The uphill time trial at the Giro d'Italia had riders getting inventive

Cor Vos

Looking back at five years of Giro d'Italia time trials, there have been some flat, some rolling, some purely uphill. The 2021 edition was the last time the race featured an uphill time trial, and on that occasion, Anna van der Breggen opted to ride her time trial bike, as did Elisa Longo Borghini, Elise Chabbey, and Demi Vollering. Many riders, including Niamh Fisher-Black, Lizzie Deignan, and Marianne Vos, chose their road setups.

The time trial on Tuesday was similar, with riders lining up on a variety of different combinations of equipment. Van der Breggen copied her 2021 setup, and her result as well, but the ITT world champion went with a standard road bike.

No, it’s not 2021. Yes, that is Anna van der Breggen in pink.Five years after winning an uphill time trial at the 2021 Giro, Van der Breggen did it again on Tuesday.Escape CollectiveAbby Mickey

What made the choice for the riders even more impactful was that the course wasn't purely uphill. After rolling off the start ramp, the riders had about 5 km of rolling roads that trended towards flat before they reached the 5.3 km ascent that averaged 9% and included at least seven switchbacks.

After they crested the climb, the riders had under 2 km to the finish on a road that still averaged 3.5%. Riding a time trial bike to optimize gaining time on the flatter sections wasn't the wrong call, especially for riders like Van der Breggen, who knew they could maneuver the time trial bike up the climb. Someone like Reusser would have known she could still be aero on the road bike, but that the climb might be where she was weaker compared to Van der Breggen and Vollering.

For the two GC contenders for Lidl-Trek, road bikes with ITT extensions were the decision. It was one made with comfort in mind, allowing them to get into the aero position when the road permitted, but also to feel the most confident on the climb, where they could make the most impact.

What was truly impressive about Van der Breggen's performance was that she remained in the aero position most of the climb, whereas Vollering, one of the top favourites coming into the time trial and the Giro overall, barely utilized her aero position once the flat section was over.

We saw a road bike with a disc, road bikes with time trial extensions, and even one bike change at the base of the climb.

1st - Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) - 27:00:55

Van der Breggen opted for the TT frame and shallow wheels, balancing aero and weight. The S-Works Shiv TT was rolling on the Roval Alpinist CLX wheelset. She stuck with a 2x drivetrain and what seems to be a 10-36t SRAM Red cassette. Van der Breggen was one of the few riders to carry a bottle for the uphill TT, which may have been for fueling and cooling, or it may have been empty, just there to act as a fairing.

2nd - Marlen Reusser (Movistar) - +01:04

"I missed the moment to go really deep today," Reusser said of her performance. "It felt too good."

"If you are slower, of course, you think you should have chosen the other bike, so when I was watching, I was thinking I should have chosen the other bike. But it's always easy to say it's because of this or this. Maybe it was smart with the time trial bike, but I wouldn't say if I had the TT bike, I would have won."

Reusser's all-black Canyon Aeroad is a different frame than the one she was using in previous stages, going without paint to save weight. She also ditched the Zipp 454 NSW wheels used in Stage 3 in favour of the lighter, shallower Zipp 202 NSW model. Most other riders on Gobik-sponsored teams were riding long-sleeve TT suits, but Reusser opted for the short-sleeve version.

3rd - Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) - +01:10

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