Giro Stage 20 Preview: Napoli - Anagni

Stage 20 :: Saturday May 31, 2009
203km :: Napoli - Anagni

Finally a stage that Silence-Lotto rider Pancake McLovestheflats can relax on.  No uphill start, no summit finish, no intermediate nastiness and even the rated climb in Anagni only really like a bone thrown to the local municipalities race committee.

I can't really say much about this, beyond the fact that it passes by, although not over, another volcano.

So join me on the flip for some tantilizingly dull mapping of a stage that screams "breakaway" since ain't none of the heads of state doing any work on this baby before the ITT on Sunday.  More knowledgeable minds than I can determine whether LPR will want to hot it up for %$#@! to sprint, at the expense of letting Di Luca take a breather.

Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a Gavia out of my hat (again!??!)

The Giro rolls out from Napoli, and the course begins with approximately 100 kilometers of flat racing along the coast. There are a few small ripples in the profile, but they shouldn’t interrupt the tranquility of the morning.

* * *

This finish will suit a classics-type rider, who can finish fast on a steep climb. If Philippe Gilbert has anything left in his legs at this point of the race, this stage finish is made for him. But really, it’s anyone’s guess who will find his way into the right break. Deep in the third week of a grand tour, it’s impossible to predict who will still have legs for such adventuring.

(Courtesy of Gavia's Stage 20 Preview at Steephill.tv)

No doubt about it, I gotta get me a new hat!

Flat... Flat... Flat...

Look, a volcano.

"More flatness ensued; the riders were befuddled at the lack of elevation gain"

Mountain! No, wait, they go around it.

And the final "climb" up to Anagni.  It's only 2.7km long and rises 126m, but somehow, they do manage to pack a max gradient of 8% in there somewhere.

That's it folks... only Roma left after this one...