Favorites stage 14 Giro d'Italia 2024

The third weekend of the Giro d'Italia will culminate on Sunday with a grueling mountain stage towards Livigno, but Saturday will also see the general classification contenders emerge, as an individual time trial of 31 kilometers around the popular Lake Garda is on the agenda. IDLProCycling.com walks you through what you need to know!

Course stage 14 Giro d'Italia 2024

Favorites stage 14 Giro d'Italia 2024 | Will Ganna prevail around Lake Garda, or will Pogacar overpower everyone yet again?

Castiglione delle Stiviere and Desenzano del Garda are the focal points of the second time trial of the Giro d'Italia on day fourteen. Riders will start from the former, where they will immediately need to be cautious: the first kilometers are quite technical, so beware of potential crashes. In the previous time trial, quite a few riders slid out in the first turn, something you definitely want to avoid here, with Sunday in mind.

In the first 7.5 kilometers, riders head towards the first intermediate point in Solferino, where they turn south. We then reach the most southern point of this chrono in Cavriana, where the wind will also change direction. Here lies the only significant hill in the route: 700 meters long, with an average gradient of 5.7%.

For the final 19 kilometers, the wind will be mostly at the riders' backs, with few significant turns. After 22.5 kilometers, we reach the second intermediate point in Torre di San Martino, following which the route reaches Lake Garda at the 3-kilometer mark. The final stretch runs parallel to the water until Desenzano del Garda, where there is a tricky left turn just before the finish.

Climbs
None

Times
Start first rider: 1:20 PM
Finish last rider: around 5:09 PM

Weather stage 14 Giro d'Italia 2024

There will be pleasant weather around Lake Garda on Saturday. Temperatures will reach around 25 degrees Celsius, with the wind coming from the southeast, meaning it will mostly be at the riders' backs.

Put it in the big gear and go: if there's anyone you can trust with that, it's Filippo Ganna. The beast from Verbania has had this day marked on his calendar since October, as this chrono is tailor-made for him. Minimal technique, simply powering through to the finish. It will take a great effort to beat him.

The previous time trial was snatched from the Italian at the last moment by the pink jersey Tadej Pogacar, but this time he faces a course less suited to him. The Slovenian is known as a good time trialist, especially when there are some elevation changes. On truly flat terrain, he sometimes struggles to utilize his power, but one would do well not to underestimate him.

For this time trial, Ganna's competition might come more from his own camp. Magnus Sheffield has been close to a major victory against the clock and can also perform well here, while Geraint Thomas and Thymen Arensman are also known as time trial beasts. They both have the potential to make a significant impact on the standings.

Speaking of which, several other GC riders should not be underestimated either. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R) and Daniel Felipe Martínez (BORA-hansgrohe) can perform excellently against the clock on a good day, which might clarify the top ten standings. Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan Team), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step) and Michael Storer (Tudor) are significantly less gifted when it comes to time trials.

Then there are the pure time trialists, who will find a course more suited to them than the previous one. Riders like Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), Max Walscheid, Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step), Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike), Mikkel Bjerg (UAE), Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers), Stefan de Bod (EF), Will Barta and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) have a good chance of achieving a strong result. Additionally, we should mention Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek, third in this year's Tirreno time trial) and Max Schachmann (fifth for BORA-hansgrohe in the previous chrono), although it's unclear if they will go all out.