“Thursday, 11 May
The 6th stage of the Giro starts and finishes in Naples. The race is 162 kilometres long and has 2,800 metres of altitude. These are mainly in the first 100 kilometres, because after that the obstacles are as good as done.
On the sixth day, it’s time for the Tour of Naples, or rather the Tour of Vesuvius. In fact, the riders ride in an arc around the volcano. The non-mountaineers are undoubtedly satisfied with this circumnavigation. After all, there is a way up Vesuvius.
In 2009, the Giro still ended on the volcano. At that time, Carlos Sastre won.
When you think of Vesuvius, you think of Pompei. The riders cross the town after 25 kilometres and 13 kilometres later the road leads up. This is when the Valico di Chiunzi begins, an climb at 6.3%. After the mountain points have been distributed, the route goes downhill for a while, then briefly continues climbing on Colle San Pietro. Only then is it time for the descent.
The riders descend to Amalfi and follow the Mediterranean coast northwards. The second and last climb of the day starts just before Positano - with a 2.8 kilometre warm-up at 5.3% - and leads up to the peninsula that demarcates the southern part of the Gulf of Naples. The Picco Sant’Angelo is 9.6 kilometres long, but not too bad with a 4% gradient.
A technical descent brings riders back to the coast, but on the Gulf of Naples side. Along the water - and on flat ground - it’s 55 kilometres to the finish. It is only a few hundred metres from the start.
After Milan, Rome and Turin, Naples is the fourth most visited city in the Giro. Naples has been on the route map in 47 editions. The first time was in 1909 and we don’t have to look far back for the last one. Thomas De Gendt won stage 8 last year, beating Gabburo and Arcas. “
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