised as an Italian mountain, the TT has been split into three blocks, which that way will (hopefully) give the teams enough time to organise themselves.The first 45 riders start at 11.30 local time, then block 2 starts at 1350 and block 3, which is the one that logically contains the most interest GC-wise, at 1605. Gaps between all riders are a minute, barring the top 15 on GC, who have three minute gaps.
First man off in roughly 10 minutes time will be Nicolas Dalla Valle (Corratec – Selle Italia). The race leader Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) rolls down the start ramp at 1714 local time.
The current rankings of the overall classification looks like this:
This is the crunch stage of the 2023 Giro d’Italia. Come this evening, we’ll know who’s going to win overall and the shape of the GC will be decided.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia!
