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2016 Giro d'Italia Route Revealed
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 17:11
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| roturn |
Posted on 14-01-2016 10:08
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It`s the first GT of the season, but the last to present its route this season. The Giro d'Italia 2016 today presents the route and will complete the GT`s to give managers time to consider their options.
Damiano Cunego is the clear Giro dominator having won here 6 times! Though it`s unlikely he can add another one as he feels his age. That said he was 3rd last year and really rode a strong race including a stage win.
Another big name is Andy Schleck, reigning champion. He completed the GT trio and everything now is bonus. Will we see him back here to defend his title?
The only other two winners are Phinney and Ricco.
Stages 1 - 4: Croatia -> Italia -> Slovenia
The first 2 days will be mostly outside of Italy. The start is in Dubrovnik, Croatia at the other side of the Mare Adriatico. Along the coast the peloton heads North towards Split. It`s an opportunity for the sprinters even though there are a couple of hills on the course. With a length of 226km it`s surely not the easiest start into a GT.
A very similar stage on day 2 from Sibenik to Lun. Sprinters will like the opportunity to get a chance on a GT leader jersey in all of them and twice even in the opening stage.
Stage 3 then should deliver the first gaps: A TTT of 30km length. It`s the first kilometers on Italian terrain as it`s a ride from Trieste to Monfalcone. Question is if a sprinter is within the winner team to defend or grab the lead.
The next stage then surely will see a sprinter lose it. An early mountain stage on day 4 already and we are outside of Italy again as the peloton head East with a mountain top finish in Mangart, Slovenia. The GC riders should take over with this stage.
Stages 5 - 7: A little bit for everyone
The real start in Italy sees a mix of stages. First another chance for the sprinters in Venezia. Again a pretty long stage of almost 230km.
Then a puncheur stage with a pan flat start but 5 tough hills towards the end before it`s a flat finish again.
The 1st week ends with a 2nd mountain stage. This time though the difficulties come earlier with 5 rated climbs. The finish comes after a long descent and flat part and is on the half island in Sirmione.
Stages 8 - 10: North of Italy
The next three stages are similar with chances for any rider type.
First a tough mountain stage with lots of climbing as also the first HC rated one. The finish is another mountain top one but with a rather short climb in comparison to the first.
Stage 9 sees another HC climb. Afterwards though it`s a pretty flat stage except for one Cat.3. Surely a couple of sprinters will see a chance to take this one even though the finish line is slightly uphill.
Stage 10 is a puncheurs stage again. Pan flat but two late climbs, that have potential to split the peloton into pieces.
Stages 11 - 12: French Border
Two consecutive mountain stages in the Alps close to the French border. First a mountain top finish. Though not the hardest stage probably as all climbing sees lots of flat parts or even descents in between.
Stage 12 though another highlight stage. 4 tough climbs with 3 Cat.1 coming in the 2nd half. The finish though comes after the last descent.
Stages 13 - 14: Sprinter Opportunities
The 2nd week ends with two sprinter stages. Both only have one Cat.3 climb as we head towards the Piacenza and Pisa for the stage finishes.
Sprinters that still have energy in their legs should fight on those before a tough 3rd week.
Stages 15 - 16: Start of the 3rd week
Stage 15 is another mountain stage. 5 climbs but all of them are shorter than others and only being rated 2nd or 3rd category. The finish is in San Marino making this a nice event for the little country.
Stage 16 is possibly the last chance for the sprinters! Being pan flat on the 2nd half it`s a perfect opportunity to grab a win.
Stages 17 - 20: GC Decisions?
Stages 17 & 18 might be the hardest stages in this years edition.
First goes over Cat. 2 and Cat. 1 passes Lanciano and della Maielletta. The finish though is one of the hardest climbs going up the Blockhaus.
7 rated climbs on the 18th stage. 2 Cat.1 climbs Vado di Sole at halftime and Valico di Monte Cristo are the hardest climbs. The finish is a Cat.2 to Gran Sasso/Campo Imperatore that follows just after a very short descent.
Stage 19 is for puncheurs. Lots of short climbs and a hill top finish.
The penultimate stage is the 2nd time trial in this race. 43km. Pan flat for 70% of the race. Then a short climb and descent towards the finish. Definitely a good chance for chrono riders to gain some time. Late in the race though recovery might be more important.
Stage 21: Hilly finale around Rome
The final stage starts in the Vaticano, heads South and then back North towards Rome. 6 climbs might not only see a change in the KoM ranking. It`s also possibly to change the GC here. For the sprinters it`s not an ideal finish.
In total this sums up to:
7 Flat
4 Hill (2 HTF)
8 Mountain (6 MTF)
2 Time Trial (30km TTT, 43km ITT)
Now that all GT routes are published, the real planning can start. What routes suit which rider the most? Where to send the sprinters? Who to pick as support guys? Which GC might have biggest and weakest competition?
Lots of questions. The answers though will need to wait until the race start.
Credits to toto40 (Leon40) for most of the stages as also those in game screens. |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 14-01-2016 10:24
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Tour de France Champion
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Nice presentation.
Looks like a fun route with lots of different terrain.
Amazing screens, looks like a beaufitul race! |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 14-01-2016 10:32
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World Champion
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Fantastic presenatation, well done Roturn!
