“Tuesday, 23 May
The 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia has a flat start. Then the mountains follow in quick succession. The finish is on Monte Bondone after 203 kilometres. On the way there, the riders overcome far more than 5,000 metres in altitude.
At the foothills of the Alps, not far from Lake Garda, lies Sabbio Chiese. A small village on the Chiese river with a castle in the middle, standing on an imposing rock. From Sabbio Chiese, the peloton follows the river downstream to Tormini. There they turn towards Lake Garda before heading north along the western shore.
From the village of Bolognano, the riders begin the first climb of the day to the Passo di Santa Barbara. The route leads over a narrow road with many hairpin bends. On the entire route the average gradient is 8.3%, while the first 9 kilometres climb at 9.2%.
From the summit, there is a short descent to the village of Ronzo Chienis. There the route climbs again, to Passo Bordala, a climb of about 4.5 kilometres at 6.7%.
This is followed by a long descent into the Adige valley. After crossing the river, the road climbs south from Rovereto. The climb leads to Matassone in 11.4 kilometres at 5.6%. On the other side of the valley, riders head back north, where they begin the climb to Serrada, near Rovereto. Over 17.7 kilometres, the route climbs at an average of 5.5% to the village, located at an altitude of 1,250 metres.
After a technical descent, the riders can recover for a while as they head back into the Adige valley. After 10 kilometres on the plain, however, the fun is already over: the last mountain of the day awaits them. The Monte Bondone. From Aldeno it is a 21.4 kilometre climb. The average gradient of 6.7% is deceptive: a relatively flat section in the middle of the climb lowers the average considerably. The first 3 kilometres are already hard work - 9% on average - and from kilometre 12 it gets steep again, with peaks of up to 15%.
It is clear that on Monte Bondone a climber will take the victory. He can then call himself the successor of Charly Gaul (1956), Giorgio Furlan (1992) and Ivan Basso (2006). “
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