Stage 19 | Friday, 24 May | Mortegliano - Sappada | 157 kilometres
Actually already out of the mountains, the 19th stage leads back into the mountains. From Mortegliano, barely 20 kilometres from the Adriatic Sea, the route leads to Sappada in the Carnic Alps and thus close to the border with Austria. The first 100 kilometres or so from Mortegliano, which is celebrating its Giro premiere, are still quite gentle. A steady, but only slightly ascending course heading north then leads to the first major obstacle of the day, the Passo Duron (2nd category).
At 4,400 metres, the climb is relatively short, but quite steep. The maximum of 18 per cent at the start of the climb is not reached by the end, but the average remains at almost ten per cent. This is followed by a short descent before heading into the Sella Valcalda (3rd category). Once at the top, almost 122 kilometres have been completed. A short descent to Comeglians later, the road climbs again up to KM 151. The Cima Sappada (2nd category) is just over eight kilometres long and has an average gradient of just under five per cent.
From the mountain, the route leads to the destination itself, which has around 1300 inhabitants, initially via a descent that leads onto a cycle path around the town. The tarmac road then becomes somewhat narrower. The town centre is reached 2000 metres before the finish. A final ramp with a gradient of up to ten per cent is on the agenda before the slightly sloping finishing straight, which only climbs slightly again in the very last few metres.
In 2018, a stage of the Giro ended here for the second and last time. The pink jersey, which Simon Yates was wearing that day, won a stage in Sappada, but it took a different route to the finish than this time. However, that 15th stage was not to bring the Brit any luck - in the end, Yates did not even finish the Giro in the top 20.
Sporting assessment of the 19th stage
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) is unlikely to suffer a similar fate to Simon Yates if he rides to the next stage win in Sappada as in pink, although a difficult day still awaits. A breakaway victory is much more likely than a win for the overall leader anyway.
If a group can build up a reasonable lead on the almost 100 kilometre long approach to the mountains, the finale is not so difficult that a good climber cannot save a few seconds advantage over the favourites in the peloton.
Giro d'Italia 2024 - Stage 19: The most important information at a glance
- Hilly stage over 157 kilometres
- Mountain classifications: 3, sprint classifications: 3
- Start time: 13:05
- Estimated arrival time: between 16:59 and 17:26
- TV: from 12:45 pm Eurosport 1
- Live stream: from 12:45 pm Discovery Plus
- More info on TV broadcast & live stream
