What hasn't changed is that the Giro is always hard in the mountains (some say harder than the Tour), but it's the rest of the Giro that leaves most GC riders spent after an intense, full-on effort in May. To win the Giro requires a full mental and physical effort, on par with what it takes to win the Tour.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Stage 19. The ascent to Tre Cime is one of the most brutal finishing climbs in cycling, especially after a stage with 5423 meters of altitude gain like this one. The climb is 3,7km long and 12,11% steep with a median altitude of 2077m.