The Giro d’Italia 2022 Route was announced this week and to follow are the stages’ descriptions, along with some thoughts and comments on them and the overall course.
Stage 1
Flat stage with a finish on top of a 5.7km long, 4th category climb.
Stage 2
9.2km time trial that also finishes on top of a 4th category climb, this one 1.3km long.
Stage 3
Stage 4
Mountainous stage albeit with just one categorized climb: Etna, 25.4km, 5.6%. The climb is very long but not very steep. At this point, the Giro is still beginning so all the contenders will still be strong. I don’t anticipate a lot of time differences. The scenario will be beautiful though.
Stage 5
Stage 6
Stage 7
Mountainous stage with one 1st category (first half of the stage), two 2nd categories, and another 3rd category climb. Reminds me of some one-day races. Should be a fantastic day.
Stage 8
Another day reminiscent of some classics. Less mountainous but full of hills. Only one 4th category climb. Should be another great day. Wish they were more to the end of the race or before Etna so we could see classics-style riders fighting for the pink jersey. But given where Etna is, it’s understandable that itd be one or the other. Both wouldn’t be possible.
Stage 9
One 2nd category climb in the first half of the stage and two 1sts on the second half, including a mountain finish, Blockhaus – 13.6km at 8.4%. The first true test that will surely thin out the group of pink jersey contenders.
Stage 10
The first half of the stage is flat, the second half is similar to stage 8. Could end up in a sprint, breakaway, or in a classics-style solo attack close to the finish.
Stage 11
Stage 12
Not flat but not a complicated stage until a 2nd category climb that ends 22km from the finish. The main contenders should be fine but there is the potential for attacks given that the climb is located quite close to the finish and the pack is starting to get tired by this point.
Stage 13
Stage 14
Pure classics stage. Would be 100% exciting on the first or beginning of the second week of the race. In this spot it will surely be for a breakaway. Can’t see the peloton controlling this nightmare of stage.
Stage 15
Mountain stage, finishing on top of a 2nd category climb, 22.4km at 4.3%. Before it, the riders go through two 1st category climbs. In the end, the last climb is probably not steep enough to differentiate between the top contenders but the two 1st categories beforehand can claim the aspirations of some podium or top-10 contenders.
Stage 16
Mountain stage. Three 1st category climbs, the last 6km from the finish. I like when there is some downhill after a mountain finish, as long as there is no flat portion afterwards. Mountain summit + 5-20km of downhill is perfect.
Stage 17
Mountain stage with two 1st category climbs in the last 45km of the stage. The final summit is 7km from the finish. Not downhill but 7km will not be enough to reclaim eventual losses in the final climb.
Stage 18
Stage 19
Hilly stage. A 1st, 2nd, and 3rd category climbs in the second half of the stage. Summit finish on top of the 2nd category one. Unlikely to generate massive time gaps but, by this point, the riders will be extremely tired which might create surprises.
Stage 20
The queen-stage. After a tough third week. Two 1st category climbs together with the Cima Coppi of the 2022 edition: the Passo Pordoi. The stage ends on the Passo Fedaia, 14km at 7.6%. This stage will likely decide the podium of the 2022 Giro.
Stage 21
If the podium isn’t decided after stage 20, everything will be done by the end of this 17.1km time trial. It has a 4th category climb right in the middle of it so it is by no means a flat time trial. For this reason, the winner of this time trial is likely to be a general classification contender. Whether that rider will be fighting for the pink jersey or actually wearing it, we’ll have to wait for the 29th of May of 2022 to find out!
I wrote a long form article about the Giro d’Italia 2022 route on the Podium Café website, which you can access through this link.
I really like the design of some of the stages and particularly enjoy that a sprinter will get to wear the pink jersey after the first day of the race, instead of the winner of a meaningless prologue. Love how the organization managed to squeeze in really fun stage during the weekends. The first weekend is kind of a wash but this would always be the case with a depart outside of Italy (Budapest will host the start of the Giro). On the plus side, it’s going to be great seeing the excitement of the Hungarian people for a Grand Tour. I’m sure the streets will be packed, and everybody will be treated to a great atmosphere, on the road and watching at home.
I think there is a big gap between stage 9 and stage 15, the stages that will start to define the fight for the pink jersey. I’m a big fan of the design of the Tour in this respect, where we get two or three stages in Alps/Pyrenees and vice versa some days later. Bonus points if you can squeeze two mountain stages on the weekend. I think one day in the mountains and then six days of nothing in terms of the GC fight is a bit anticlimactic.
In terms of competition I think there’s a huge lack of time trial kilometers. This is an incredibly important discipline when it comes to bike racing, in my opinion. I mean, it’s racing against the clock. What’s more defining of bike racing than that? I do think there’s evidence that TV viewers aren’t very excited about this discipline so I won’t be the one complaining excessively.
Finally, I do fear that the race will be decided solely on the Blockhaus, in stage 9, and on the Passo Fedaia, in stage 20. If stages 16-17 flop, this won’t be a very exciting Giro regarding the fight for pink. On the plus side, some stage designs are great and will surely be highly entertaining. As always the riders will make the race, and I’m sure the quality of the field will be very high, as usual, and will keep us locked to our screens during those three weeks in May of 2022.