Giro 2021:- Stage 13: Ravenna – Verona 198 km **Spoilers**
![blazing_saddles](https://forum.bikeradar.com/uploads/userpics/8KMUD9ODW55W/n05GBSS54188Z.jpg)
Stage 13: Ravenna – Verona 198 km
Friday, May 21st, 12.25 CESTTechnical Info:
A pan-flat, means-to-an-end stage across the lowland around Ferrara, Polesine and Mantua, on straight and mostly wide roads. As the stage passes through several urban areas, roundabouts, traffic islands and street furniture will be found along the route. It has also been two years since the Giro d’Italia last visited Verona. It was the final stage, an ITT. The stage has been dedicated to Dante Alighieri AKA Mr Inferno, as Dante's final days were spent in Ravenna.
![](https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/icXucdz9wNwqK6xO8UUP_220421-040214.jpg?v=20210422180214)
A sprint stage after the two fastest men in the race have gone home. If I had to pick a stage to miss, this might well be the one.
![](https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/xxJe4rrSAehcCPlKbQxQ_220421-040205.jpg?v=20210422180205)
Final kilometres
The final kilometres are raced on wide, straight and well-paved city roads, with a few roundabouts along the route. The home straight is on tarmac road.
![](https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/hDaSnkfcAXe9Gi1ryEz7_220421-040209.jpg?v=20210422180209)
![](https://static2.giroditalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/o3DwquZlvZqr5GaPUWJg_220421-040216.jpg?v=20210422180216)
What to expect:
To fall asleep.
Stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia is almost 200 kilometres and the elevation gain is 200 metres, so catch the last few kms and hope that we don't lose any GC riders for this gift for the fast men.
Favourites 13th stage 2021 Giro d’Italia
*** Dylan Groenewegen
** Fernando Gaviria, Elia Viviani, Giacomo Nizzolo
* Peter Sagan, Matteo Moschetti, Davide Cimolai, Andrea Pasqualon, Max Kanter
Ravenna
Ravenna is a city in Emilia-Romagna. It has been home to the mortal remains of the poet Dante Alighieri for 700 years. Consequently, the stage is dedicated to the Dante. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of small islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. It's known for the colorful mosaics adorning many of its central buildings.
![](https://velvetescape.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMG_2050-1280x920.jpg)
Piadina (Italian flat bread), used in the kitchen instead of bread and considered one of the pillars of the gastronomic culture of Romagna. In Ravenna, it is thicker and is stuffed in many different ways: with cured meats, cheeses (especially Squacquerone di Romagna DOP), with fish such as the saraghina (oily fish cooked on the grill, breaded and flavoured with parsley and garlic), but also with vegetables, creams, sweets and jams.
![](https://citynews-ravennatoday.stgy.ovh/~media/original-hi/59095786967828/piadina-3.jpg)
In Romagna, the wine par excellence is Sangiovese DOC. Produced in the Novello, Superiore and Riserva types. Obtained from 85% Sangiovese grapes and, up to a maximum of 15%, from other black grapes, with an alcohol content of 12% vol., Sangiovese di Romagna goes well with red meat, game and fresh Romagna pasta dishes, such as cappelletti or tagliatelle with meat sauce, as well as with mature cheeses.
![](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/55143829-0348-4c18-b754-cbc29717fa5d/Sangio.jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=w:1280)
Verona
The name Verona comes from the union of three ancient words, which mean: The city of the Veneto Region on the river.
The city is well known also because it was land and crossroads of great poets and artists. Among the most famous: Shakespeare, who set the tragedy of the two lovers Romeo and Juliet within the Scaliger walls. The Verona Arena is famous the world over as it is still used for open air International events.
![](https://www.garda-see.com/media/1089/Fotolia_51261851_Subscription_XXL.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=1920&height=840&rnd=132324682310000000)
Verona has a rich food culture, heritage of its thousand-year old local agriculture and plenty of DOP raw materials. The most typical main dishes of the city are: pasta e fasoi, bigoli con le sarde, gnocchi and nodini di Valeggio.
![](https://wips.plug.it/cips/buonissimo.org/cms/2019/02/pasta-con-sarde.jpg)
Verona, rich of hills adorned with vineyards spreading from east to west, boasts a remarkable production of famous wines, which are exported all over the world.
Five are the DOCG labels: Amorone, Bardolino Superiore, Recioto della Valpolicella, Recioto Soave and Soave Superiore.
Among the 14 DOC wines it is worth mentioning: Bardolino, Bianco di Custoza, Valpolicella Ripasso, Soave and Lugana.
![](https://giulianohazan.com/wp-content/uploads/Amarone-w-Grapes.jpg)
Comments
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The race needs a strong wind to make it remotely interesting before the last 10kms.
Or the wine...The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Wind is forecast to be from the east which would be perfect but only light unfortunately.0
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What's the scenery like?0
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Based on a train journey along the north end to Venice, meh.kingstongraham said:What's the scenery like?
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
It's the Po valley, it's pancake flat and prime farming land. The most interesting feature will be the occasional drainage ditch.kingstongraham said:What's the scenery like?
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Expect a few falls in the peloton asxthe boredom hits home.0
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Industrial agriculture for as far as you can See interspersed with architecture of merit now and againkingstongraham said:What's the scenery like?
"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
I'm a little biased I admit, but the others are right, it's dull as...kingstongraham said:What's the scenery like?
