*GIRO D'ITALIA - Stage 9* Sunday 17th May

Stage 9  »  Benevento  ›  San Giorgio del Sannio   (215k)


Route


Profile


A longish and very difficult stage with 3 categorised climbs and over 4,000m of vertical climbing that should provide a real test and could lead to some gaps if anyone isn't on their game today. We start in the city and province of Benevento, which was a Roman stronghold in the region of Campania. It has lots of ancient Roman remains and a large well-preserved Roman theatre and the Santa Sofia church dates from 760 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are still and head North-East at first to Pietrelcina before looping round and South back through the city of Benevento and into the Appennines of Campania towards Atripalda. The opening miles are tough, with constant undulations and we should see a breakaway get up the road fairly quickly.

Terminio

Molella


We enter the picturesque Irpinia region but the peloton shouldn't spend too long admiring the scenery as we quickly hit the first categorised climb of the day, the Cat 2 Terminio. This shouldn't cause too much damage, being a long draggy climb, but it precedes the more challenging Molella which has 3km at 9% in the middle of it, including sections over 12%. Dropped riders won't have too much time to get back on here either, as the road has lots more undulations that lead through Lioni, Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi and Castelvetere sul Calore. We go under the 20km barrier and almost immediately hit the challenging Passo Serro climb.

Passo Serro


Last kms of Stage 10


The Passo Serro should cause damage, even though it is short. It has a poor road surface in places, is narrow and has 2km in the middle over 9% including 1km at 12%. There is then a short descent before another short climb before a flatter section on the city roads of San Georgio del Sannio. There is a left hand turn at 1200m and then an easier left hander at 700m. The home straight at Viale Spinelli is 650m long on a 7m wide asphalt road so if there is a sprint there shouldn't be too many problems, but considering the nature of the previous miles, it should be from a very select group. San Georgio del Sannio has been a finishing destination only once before in Giro history, in 1987 when Paolo Rosala won stage 8.

This is a tough stage to call. This could suit a late solo attack or possibly the morning break could even stay away. If he is fit and this stage ends in a sprint from a select group then this could be a stage that may well attract the attention of a rider like Simon Gerrans.