While Stage 14 of the 2019 Giro d’Italia will be relatively short at 131km, the riders will be spending their Saturday on intense climbs and descents for most of the day.
There is a relatively flat 14km stretch around Aosta, but otherwise the day serves up five categorized climbs.
First up is the Category 2 Verrayes (537m @ 8%) before the descent into Aosta. Next up is a 14km ascent of Verrogne. While not as steep as Varreyes, it makes up for it in length and elevation change (900m @ 7.1%).
Then comes the Category 2 Truc d’Abbe and uncategorized La Salle (the day’s second intermediate sprint point).
After a short descent, they’ll make their way up the Category 1 Colle San Carlo. The 10.5km climb rises 1031m from the valley with an average slope of 9.8%. There are ramps in there that tilt up to 10.3%, however. The route then drops sharply to La Thuile and Pré-Saint-Didier, where the old road eventually leads to Courmayeur.
The final climb is 8km long, sloping at 6% for the first 3km, then at 2-3% for the next 5km, all the way to the finish. A narrow double bend to the right leads to the final kilometer. After a gentle turn, the home straight is 100m long. The road surface is tarmacked and the roadway is 6m wide.
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