Giro d'Italia 2020: Vincenzo Nibali Approved for Early Mount Etna Summit Finish

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Giro d'Italia 2020: Vincenzo Nibali Approved for Early Mount Etna Summit Finish

Vincenzo Nibali praised the 2020 Giro d'Italia route as being "better designed" than this year's course, noting in particular the summit finish on the summit of Etna on stage 5.

Nibali, a Sicilian, was absent from the race presentation in Milan on Thursday. After three years with Bahrain-Merida, Nibali will join Trek-Segafredo in 2020; he is expected to race the Giro for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but his race schedule has not yet been officially confirmed.

Nibali finished second overall at the 2019 Giro behind Richard Carapas. Next May, Gruppo will spend the first three stages in Hungary before taking on an early summit finish in Sicily.

"Compared to the previous competition, I am more balanced. I like that there's a summit finish in the first part, which was missing in 2019."

The Giro has already featured early summit finishes in Etna in 2017 and 2018, but next year's race will climb the volcano from a different aspect, from Ring Agrossa to the new finish line at Piano Provenzana. The climb is 18.2 km with an average gradient of 6.8% and an 11% incline in the finale.

"I might have done it in training, but I am not sure," Nibali said. There are different approaches to Etna, some of them hidden."

Nibali expressed displeasure with the final day time trial in Milan -- "As a rider, I'd rather have another stage on the last day" -- but said that the race would include a total of three individual time trials, including an important 34 km test on stage 14 to Valdobbiadene Mauro Veni had no doubts about his decision. Nibali said, "There were three time trials in 2019."

While the majority of the 2020 Giro's mountain stages are packed into the grueling final week, Nibali cited the three days prior to that as potentially carrying significant weight in the GC battle. He cited the rugged trek to Camigliatello Silano through Calabria on stage 7, the homage to the Nove Colli Gran Fondo at Cesenatico on stage 12, and the summit finish at Piancavallo the day after the Valdobbiadene time trial. These are just a few examples. Inclement weather, wind, and tactics can change even a seemingly easy day."

Whether the weather will alter the course in the final week remains to be seen. The race will be over 2,000 meters in elevation, with stage 18 taking on the mighty Stelvio and the final day tackling Colle d'Agnello and Col d'Iseult. Nibali's second win of the 2016 Giro came on the summit of Agnello, where he launched a long-distance offensive for a stage win in Lisle. He thinks the Agnello stage, which finishes in Sestriere, could be decisive again in 2020.

"Of course, there's always the possibility that the GC riders will mark each other hard, and that doesn't guarantee that a lot won't happen. "There could be an attack like Froome's in 2018, when he attacked Finestre with 80km to go and turned the Giro upside down. Anything can happen."

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