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Giro d'Italia: Stage 20 Video Preview - Caldes/Val di Sole to Passo dello Stelvio 219 km

Dan Lloyd rides the Stelvio & talks preparation & strategy while Geraint Thomas talks tactics

The Queen Stage of the 2012 Giro, and one that will be keenly anticipated by fans of the race, whether in Italy or abroad – which is just as well, because in keeping with RCS Sport’s innovative use of social media to involve the tifosi in the race, it was the fans themselves who determined two of the climbs to be included today via Facebook and Twitter.

In his video preview Dan Lloyd of Team IG Sigma Sport rides the Stelvio in the snow and explains how the pros will attempt to deal with the demands of the toughest day at this year's Giro with almost three weeks of hard racing in their legs, fueling strategies, gearing and the caluclations of those in the gruppeto who simply need to finish the stage inside the time limit to make sure they are around for the final day's time trial - something that will be crucial for Mark Cavendish in his battle for the points jersey.

Those climbs are the Mortirolo and the Passo dello Stelvio, the latter providing the summit finish and, as the highest point of this year’s race, is also designated the Cima Coppi. Featuring 35km of climbing immediately after the descent from the Mortirolo, it’s the very last chance for someone to gain time – or limit losses – before the closing time trial. It should be some stage.

GT: It’s the toughest day of the race, because it means we’re going to be dropped sooner, so we’ll be riding for a lot longer. But for the GC guys, this is a massive day really, guys could win the Giro or lose it. The thought of this stage won’t have shaped the previous few days’ racing, you’ve just got to take each day as it comes – as soon as you start thinking about days coming up, it can start having a negative effect. I think you’ll get a few GC teams trying to send riders up the road here so they’re around to help out when it comes to the back end of the race. Everybody’s going to be tired by now, it’s just about whoever can deal with it best.

For more on this year's race read our full Giro d'Italia Preview.

Stage 21

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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3 comments

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JohnS | 11 years ago
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Beautiful.

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Rvizzle | 11 years ago
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Excellent video - amazing scenes!

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pooley | 11 years ago
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4th time lucky - how about trying Dan Lloyd as the rider!!!  3

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