Preview: Giro Donne Stage 10

San Francesco al Campo (16km)

10th July 2011 (12:15 - 15:30)

So that’s pretty much it. Although if I’d been really smart I would have put Vos on my VDS team too. All that is left is a 16km time trial that should be covered in around 22 minutes or so. Just about the only way that Marianne Vos could lose two and a half minutes would be if she were compelled to fix her own puncture by the side of the road. And even then I wouldn’t bet against her. So the only contest still vaguely undecided is that for the third place on the podium, but even if Judith Arndt is just 14 seconds ahead of Tatiana Guderzo, last year on a very similar course she finished thirty seconds ahead. If you want to see the roads then part of it is on Streetmap. And here’s my last translation from the route book. If anyone has found my versions at times incomprehensible, I can assure you that the original is equally so. And may that long be the case.

Sixteen kilometres against the clock close the Giro Donne. Without a time trial to date, the Corsa Rosa closes in style with sixteen kilometres that can’t be soft-pedalled. The last time the Giro Donne closed with a time trial was in 2002 in Venezia. This time the bottom of Valle de Lanzo, just a few kilometres from Turin, is the setting for a Giro Donne that can’t be ignored, is always open and always spectacular. This is a stage dedicated to the specialist, starting and finishing in San Francesco al Campo. But it is not completely flat – there are some ascents and descents to break up the rhythm. You will need to stand up on the pedals in the first section towards San Carlo Canavese, then pedal hard on the descent, passing through San Maurizio Canavese on the descent to the finish line. If after all the climbs to date the general classification is still close and a number of riders are in touching distance of victory then some will be helped by a timetrial that is not favourable to the climbers, and which demands concentration right to the last metre. And so closes ten days of a unique emotion that only th eGiro Donne can give each year to those who live it and follow it with so much pleasure.

Map and profile via www.girodonne.it