Favorites stage 11 Giro d'Italia 2024

The riders of the Giro d'Italia faced a tough return after their rest day, but the second Wednesday of the Italian tour might offer a lighter challenge. The route from Foiano di Valfortore to Francavilla al Mare spans two hundred mostly flat kilometers, and IDLProCycling.com will tell you all about it.

Course stage 11 Giro d'Italia 2024

Favorites stage 11 Giro d'Italia 2024 | Sea Battle at WorldTour level!

After a 140-kilometer stage on Tuesday, Wednesday's stage will be about two hundred kilometers. The race kicks off in Foiano di Valfortore, located in the same region of Benevento, where the previous stage wrapped up. The peloton will make its way through the Apennines towards the coast, tackling some significant climbs in the early part of the stage.

The route begins with a gentle ascent towards San Bartolomeo in Galdo, climbing a 6.5-kilometer false flat. After reaching the top, the route levels out onto a plateau before descending about twenty kilometers down to the base of the day’s only categorized climb.

The ascent to Pietracatella (7.8 km at 5.7%) could be pivotal, as previous sprint stages have shown that some teams believe they can make a difference uphill. If the race heats up on this climb, it could spell trouble for the heavier sprinters. Following another hill and the intermediate sprint in Cascalenda, the race still has over a hundred kilometers to go.

The course then heads to the Adriatic coast, arriving in Termoli. From there, the riders follow the coast to Francavilla al Mare, with no significant challenges left on the route. This sets up a perfect scenario for the sprinters' teams to take control, though Giro history tells us that even the best of plans can falter in this race.

The final stretch isn’t particularly technical. There are only two turns in the last four kilometers, with a straight run of three kilometers to the finish. This setup is ideal for sprint trains to line up for a high-speed showdown among the fastest riders this week.

Climb
48.4 km: Pietracatella (7.8 km at 5.7%)

Times
Start: 12:05 PM
Finish: around 5:10 PM

Weather stage 11 Giro d'Italia 2024

Concerned about the weather? There's little need. Starting out, the riders will enjoy a tailwind and temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius, though conditions will shift as they near the Adriatic coast. In the final flat section, they’ll face a crosswind, but traditionally this hasn’t affected the Giro very much.

With several sprinters still in contention, a bunch sprint involving the whole peloton is the most probable outcome for this eleventh stage, despite a few challenging climbs in the first half.

Why? Teams like Alpecin-Deceuninck are likely wary of pushing the pace too hard after their previous ordeals, despite their sprinter Kaden Groves benefiting from a tougher race. The climbs are quite a distance from the finish, making teamwork potentially beneficial, possibly even alongside Jonathan Milan’s Lidl-Trek.

Jonathan Milan, along with Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step — who is recovering from a nasty fall in last week’s time trial — is among the fastest in the race, though Merlier's speed typically diminishes in the second week. Nevertheless, we’re open to surprises come Wednesday.

For Fabio Jakobsen of dsm-firmenich PostNL, this stage could present his first real sprinting opportunity in this Giro. The Dutchman hasn’t had a chance to showcase his sprinting yet but might find his moment here. He's short on support after losing teammates Bram Welten and Tobias Lund Andresen due to illness and a crash.

Other speedy contenders include Alberto Dainese of Tudor and Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious, who consistently competes for top spots. Sprinters like Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla), Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE-Team Emirates), David Dekker (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) also excel on flat finishes. Italian pro-continental riders Giovanni Lonardi (Polti-Kometa) and Enrico Zanoncello (VF Group-Bardiani) are in the mix too.

There are also men in this Giro who — like Groves — love a tougher stage but are also very fast. Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ), Danny van Poppel (BORA-hansgrohe), Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-Premier Tech), Madis Mikhels (Intermarché-Wanty), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R) and even the duo Jhonatan Narvaez/Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) belong in that category.

Does a breakaway have any chance of succeeding? Yes, but it would require several strong riders. Look for Tim van Dijke (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Davide Ballerini (Astana) and Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) to potentially make things difficult for the main group.