The first serious mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia is shortened from 199 kilometre to less than 80 kilometre, but the final climbs of the day are still to be done. That led us to the following question.
Figure 1.
| Distance | Average timegap | N stages |
|---|---|---|
| <100 km | 15 | |
| 100-125 km | 22 | |
| 125-150 km | 60 | |
| 150-175 km | 118 | |
| 175-200 km | 76 | |
| 200+ km | 26 |
Although a quick and dirty analysis, we see some significant findings. The overall line is that it seems that the timegaps in shorter stages are much higher than longer stages. In mountain stages shorter than 100 kilometre, the average time loss is 58 seconds. In stages over 200 kilometre, the average time loss is 0:22, 36 seconds less. An interesting follow up research would be what the reasons are for this difference. The difference in fatigue could play a key role, where a long stage causes more fatigue and mitigates the difference in quality between riders.
Figure 2. Last mountain stages under 125 kilometre.
| Year | Race | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Giro d'Italia | Stage 13 | 74.6 | |
| 2021 | Itzulia Basque Country | Stage 6 | 111.9 | |
| 2021 | Paris - Nice | Stage 7 | 119.2 | |
| 2020 | La Vuelta ciclista a España | Stage 12 | 109.4 | |
| 2019 | La Vuelta ciclista a España | Stage 9 | 94.4 | |
| 2019 | Tour de France | Stage 20 | 59.5 | |
| 2019 | Tour de France | Stage 19 | 89 | |
| 2019 | Tour de France | Stage 14 | 111 | |
| 2019 | Tour de Suisse | Stage 6 | 120.2 | |
| 2019 | Critérium du Dauphiné | Stage 8 | 113.5 |
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