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On Friday, 176 riders will start for the 105th Giro d'Italia over 21 stages in 24 days and a total of 3446 kilometre. But most of all there are 54730 vertical meters to overcome. What are the key stages and how does this route compare to previous editions?

Climbers vs. sprinters

A basic question for sprinters to determine which Grand Tour they will ride is the number of sprinter opportunities. With the ProfileScore we compute how hard a stage is in terms of climbing. The higher the score, the harder the stage. This year, the Giro has 9 stages with a ProfileScore above 200, two stages between 100 and 200, eight stages below 100 and 2 time trials.

Table 1. ProfileScores per stage Giro 2022

Stage		Type	Stage	Final
Stage 9			458	296
Stage 20			392	249
Stage 16			376	192
Stage 17			347	160
Stage 15			301	157
Stage 19			262	90
Stage 4			251	203
Stage 14			247	81
Stage 7			246	25
Stage 8			123	39
Stage 12			112	15
Stage 10			86	30
Stage 13			51	4
Stage 1			51	36
Stage 6			49	16
Stage 18			34	0
Stage 5			31	0
Stage 21 (ITT)			30	30
Stage 2 (ITT)			8	8
Stage 3			7	3
Stage 11			0	0

To put this into perspective we have tabulated the highest profile score victory for an example set of sprinters. Assuming he does not improve his climbing capabilities, Caleb Ewan has only have 7 chances for a stage victory, as stage 1 has a profile score for the final 20k of 36. For Fabio Jakobsen only 6 stages would suit him.

Table 2. Highest profileScore victory per rider

#	Rider	ProfileScore	Final
1	SAGAN Peter	198	91
2	PHILIPSEN Jasper	158	39
3	GREIPEL André	109	33
4	EWAN Caleb	92	33
5	CAVENDISH Mark	89	33
6	JAKOBSEN Fabio	83	28
7	MERLIER Tim	70	19
8	VAN POPPEL Danny	62	5

Climbing, climbing, climbing

The 54730 vertical meters is the 2nd most vertical meters since 2000, just 500 meters short of the most in 2020. However, the average profileScore per stage is this year 165, which was never this high. Since the beginning of the century the profileScore has increased on average by 50%.

Table 3. Vertical meters per year

Table 4. Avg. profile score p/stage since 2001

Table 5. Avg. profileScore per stage vs previous years

Year	Avg. profileScore	Vert. meters
2022	165	54730
2021	154	47497
2020	151	55249
2019	138	52039
2018	135	51187
2017	134	53983
2016	137	47130
2015	146	51517
2014	149	44890
2013	143	47851
2012	148	53220
2011	157	52360
2010	128	42530
2009	125	45376
2008	139	50008
2007	134	51515
2006	130	46188
2005	118	46591
2004	103	43120
2003	109	38354
2002	100	41274
2001	99	44981
2000	116	47075
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993

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toughest climbs

The climbs come thick and fast this Giro. Here are the toughest climbs according to the ProfileScore formula. Blockhaus tops the list, followed by Valico di Santa Christina and the Kolovrat. The Etna is also high up there and already appears in stage 4.

Table 6. Climbs with highest profile score

#	Climb	Stage	Profile Score	Length	%
1	Blockhaus	Stage 9	245	13.9	8.4
2	Valico di Santa Cristina	Stage 16	208	12.7	8.1
3	Kolovrat	Stage 19	206	10.4	8.9
4	Etna	Stage 4	203	23.3	5.9
5	Passo Fedaia	Stage 20	196	12.9	7.8
6	Passo del Mortirolo	Stage 16	188	12.7	7.7
7	Monterovere	Stage 17	184	8	9.6
8	Goletto di Cadino	Stage 16	183	19	6.2
9	Passo del Vetriolo	Stage 17	175	11.8	7.7
10	Verrogne	Stage 15	175	13.9	7.1
11	Passo San Pellegrino	Stage 20	154	9.6	8
12	Pila-Les Fleurs	Stage 15	145	12.2	6.9
13	Montagna Grande di Viggiano	Stage 7	141	6.1	9.6
14	Passo Lanciano	Stage 9	140	10.8	7.2
15	Passo Pordoi	Stage 20	130	11.9	6.6
16	Monte Sirino	Stage 7	122	32	3.9
17	Colle di Nava	Stage 13	117	10.1	6.8
18	Cogne	Stage 15	107	22.2	4.4
19	Rionero Sannitico	Stage 9	101	9	6.7
20	Teglio	Stage 16	97	5.1	8.7

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breakdown per week

It seems the standard format for any grand tour is to have the majority of the climbing in the 3rd week. This year the final week is incredible hard, with on average 3300 vertical meters per day in the final week. However, the Giro of 2012, won by Ryder Hesjedal had the most climbing in the final week with almost 25000 meters.

Table 7. Vertical meters per week

Week	Vertical meters	Avg. profile score	Distance
1	14443	92	1139
2	17307	154	1244
3	22980	249	1062
			3445

Table 8. Vertical meters in 3rd week

Year	Vertical meters
2022	22980
2021	17427
2020	24194
2019	22509
2018	19056
2017	23934
2016	16010
2015	22247
2014	19928
2013	17514
2012	24888
2011	20160
2010	18695
2009	18620
2008	17998
2007	16573
2006	20759
2005	17752
2004	17973
2003	10489
2002	13340
2001	16657
2000	17310

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