The statue of Dante in the middle of Verona has been cleaned, but they are going nowhere near it.0 -
Just be glad Kirby isn't there to ram inferno or infernal puns into his commentary every few minutes.0
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So once a break of three (eolo, bardiani, intermarche) have gone after 5 minutes, that's it until the last few km. Don't think I need to employ the good screen for this one then.0
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As long as there is something we can all disagree about I am fine with today's stage"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0
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I'm intrigued where your favourites came from - I've not seen any pundits putting Groenewegen as a favourite.
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Jumbo need something out of this race . Bennett and brambilla trying to flic each other is not going to do"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0
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He's also arguably the best sprinter left in the race.0
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Hence why I said 'arguably'. On form he's up there with Bennett and Ewen, but we've not seen evidence of that form yet.0
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I agree that he's good when on form, and that JV need something from the race.
Hopefully we will to see more teams starting to commit to getting results in stages and not worry about whether or not they will recover the day after.0 -
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singleton said:
I'm intrigued where your favourites came from - I've not seen any pundits putting Groenewegen as a favourite.
The reasons are the ones both Rick and Andy point out: we aren't exactly blessed with pure sprinters left in the race.
He's my deliberate, slightly contentious pick, as I reckon folks will need something to quibble about, given the parcour.
Anyhow, here's inrng's picks and their 3 star pick hasn't exactly been racking up the wins, either.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.1 -
I don't know if today's stage takes them through the old centre of Ferrara but I hope so, because it would be very fitting; Ferrara is the most bicycle-friendly city in Italy.blazing_saddles said:
A pan-flat, means-to-an-end stage across the lowland around Ferrara
Cars are banned from the old town, not that unusual in Italy, but the old town is larger than many, about 3 km diameter, and the whole area around is very flat, meaning cycling is very popular. 90% of locals use a bike to get around, while over 30% of journeys in Ferrara are by bike, a figure only matched by Amsterdam.
Yesterday's stage preview mentioned the famous Palio at Siena, but Ferrara also has one, less famous but actually older. If allowed in these Covid-times, it takes place on the last Sunday in May.
Below my personal association with Ferrara.
Elio Zanotti (1922-2006) was a top amateur cyclist in the late 40s/early 50s, a member of the Italian team at the Amateur World Championship Road Races some years then, when his team captain won (he also told me that he rode in Coppi's team in the early 50s, but I haven't been able to check this).
He later then had a bike shop in Ferrara for years, and sponsored a local amateur racing team, this below being their jersey. Zanotti said being associated with Coppi when Coppi won the WC entitled him to have a club jersey with the rainbow colours - although I did notice the colour order on the jersey is slightly different from a proper WC winner's jersey. Anyway, Zanotti let me have a jersey, provided I didn't ride around the Ferrara area when wearing it!
(Because I wasn't a member of the team, he didn't like the deception it would cause if I wore it locally)
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On form in this race, I'd tip Pasqualon and Moschetti over Groenewegen.0
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kingstongraham said:
So once a break of three (eolo, bardiani, intermarche) have gone after 5 minutes, that's it until the last few km. Don't think I need to employ the good screen for this one then.
You missed the most obvious, Simon Pellaud.kingstongraham said:So once a break of three (eolo, bardiani, intermarche) have gone after 5 minutes, that's it until the last few km. Don't think I need to employ the good screen for this one then.
Eolo, Bardiani and Androni are in the break, so you got two out of three and the number right.
Way out on the time though. It took all of a single minute.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Ha - I don't know why I got it into my head that Androni have missed the break a few times. They have been in every doomed break without fail, between Tagliani and Pellaud.blazing_saddles said:
You missed the most obvious, Simon Pellaud.kingstongraham said:So once a break of three (eolo, bardiani, intermarche) have gone after 5 minutes, that's it until the last few km. Don't think I need to employ the good screen for this one then.
Eolo, Bardiani and Androni are in the break, so you got two out of three and the number right.
Way out on the time though. It took all of a single minute.0 -
Pellaud and Marengo the most consistent - both in the break on 5, 7, 10, and now 13, plus 2 for Marengo and 3 for Pellaud. Tagliani did the Androni business on 2, 5 and 4.0
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It must get tedious being told you have to work hard every day to get into a doomed break. At least the likes of Puccio who have to spend day after day towing the peloton along for 100km get to enjoy the team victories and a share of the prize money.0
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I know it hasn't worked out this time so far, but Androni got more prize money last year than Astana.Pross said:It must get tedious being told you have to work hard every day to get into a doomed break. At least the likes of Puccio who have to spend day after day towing the peloton along for 100km get to enjoy the team victories and a share of the prize money.
I think there's prize money for spending the most km in breaks across the 3 weeks too, as well as the few bob for the intermediate sprints. But yes, small beer.0 -
Is there a bit of wind blowing? The peloton has been fanning across the road a bit but no obvious signs of concern and no indication from the trees.0
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Puccio must be one of the best value signings Sky / Ineos have made. Solid, reliable, no controversy and seemingly no real personal ambitions getting in the way of doing his job.Pross said:It must get tedious being told you have to work hard every day to get into a doomed break. At least the likes of Puccio who have to spend day after day towing the peloton along for 100km get to enjoy the team victories and a share of the prize money.
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people leave to go on to something 'better' and then it doesnt happen. If you arent bothered about personal glory then Ineos is prob a good place. Worked for Thomas/Rowe and seemingly Yates and others. dennis has certainly benefitted being there. Money is good, conditions seem good but you are on top of your game if you are there.0