Florian Stork second and Christian Scaroni third, as mountainous day closes out the second week at the Corsa Rosa

That brutally hard final week of the Giro d’Italia is almost here. A few punishing stages still await, but already on this third Sunday of the race, RCS is heading for the high mountains. On the menu: Monte Grappa — a climb that would leave the average amateur cyclist dizzy.

I’m just happy that I finished the stage,” Roglič told TNT at the line before stepping into the team bus. Also r

A long descent leads the riders into a valley before the Enego climb, a 16.4km category 2 ascent ranging from 5.4% to a peak of 9%. The Red Bull kilometre and its attendant bonus seconds is at Enego around two-thirds of the way up, with the peak at Dori marking the end of the serious climbing.

Monte Grappa’s got many roads on its flanks and this is one of the easier ascents but it’s still 25km to the top and hard from the start. The descent is even longer, 29km and with some uphill sections along the way too.

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A sharp descent and a short valley road takes them onto the category-one Santa Barbara climb, a 12.7km ascent averaging nearly 9%, with maximum gradients of 14%. Another descent takes the riders onto the final climb, the 18.2km San Valentino.

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