Once upon a time they were defined as transfer stages, they were those hamlets where the Giro “rested” away from full live broadcasts of television with the runners traveling at a tourist pace for the first hours of the race, letting loose at the end. Thursday 23 May will be a completely different story for the Primiero-Padua Fair (178 km) when the pink rush arrives in Veneto, leaving the great mountains behind for a day.
The favourites
Having archived the efforts of the arrivals in Val Gardena and Brocon, the caravan leaves space for fast wheels for a prediction which gives the sprinters still competing as favourites, including Alberto Dainese from Padua, already winner a year ago in Caorle. All eyes are also on the Friulian Johnatan Milan. The finish line in Prato della Valle, where the group hasn’t arrived for 24 years (it was May 23, 2000, Ivan Quaranta won) will be preceded by a long descent that will cross the provinces of Belluno, Venice and Padua. The starter in Trentino is scheduled for 1.05pm, the arrival is expected between 5pm and 5.30pm based on the race average.
Room for sprinters?
Sprinters’ day they said: leaving the 730 meters of Fiera di Primiero, the menu includes a fourth category mountain grand prize with an average gradient of 5.6% in Lamon (Belluno) and then a lot of plain with the transit to Fonzaso, Seren and Feltre before entering the lands of Prosecco with the passages to Valdobbiadene and Col San Martino. The day will then continue towards Treviso waiting to enter the Riviera del Brenta where it will touch Mirano, Stra and Vigonovo. In the last kilometers here is the city of the Saint: after passing Legnaro you enter Padua from via Piovese, continuing on via Facciolati. Before the Prato the biggest pitfalls these are the two bends to enter via Manzoni and via Cavazzana with a view of the final straight of approximately 700 meters which leads to the finish line located on the pedestrian ring outside Memmia Island.
