It is first of all a painting of light. Aesthetically, the San Luca coast is magnificent with its climb that runs along the 666 ochre arches of the road. The higher the road goes, the more sublime the view of the beautiful and old-fashioned Renato Dall’Ara stadium of FC Bologna. In Bologna, this climb, often taken by the Giro riders, is described as a link between the urban center and the surrounding countryside.
The summit of Monte Guardia, with the sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca, is famous throughout the city. And it is known throughout cycling Italy because it is systematically on the program of the Tour of Emilia Romagna. And it was also the scene of the prologue of the Giro d’Italia 2019, won by the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, now at Red Bull.
Primoz Roglic (then still with Jumbo Visma) on the coast of San Luca, during the Tour of Emilia-Romagna in 2023. Sirotti/Icon Sport
After a complicated first stage between Florence and Rimini, the organizers, neither cruel nor sadistic, but keen to dynamite the entry Tour, therefore included this very indigestible coast on the menu. And it will go back to the plate twice. “It’s a climb of around two kilometers that the peloton will climb twice,” confirms Thierry Gouvenou, the technical director of the Tour de France. It is also very rare to do a loop twice during the Tour. On average, San Luca is 10.6% but we have much more complicated passages. In particular, a portion of one hundred meters at 20%! »
It will rub to place itself
For Remco Evenepoel, interviewed on the subject Thursday at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, San Luca is “a pretty hard bump. But I’m not sure it will make a big difference. We will start with an effort of around eight minutes each time. This will have nothing to do with the length of the efforts in the Col du Galibier, for example. But it will be a dangerous step to waste time. You will have to survive. »
On this climb, the complicated part will start from the first meter. “From the foot of the hill, it becomes difficult,” confirms Thierry Gouvenou. The positioning will be crucial: you must not exceed thirtieth place otherwise there is no chance of achieving anything. Even more than the day before, where the last climb was too far from the finish, I imagine this time the favorites for the final victory will attack. Because at the top, there will only be twelve kilometers left. Not counting a final little bump of five hundred meters. Then, we will head into the center of Bologna. It seems obvious that we will have breaks. First a skimming from below in the first climb and probably an explosion in the second.”
If it is always complicated to play the game of favorites on this type of terrain, it is likely that the tactics will be different between those, among the leaders, who want to lose little time and those who want to gain a psychological advantage.
“This climb will be a bit like the end of last year’s first stage in the Basque Country with the Piké hill,” hopes Thierry Gouvenou. “For me, it’s terrain that’s very favourable to the characteristics of Tadej Pogačar, who should have a great time. For Vingegaard, it could be a bit too explosive.”
