Giro d’Italia 2019 – Stage 21 Preview

Verona 17.1km ITT

The race ends with a battle against the clock.

We have 5km of flat, followed by 4.3km at 4.8%. Then we have 5km of descending, before a flat couple of kilometres. There’s a little bit of everything in this time trial.

As you can see, the hill goes up in little steps. The overall figures of 4.3km at 4.8% doesn’t really do it justice, some flat sections make it seem a little easier than it really is.

Weather

Beautiful sunshine and hardly any wind.

Contenders

Primož Roglič – already has two TT wins to his name in this race, can he make it three? The route looks very good for him, but how much energy does he have left after such a demanding race? The Slovenian suffered today, but he will hope to have enough for the TT as it’s only 17km.

Vincenzo Nibali – performed well in both the TTs in the race, can he finally take a win? He showed some weakness today on Passo Manghen, but recovered brilliantly to contest the finish. The Italian isn’t going to win the Giro, but he still has a chance of taking a stage win.

Victor Campenaerts – has been taking things easy, rolling around the mountains in the gruppetto, with an eye on this stage. The Belgian would prefer a flat TT, but he is no slouch on hills of this type. He would normally expect to lose a TT like this to Roglič, but it all depends on how much energy he’s been able to save, compared to how much energy the Slovenian has left.

Bob Jungels – after such a disappointing race, I hope he can turn things around and deliver a big result in this stage. Jungels hasn’t been going full gas in all the stages, in theory he should have some energy left for the TT. The problem is reversing a worrying trend, that is very hard to do.

Chad Haga – a good TT rider in grand tours, but in reality, a top 5 performance would be amazing for him.

Prediction Time

As the GC men look dead on their feet, this is a day for Victor Campenaerts. Carapaz and Nibali are secure in 1st and 2nd, but Landa will lose his podium position to Roglič.

A massive thanks to all for reading the previews throughout the race. We have hit numbers we could only have dreamt of, with 7000 views in English and Spanish each day. As always, a massive thanks to Pablo Palermo, for all his translation work and editing. I’ll be back for the Dauphiné, remember, cycling isn’t just about grand tours. Vamos!

*Overall preview

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David Hunter

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