The riders have to tackle the first mountain finish of this Giro d’Italia on the second day. The section runs over 161 kilometers through Piedmont from San Francesco al Campo up to the Santuario di Oropa monastery and ends with a climb in the first category.
2. Stage | 5. Never | San Francesco al Campo – Sanctuary of Oropa | 161km
The second stage of the Giro d’Italia takes a long, flat approach through Piedmont before things get really serious, but above all difficult. From the start in San Francesco al Campo, the route leads through the Canavese and Vercelli areas in Piedmont to Valdengo for the first intermediate sprint of the day at kilometer 93.9. From there it doesn’t feel like it’s really flat anymore.
The Intergiro classification (106.6 kilometers) is reached in Crocemosso via Valle San Nicolao. The climb up to Crocemosso is not a categorized climb, but it is also not insignificantly easier than the two that will follow. Over the third category mountains of Oasi Zegna and Nelva (775 meters), the course takes the peloton for another sprint to Biella. Strictly speaking, this sprint ranking is already in the final climb to Santuario di Oropa.
You have to overcome 11.8 kilometers and 773 meters in altitude to reach the finish at 1,142 meters. The upward slope is only 6.2 percent steep on average. However, a one-and-a-half kilometer section halfway up the climb is around 9.5 percent steep and includes a 13 percent ramp in Favaro. The road then drops off very briefly before the second half leads to the destination with an average gradient of 7.9 percent. Around two kilometers before the finish line, the road briefly climbs again to over 11 percent.
Final climb of the second stage of the Giro d’Italia 2024
Route map of the second stage of the Giro d’Italia 2024
Giro review: Tom Dumoulin wins in the pink jersey in Oropa in 2017
The final climb has already been recorded several times as part of a tour of Italy. The last time was in 2017 when Tom Dumoulin in the pink jersey won the 14th stage and arrived first in Oropa.
Favorites check: stage win and pink jersey
The stage victory is actually tailor-made for a classification rider. And maybe get Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) did what he failed to do on the opening stage. He wins in Oropa and then puts on the pink jersey. As strange as it may sound, through the victory of Jonathan Navarez (Ineos Grenadiers), his British team now has to control the race and Pogi’s men can take it easy. You only have to pick up the pace in the final or towards and on the final climb.
So much for the theory. Because of the tough pace of the UAE Emirates team, many good mountain riders also suffered several minutes of trouble. Driver like Valentin Paret-Painter (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Matteo Fabbro (Team Polti Kometa), Michael Woods (Israel – Premier Tech) as well Simon Carr (EF Education – EasyPost) are already more than eight minutes behind and would be almost harmless to overall leader Navarez in a breakaway group.
A lot will depend on how well the GC riders’ helpers recover overnight and who has what plans. Maybe we’ll see two races in one at the first mountain finish of this Giro. One for the stage win and one for the pink jersey.
The ratings of the 2nd stage of the Giro d’Italia
Sprint ratings
Valdengo | Rennkilometer 93,9 | Intermediate Sprint
Crocemosso | Rennkilometer 106,6 | Intergiro Sprint
Biella | Rennkilometer 150.1 | Intermediate Sprints
Mountain ratings
Oasi Zegna (395 Meter) | Rennkilometer 122.7 | 3. Categories
Nelva (775 meters) | Race kilometers 137.4 | 3rd category
Sanctuary of Oropa (1,142 Meter) | Rennkilometer 161 | 1. Categories
TV tip: 2nd stage of the Giro d’Italia on TV
From 12:45 p.m., Eurosport 1 will broadcast the second stage of the Tour of Italy live on free TV.