There will be three tough mountain stages, ten of medium difficulty, six flat and three time trials: the Giro d'Italia 2020, unveiled yesterday in Milan, will leave abroad for the fourteenth time. It will be Hungary's turn to host the pink caravan for three days, with the suggestive opening mini-time trial, 8,6 km in the streets of Budapest, arriving on the ancient hill of Buda, across the Danube, which dominates the Magyar capital. Whatever the route, the way it is interpreted by the runners remains decisive. It is a dogma that has always been in force in cycling.
Vincent Torriani, the historic patron of the Giro, in 1954 inserted the Bernina which should have been the springboard for an epic enterprise like the Stelvio had been with Coppi the year before. It was a resounding flop with the group practically going on strike without the slightest sign of a battle. That Giro, one of the ugliest in pink history, had been decided in an almost totally flat stage, from Naples to L'Aquila with the two-man breakaway of Assirelli and Clerici, the Swiss who conquered the pink jersey by taking it all the way to Milan. Historical excursus aside, the first two weeks of the race – which will start again for the fourth stage from Sicily – present an altitude that shouldn't attract sprinters and finisseurs.
"We had to level out the difficulties also by thinking about the Olympics that will take place next year", explained the director of the Giro, Mauro Vegni. Many hills, few real mountains, a bit like last May's Giro which in the end turned out to be one of the least exciting and hard-fought in recent years. We'll see how it goes in 2020. Apart from the climb to Etna in the fifth fraction and the roller coaster on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines in the 12th, the Giro will head north never losing sight of the flat Adriatic coast, with the total exclusion of the Tyrrhenian side, penalizing Campania, Lazio, Tuscany and Liguria, as had never happened in post-war editions.
Solo in the last week the greatest difficulties have been concentrated with three key stages, undoubtedly fascinating and important: that of Piancavallo with departure from the Rivolto air base and arrival on the peak that exalted Pantani in his triumphal Giro of 1998, then the Pinzolo-Lakes of Cancano with the "Cima Coppi" located at 2757 meters of the mythical Stelvio pass, and on the penultimate day the Alba-Sestrière with the climb, before the final climb, of Colle dell'Agnello and of the Izoard with his lunar Casse déserte: a finale that appeals to Ricard Carapaz, the Ecuadorian surprise winner of the latest edition of the pink race, who would also like to be at the start on May 9 in Budapest “but – said the Andean climber during the yesterday's ceremony – the final decision on his participation will be made in consultation with Team Ineos”, which he joined after leaving Movistar.
And at Ineos there are three other big names named Chris Froome, who will want to try to win the fifth Tour, Egan Bernal, the last yellow jersey in Paris, and Geraint Thomas, who seems intent on diverting his 2020 goals to the Giro. It won't be easy to combine the commitments and aspirations of these four roosters in the English team's chicken coop with Carapaz, the last to arrive wearing the pink jersey won last year. He was also there with Carapaz at the Giro 2020 presentation Peter Sagan, the Slovakian champion who won six green jerseys in the Tour as leader of the points classification, but who never started the pink race.
“Will you be there this year?” He was asked and he slyly replied with a smile: “Let's see…”. An answer that in the end seemed more like a yes than a no, also because the route, especially the first half without major climbs, does not displease the three-times world champion at all, fast wheel and exceptional finisseur, even if the first jersey pink looks destined to be worn by a time trial specialist, with that uphill finish reminiscent of the first stage of the 2019 Giro with Primoz Roglic's victory at the Bologna Sanctuary of San Luca. The one in Budapest will be the first of the three stages against the clock inserted by the organizers.
The second, the longer one of 33,7 km, will take place on May 23 from Conegliano to Valdobbiadene, in the land of prosecco, while the last will be at the end of the Giro, from Cernusco sul Naviglio to Milan of 16,5 km. Two years ago, from the Monza racetrack to Piazza del Duomo, the time trial proved fatal to Nairo Quintana who lost the pink jersey to Tom Dumoulin, who preceded the Colombian and Vincenzo Nibali. Lo Squalo was not in Milan but from the United States, where he is in these days, he sent a message of greeting and tribute to a race that has already seen him triumph twice but did not want to reveal his plans. But it is foreseeable that Nibali will still be in the game with the new Trek-Segafredo jersey, ready to defend the blue pedal who also hopes for the recovery of Fabio Aru after two troubled years, a relaunch on which Giuseppe Saronni, former great of the cycling of the eighties, today team manager of the Uae, the Sardinian team.
