Brutal Monte Zoncolan the stage finish at today's Giro d'Italia
Brutal mountain top finish at the Monte Zoncolan on Stage 14 on Saturday May 19
The torturous climb has an average gradient of 12% for 10km, but with gut-wrenching sections of gradients in excess of 15%.
The race will reach this point on Saturday the 18th of May, during stage 14 of the Italian Grand Tour. The rriders will face the climb of 10.1 kilometres, reaching more than 1,200 metres of height. Stage 14 features over 4,000m of climbing.
The Monte Zoncolan was first used in the Giro in 2003 when Italian rider Gilberto Simoni took the victory. Four years later, the Giro came back to the ascent and Gilberto Simoni won again, temporarily giving the climb the nickname of Monte Simoni.
In 2010, the peloton climbed the mountain for the third time and Ivan Basso took the victory and went on to second in overall General Classification. The next year, the climb to the Zoncolan had a new winner, Igor Anton, who beat Alberto Contador, the eventual winner of that year's edition.
The last time that Monte Zoncolan featured in the Giro was in 2014 when Australian Michael Rogers took the victory on the penultimate stage and Colombian Nairo Quintana secured his overall win.
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