With three mountains stages left in the 2012 Giro d’Italia and the top eight riders less than two minutes apart, todays stage seventeen from Pfalzen to Cortina d’Ampezzo will be of crucial importance in the final shape of the race.
It features four climbs; the second category, 2197 metre Passo Valparola, the Passo Duran (1st cat), the Forcella Staulanza (2nd cat.) and the first category climb of the Passo Giau, which peaks eighteen kilometres from the finish.
Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez holds a thirty second advantage over Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Barracuda), with two time race winner Ivan Basso (Liquigas Cannondale) lurking one minute 22 seconds back, Astana duo Paolo Tiralongo and Roman Kreuziger one minute 26 and one minute 27 down, and 2011 winner Michele Scarponi (Lampre ISD) one minute 36 behind.
The gaps are so tight that tactical errors or small falterings could ruin a push for the podium, or even the win; equally, a strong performance could gain crucial time over the other GC contenders.
Team Sky rider Michael Barry and IG Sigma Sport pro Dan Lloyd preview the route in the video below, focussing in particular on the crucial final descent from the Passo Giau, talking about the best techniques for tackling such downhill plunges and also dealing with carbo loading and a technique used by one past world champion in preparation for his successful rainbow jersey campaign.