Stage 2 | Sunday, 5 May | San Francesco al Campo - Santuario di Oropa (Biella) | 161 kilometres
San Francesco al Campo has already hosted the Giro Next Gen and the women's race, but this is the first time that the men will be competing in the small municipality in the north of Turin. From there, the route is flat for 90 kilometres in a north-easterly direction until the first intermediate sprint is reached in Valdengo. Step by step, the route continues into the Alpine foothills, where two category 3 climbs await. Then Biella is reached.
The small town to the west of Milan was often part of the Giro, especially in the 1960s and 90s. The 11.8-kilometre final climb up to the Santuario di Oropa, another pilgrimage site that the 2024 course will visit, begins here. The Giro has already ended up there six times. In 2007 there was an individual time trial starting in Biella, Marzio Bruseghin. But Marco Pantani (1999) and most recently Tom Dumolin in 2017 were also able to celebrate a victory at an altitude of 1140 metres.
The almost twelve kilometres are a little over six per cent steep on average. At the top, it can sometimes be 13 or 14 per cent. After a relatively leisurely start, the middle section in particular becomes really difficult for one and a half kilometres with a gradient of almost ten per cent. The last 4,000 metres then have an average gradient of another eight per cent.
Sporting assessment of the 2nd stage
The Giro d'Italia 2024 will be a full-on race right from the start. The last time there was a classic mountain finish on the second day of the tour was in 1989, when the stage on Mount Etna came to an end. What needs to be clarified this year: Are the favourites for the overall classification ready to lay their cards on the table so early? Is Tadej Pogacar in the mood to decide the Giro as early as possible in order to perhaps even save a few grains at the back with an eye on the Tour de France? Is the Slovenian perhaps riding his own race and the competition is only looking at second place anyway?
All these questions will play a role in the outcome of the stage. But perhaps the GC riders will all hold back. The long and flat approach and the first smaller climbs could also play into the hands of a breakaway group that can pull out enough of a lead at the start to survive the finale.
Giro d'Italia 2024 - Stage 2: The most important information at a glance
- Mountain finish after 161 kilometres
- Mountain classifications: 3, sprint classifications: 2
- Start time: 12:55 pm
- Estimated arrival time: between 16:59 and 17:27
- TV: from 12:45 pm Eurosport 1
- Live stream: from 12:30 pm Discovery Plus
