Giro d'Italia 2020: Stage 21 preview
October 25, 2020: Cernusco sul Naviglio - Milan, 15.7km
Stage 21: Cernusco sul Naviglio to Milan
Date: October 25, 2020
Distance: 15.7km
Stage start: 13:20pm CEST
Stage type: Time Trial
It’s Super Sunday, when the Giro’s finale will be competing for attention with the men’s and women’s editions of Paris-Roubaix and the Tourmalet summit finish at the Vuelta a España. Given these clashes, it’s perhaps appropriate that this final time trial is shorter than the equivalent tests in recent editions of the corsa rosa, extending to just 15.7km into the centre of Milan from the suburb of Cernusco sul Naviglio to the north-east.
Totally flat, the riders will find themselves on straight, wide roads once they’ve negotiated three 90-degree turns in the opening few hundred metres. From that point until the intermediate time check at 10.3km, there isn’t a bend of note. A chicane just on the approach to that checkpoint will provide a brake, but once through it the riders will be quickly to full speed again until they’re in the very heart of Milan.
There are three tight turns in the final kilometre, the last of them on the cobbled section that runs all the way into the Piazza del Duomo, where the 103rd Giro d’Italia will finish.
Will its final test produce the kind of dramatic turnaround that we witnessed at the 2020 Tour de France? Unless the time gaps between the overall contenders are very small, it’s unlikely anyone is likely to gain or cede a significant advantage in a time trial that will be completed in little more than a quarter of an hour. It should, instead, offer a chance to the time trial specialists for a final shot at a stage win, and effectively act as a very high-speed lap of honour for the rider in the maglia rosa.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Guidelines to eliminate 'huge impact' of drafting in women's races coming to Life Time Grand Prix series
'How to enforce it and how do you enforce it fairly' are the big questions on rule which will be implemented from Sea Otter Classic Gravel -
Eyewitness – Tactical blunder turns Wout van Aert and Visma-Lease a Bike's 'perfect' day at the Classics into a nightmare
Cyclingnews captures the emotions of a disaster day for Dutch team at Dwars door Vlaanderen -
'A ton of weight was lifted off my chest' - Neilson Powless proves his one-day race prowess with Dwars door Vlaanderen win
After riding more than 50km with a trio of Visma riders, 'I fully did not believe I was going for the win until 100 meters from the line' says EF Education-EasyPost rider -
'A bummer to be dropped' - Kasia Niewiadoma 'unsatisfied' with Dwars door Vlaanderen result but sees positive signs for Flanders
Tour de France champion and Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto rider tried to follow winner Longo Borghini but missed power on the flat