This is pure Vesuvio/Schleck route, it is tailor made for him with just a TTT, where Vesuvio is usually strong.
I dont count TT at stage 20 as TT, because that is much more about recovery, even more when it is not pan flat. So we have two GTs with TT on stage 20, not a big fan of that, but we will have to deal with it.
The first stages look ideal for Ignatiev, so now, when i have seen all the GT profiles, there is very hgh possibility of exactly same program for Pluchkin like in 2015. 
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 14-01-2016 10:58
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Wow what a great route this is! Mind-blowing scenery and really creative stages throughout the whole race.
Interestingly you don't have the progression you're accustomed to in GTs, with all three weeks being plagued with all sorts of terrain and stage-types. And a hilly stage on the final day... *holds breath*
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 14-01-2016 11:45
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Thanks for all the route previews roturn - for designing the other 2 courses, and sorting out replacements for the narrows on toto's otherwise great looking Giro route.
@Avin Ah, where's the fun in repeating the same thing as last year?
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 14-01-2016 11:54
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And where's the fun in making the Giro route best for pure climbers, Vuelta route for TTing stage racers and Tour something in between? 
I may be bluffing, but Pluchkin will most likely go where his abilities will hopefully put him on top, not somewhere because of change of scenery. 
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| Bikex |
Posted on 14-01-2016 12:11
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Was looking forward the most to the Giro presentation of the three GTs. Nice read roturn.
After being a little late last year, I plan to again apply for a Giro wildcard. I guess with the nationalities of Kiserlovski and Sella (who I'm not sure yet if I keep him) my chances aren't too bad to get granted a participation?  |
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 14-01-2016 14:14
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Classics Specialist
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The game sure does look good this year.
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| wackojackohighcliffe |
Posted on 14-01-2016 14:41
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Looks sweet, pretty damn brutal but with potential to steal time here and there in the hills. If it goes to shit I can just enjoy the pretty graphics.
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| matt17br |
Posted on 14-01-2016 14:42
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This is by far the best route of 3 (not that Vuelta and Tour aren't, just that is is so perfect) so props to toto for making most of the stages and to you roturn for doing the rest of the hard work
I'm sure this will be the most thrilling GT for yet another year!
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 14-01-2016 15:33
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World Champion
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So, Vuelta it is!
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| Margh Norway |
Posted on 14-01-2016 17:14
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Lovely route! Hope for a wildcard to take a closer look on the beautiful stages toto made.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 14-01-2016 17:21
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Won't set another sponsor goal for this, but this early TTT makes things interesting yet again. At least if I keep my TT depth 
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| Luxemburger |
Posted on 14-01-2016 21:38
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Protected Rider
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I'm not a big follower of the ManGame, but with this good route, thanks to Toto40, I will definitely follow it! |
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 14-01-2016 23:14
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For a second there I was thinking what are you on about Ian, you should be following it, you've got your own team.
This same Avatar thing is getting far too confusing.
It's strange to see the Giro with 2 HC climbs, is that a ManGame thing that I've not yet noticed as I thought it normally only has 1 and they don't look like the same climb, not even in reverse.
It should be a good battle, not sure how having the mountain stages so split up will change how they are raced instead of having them one after the other, will be interesting to see what effect that has on things.
It's a shame we can't compete as a wildcard this year as stage 15 is finishing right outside our headquarters atop Monte Titano. In fact they are actually on the Screenshot  (is that a first for the ManGame?) so everyone connected to the team who is not at a race that clashes will be outside our Headquarters for that special moment.
That really is such a beautiful job of recreating the mountain, I didn't think you could be that accurate in PCM with the scale difference but I'm happy to be proved wrong as I instantly thought hang on I recognise that place when I saw the screenshot before the text underneath confirmed my suspicion.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 16-01-2016 06:53
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Grand Tour Champion
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Thanks for doing this roturn, they have even great.
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| Smowz |
Posted on 16-01-2016 07:47
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Team Leader
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Down at Red Bull HQ, Jose has indicated that he would like to focus his energies entirely on the Giro this year. The Tour is seemingly out of reach for Jose and he does prefer a climbing heavy route.
I guess this will be the one the 'stage racers' avoid - or are they double bluffing?
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| ember |
Posted on 16-01-2016 18:59
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Thank you for the presentation, roturn!
Definitely an interesting route where it looks like the tension could be kept until the very end, similar to the 2015 edition of the race, seeing the most difficult mountain stages come towards the end of the race. |
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| SotD |
Posted on 17-01-2016 10:03
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World Champion
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Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Fantastic presenatation, well done Roturn!
This is pure Vesuvio/Schleck route, it is tailor made for him with just a TTT, where Vesuvio is usually strong.
I dont count TT at stage 20 as TT, because that is much more about recovery, even more when it is not pan flat. So we have two GTs with TT on stage 20, not a big fan of that, but we will have to deal with it.
The first stages look ideal for Ignatiev, so now, when i have seen all the GT profiles, there is very hgh possibility of exactly same program for Pluchkin like in 2015.
I think it is tailormade for Spilak A lot of semihard stages including some interesting hilly stages. The TTT which should suit Festina well, and the hilly TT in the end, which should be good for Spilak.
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