The GC battle returns for the third weekend of the Giro d’Italia, with the 31.2km time trial south of Lake Garda, and then the 222km haul from the lakeshore over the Mortirolo and up to an altitude of 2385 metres at Livigno.
Tadej Pogačar appears to be in total control of the Corsa Rosa but even he and his UAE Emirates Team will be concerned and fully focused for the next 48 hours. There can be no mistakes, distractions or sharing of the pie.
Retaining his near three-minute lead on Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) is the first goal, but Pogačar will surely want to gain even more time on his GC rivals and win more stages.
The 31.2km time trial on stage 14 is on rolling and often twisting country roads but appears suited to the big-gear, big watts time trial specialists purists like Filippo Ganna and his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Tobias Foss, Eduardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) and perhaps Pogcar’s teammate Mikkel Bjerg.
The time Pogačar will surely gain on Martínez, Thomas, Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Italian hope Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) will indicate his dominance in the GC battle. If Pogačar manages to beat Ganna yet again, the time difference will indicate his greatness and Cannibalesque hunger for success.
In Perugia on stage 7, Pogačar turned a 44-second deficit at the bottom of the climb into a 17-second victory over a stunned and disappointed Ganna. This time, though, he can’t count on gravity to cancel out Ganna's greater watts but he could gain time on the Italian and his GC rivals on his twisting course. He seems more comfortable than ever on his time trial bike and more confident in his current ability.
The 31.2km cronometro starts in Castiglione delle Stiviere, the birthplace of the International Red Cross, and then heads east into the flat country roads below Lake Garda. The first time check is in Solferino after just 7.8km, with a left turn north soon after.
The second time split comes in Torre di San Martin after 23.2km and will give a real indication of who is gaining time and who is suffering and losing seconds on each kilometre. The course reaches the shore of Lake Garda in Rivoltella del Garda, with just 2.2km along the shore to race.
The straight final 3km, like much of the course, will be raced at close to 55kph, with the finish in central Desenzano del Garda overlooking the small harbour area.
The stage 14 time trial start times see Alan Riou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) set off as the first rider at 13:40 CET, with Pogačar starting last at 16:43 CET.
"It's pancake flat, and normally I don't do well on pancake flat time trials, but we'll give it a go," Pogačar said with a hint of rare caution.
"Maybe I need to ride 'around' 100%, because the next day is also really hard. On Saturday, I'll need to set a good tempo from the beginning and then see the gaps on the opponents."
Thomas knows he cannot suffer another significant time loss if he hopes to somehow take on Pogačar in the mountains of the final week or at least finish on the podium in Rome.
"Hopefully it's a bit better than the last one…" he joked after the sprint finish into Cento on Friday afternoon. "The TT is a big day. We’ll do our pacing strategy, try to stick to that as much as we can see where we end up."
The Welshman appears more confident after a solid and consistent second week in Italy but Ineos Grenadiers know he cannot suffer another bad day as he did on the climb to Perugia.
"You never know when a bad day is coming in a Grand Tour. Sometimes it comes and no one notices because it comes at the right time. It came on that TT, which was pretty noticeable," Ineos Grenadiers directeur sportif Zak Dempster admitted to Cyclingnews.
"But he bounced back at Prati di Tivo, and he was positive after that. We're confident in his abilities in the third week given what he’s done and the place he’s in right now.
"I'd expect him to be right up there and competitive on Saturday. He's done his homework for the time trial. On this rolling course, if he can get the technique kicking over the climbs and nailing the corners, which is an important demand of this time trial, then I think it suits him, like most time trials."
Stage 14 time checks
- Kilometre 7.8
- Kilometre 23.2
