We usually see it in its winter version, in early March, when the Tirreno-Adriatico elects it as its Queen Climb. This time, however, we will enjoy this Apennine mountain in the warmer month of May, more than likely without snow, in its late spring version. Prati di Tivo, the second uphill finish of the Giro, is a solid climb capable of deciding the fate of the Corsa dei Due Mari on three different occasions, in 2012, 2013 and 2021.
The Giro d’Italia 2024 has selected it as the arrival venue for stage number eight, following the tricky Perugia time trial. This year, fans will also have the chance to check this climb a few weeks before the Giro, as it will host the finale of the queen stage of the new Giro d’Abruzzo on 11 April.
Prati di Tivo was only once before included in the Corsa Rosa. It was 1975, and Giovanni Battaglin broke away from everyone, sprinting to the first big win in his career.
The stage, starting in Spoleto, will be short but intense, with little room to breathe in its total 153 km. The peloton will first tackle the climb of Forca Capistrello (2nd cat., 16.3 km at 5.6%) followed by Croce Abbio (3rd cat.), which will precede a long descent leading to the foot of the final climb of Prati di Tivo, 14.6 km with an average gradient of 7% and peaks at 12%, which will give those who lost time in the previous day’s time trial a chance to make up ground.
At Tirreno-Adriatico, this climb has traditionally been conquered by very prestigious riders, Vincenzo Nibali in 2012, Chris Froome in 2013, and none other than Tadej Pogačar himself in 2021. The Maglia Azzurra was Wout Van Aert, eager to test himself in the general classification of a short stage race, but the Slovenian star attacked with just under 6 km to go and immediately made the difference. Tadej caught up with Geraint Thomas, who had attacked earlier, and dropped him a few hundred metres later, while Simon Yates failed to close the gap with the Slovenian, who soloed to victory and eventually took that edition of the Race of the Two Seas (Van Aert took 2nd overall), in what will always be remembered as his first professional successes on Italian soil.
One more reason not to miss this stage? This year’s Giro d’Italia 2024 will reunite Tadej, Van Aert, and Thomas, the main stars of that 2021 edition of the Tirreno-Adraitico. We better get ready for another show…
