7 Jun 2022

Here comes the Giro d’Italia Giovani U23: “We are really looking forward to this race”

Giro d’Italia U23
From 11 to 18 June

From the Marche to Piedmont. From the medieval Gradara, with its impressive walls, to Pinerolo, where Fausto Coppi cemented his legend in the 1949 Giro after an eternal escape only possible in a different kind of cycling. Here comes the Giro Giovani, the great stage race of the U23 category, possibly the most coveted event for cyclists on their way either to professionalism or to the very top of the sport.

For 2022, the Extragiro organisers are proposing a menu of seven stages totalling more than 1,100 kilometres. Perhaps, on paper, and comparing the profiles with past editions, this will be a more human edition. But it also has a couple of long transfers, a circumstance that is always difficult to manage whatever the category. And this ‘benevolence’ cannot ignore two days of very high mountains that the usual combativeness of the ambitious competitors will make even tougher if possible.

The third stage is over 185 kilometres long and includes the climbs of the Tonale, Aprica, the Passo di Guspessa (which connects to the Mortirolo after a narrow track and is reached after 10.7 km at an average of 11.5%) and the final climb to Santa Caterina Valfurva. It is undoubtedly the queen stage of this edition. But this is a Giro U23 without a time trial and on the penultimate day the riders have a high finish at Colle Fauniera, at an altitude of over 2,400 metres after more than 25 kilometres of climbing.

Two stages that stand out in their own right. Things will happen by mere inertia. But in a race with so many contenders, and especially with 35 teams of five riders taking part, no day can be ruled out. Any stage is susceptible to fights, offensives and, of course, crashes or breakdowns. Marcel Camprubí, Andrea Montoli, Fran Muñoz, Davide Piganzoli and Fernando Tercero make up the quintet that will be led by Rafa Díaz Justo and Dario Andriotto. All five have put in great performances so far this season and Camprubí, Muñoz, Piganzoli and Tercero have all won.

“We are really looking forward to this race”, says Tercero. “Since the beginning of the year we’ve had our sights set on the Giro, we’ve always worked with the objective of reaching this moment in the best possible shape”. Piganzoli travels after his recent participation in the Corsa de la Paix of the Nations Cup, where he finished ninth: “The level in the Czech Republic was very high and I also noticed that I was lacking a bit after a month without racing. But with a view to the Giro I am very confident”.

“The route is complicated. We know that both the third and the sixth stage are particularly hard, but the rest of the days will be far from easy. Even less so in a race with only five riders per team where it’s particularly difficult to control. The mid-mountain days are as dangerous or even more dangerous than the high mountains and it will be essential to be very attentive”, adds Tercero, who a few days ago was one of the riders who inspected the Fauniera: “I found it a really tough climb, with very constant percentages and never going below 7-8% for almost 25 kilometres. You arrive at an altitude of 2,500 metres, which is an additional toughness factor. It will definitely make a difference in the fight to win this Giro”.

The stages.

11 June: Gradara – Riccione (163.8 km).

12th June: Rossano Veneto – Pinzolo (168 km).