The Mortirolo has been added to stage 15 of the 2024 Giro d’Italia after local authorities in Switzerland declined to authorise the race’s planned border crossing en route to Livigno.
The Alpine stage from Manerba del Garda was originally slated to cross into Switzerland in order to tackle the 18km ascent of Forcola di Livigno before taking in another 8km climb to the finish in Livigno.
“Keeping Alpine passes such as the Forcola di Livigno safe would impose a disproportionate burden. For this reason, the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Mobility of Graubünden (Switzerland) did not accept the proposed passage of the race,” read a statement from RCS Sport on Monday.
The alteration means that the Giro will remain in Italy for the duration of stage 15 and traverse the Mortirolo before taking in a different approach to the 2,385m-high finish at Livigno. The stage remains 220km in length.
The revised route will see the gruppo climb the category 3 ascent of Lodrino and the category 2 Colle San Zeno in the opening 64km as planned. The race then takes in the Passo Mortirolo. Although tackled via the gentler approach from Edolo, the category 1 ascent is still a demanding one, climbing for 12km and reaching pitches of 16%.
After descending to Grosio, the race proceeds towards Livigno with the category 1 Passo di Foscagno (14.6 km at 6.5%), whose summit comes just under 9km to the finish. A short, sharp descent follows before the 4.7km ascent to the finish via the Passo di Eira.
The finale is a wicked one, with an average gradient in excess of 10% across the last two kilometres and gradients of 19% on the approach to the line.
Together with the time trial to Desenzano del Gardastage the previous afternoon, stage 15 to Livigno forms a key double-header for the general classification riders at the end of the Giro’s second week.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) will line out for his Giro debut as the overwhelming favourite, a status he underlined with his astonishing solo win at Strade Bianche on Saturday.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R), Daniel Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), Wout van Aert and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease A Bike) are among the riders to have confirmed their participation in the race, which gets underway in Turin on May 4.
