Giro d’Italia 2024 Stage Report: Today on stage 15 to Livigno (Mottolino), Tadej Pogačar gave a master class on how to win a mountainous Giro stage and (probably) a grand Tour. It looked like Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was on his way back to redemption, when the Slovenian champion decided he wanted more stage glory and more (a lot) of time on his adversaries. Pogačar swept past the Colombian on the last ramps of the final climb to claim (yet) another stage and nearly three minutes on the other GC men.
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The final kilometre
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Tadej Pogačar – What can you say?
Tadej Pogac3ar impressively won the tough 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia. In the final to Livigno, the pink jersey crossed a big gap solo to take the win. Nairo Quintana, who held on for a long time from the early break, finished second, when he had victory in his sights.
This high mountain stage passes and finishes above 2,000m, taking in 5 major climbs. The only time for the riders to catch their breath will be through the Val Camonica. After going over Lodrino, the route takes a first ever pass up the Colle San Zeno, followed by a lengthy and technical descent. After crossing the Val Camonica from Pisogne to Edolo, the route clears the Mortirolo (coming from Monno) and then descends towards the Valtellina. The route continues uphill through the short Le Motte climb just outside Bormio, passing Isolaccia Valdidentro and going over the Passo di Foscagno. A short descent then leads to the final climb of the Passo di Eira. At the summit, the route follows a paved road that ascends the Mottolino piste.
The final kilometres are uphill. The gradient changes dramatically with 2km to go, past the Passo di Eira, where the average pitch remains above 10% even if the road features steep ramps alternating with not so sharp slopes. Along the final ramp, past the flamme rouge, gradients top out at 19%, then ease out a little, and eventually bounce back all the way to the home straight (50m), on 6m wide tarmac.
The top two on GC at the start: Tadej Pogačar and Geraint Thomas
Probably a day the points leader, Jonathan Milan is not looking forward too
Will there be any changes in the jersey wearers?
A rider we’ve not seen much of in the Giro, Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) made it into the early break
The peloton had Lago di Garda for company at the start
Could the break go all the way today? They had nearly 5 minutes with a very tough 150 kilometres to go
A big chase group formed between break and peloton
UAE Team Emirates were in control of the peloton
The Giro was in the mountains today
Could the break succeed again today? 3 minutes with 24 kilometres of climbing to go
The fans were out to see the pink jersey
The group of GC men were not getting any closer…. Apart from Pogačar
Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) gave it his best
Tadej Pogačar decided it was time to go…
…and that was the last any of the other riders saw of him
It was close for Nairo Quintana
# Catch up with all the Giro d’Italia news in EUROTRASH Monday. #
Giro d’Italia Stage 15 Result:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 6:11:43
2. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar at 0:29
3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost in 2:32
4. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL at 2:47
5. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) BORA-hansgrohe at 2:50
6. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers
7. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar at 2:58
8. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) INEOS Grenadiers at 3:05
10. Jan Hirt (CZ) Soudal Quick-Step at 3:20.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 15:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 56:11:46
2. Geraint Thomas (GB) INEOS Grenadiers at 6:41
3. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) BORA-hansgrohe at 6:56
4. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at 7:43
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious at 9:26
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned) INEOS Grenadiers at 9:45
7. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL at 10:49
8. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco AlUla at 11:11
9. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar at 12:13
10. Jan Hirt (CZ) Soudal Quick-Step at 13:11.
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