Stage 6 – PONTE - ROCCARASO (AREMOGNA) – 157 km
The first summit finish comes after a short yet full mountain stage. After the first 20km on flat roads, the route starts to climb along easy to mild gradients for almost 40km, including a deceptive false-flat drag before the ascent. The route then descends along roads that are wide, yet worn out at points. From km 75 to km 135, the stage course runs along wide, fast and mostly straight roads, with a number of tunnels in the final stretch. After the Castel di Sangro intermediate sprint, the route takes in the final climb leading to the finish.
Final kms
The final climb is 17km long, with an average 4.8% gradient. The first part is quite steep, with a short 12% stretch, followed by a deceptively false-flat drag (across the centre of Roccaraso). Seven kilometres before the finish, the route starts to climb again with variable slopes ranging from 4% to 7%. The final kilometre has a 7% gradient. The home stretch, running entirely uphill, is 120m long, on a 6m wide asphalt road.
POINTS OF INTEREST
PONTE – km 0
The Abbey of Santa Anastasia, dating back to the 8th century, was restored in 1980 and declared a national monument. Four round corner towers are all that survive of an old castle dating back to around 1000 AD.
TELESE TERME – km 15 and CERRETO SANNITA (intermediate sprint) – km 25
Next are Telese Terme, a spa centre with curative waters, and Cerreto Sannita (intermediate sprint), a major pottery centre.
PIETRAROJA – km 42 and BOCCA DELLA SELVA (KOM) – km 54
In Pietraroja there is the Paleolab, an important geo-paleontologic park with its museum, featuring outstanding fossils, including the fossil of a young dinosaur with some internal organs still intact.
BOJANO – km 82
The majestic Matese massif dominates the first section of the stage. The route then drops into Bojano, the main centre of the Matese area.
CAMPITELLO MATESE intersection (feed zone) – km 87
This renowned ski resort has been featured in the Giro d’Italia route multiple times. The feed zone is at the Campitello Matese intersection.
CASTELPETROSO junction – km 98
The route enters the province of Isernia, passing the majestic neo-Gothic Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Addolorata di Castelpetroso, patroness saint of the region.
ISERNIA – km 109
Isernia is an ancient city with a unique urban centre on two different levels: the historic district on a rocky travertine spur, and the tidy, modern part of the city in a more elevated position. Main sights include an elegant 14-century fountain, Fontana Fraterna and the Cathedral with its imposing bell tower.
Isernia has hosted two Giro d’Italia stage finishes: in 1974 and 1989, with victory going to Fraccaro and to Gayant, respectively.
CASTEL DI SANGRO (intermediate sprint) – km 138
Castel di Sangro, thanks to its strategic position, is also known as “the gateway to Abruzzo”. Major landmarks include the Basilica of S. Maria Assunta, the “Museo Civico Aufidenate” (archaeological museum), a museum of fly fishing, a wildlife park and some noble mansions. Castel di Sangro was damaged during WWII, sitting on the Germans’ “Gustav line” set up to prevent the Allied forces from advancing from Salerno.
ROCCARASO – km 147
The road starts to climb towards Roccaraso with gradients variable but not extreme. Past the intersection leading to the lovely villages of Pescocostanzo and Rivisondoli, begins the climb towards the finish. Roccaraso was heavily bombed during WWII, and received the Gold Medal for military bravery. Pietransieri is the site of a Nazis massacre. 128 inhabitants who were accused of helping the Resistance fighters were killed.
ROCCARASO Aremogna (KOM) – km 157
The finish line is set at Rifugio Aremogna (summit finish and 2nd category KOM), on the Aremogna plateau, in the municipal territory of Roccaraso. The plateau, at an altitude of 1500-1600 metres, hosts one of the best-equipped and busiest ski areas in the Apennines, ands has good rail connections with Naples and Rome. Roccaraso has hosted many winter sports events and a number of Giro d’Italia stage finishes, with big-name winners: in the first finish (1952) Albani took victory. In 1953, Fausto Coppi nailed a stage win ahead of Albani and Luison Bobet; the Belgian Walter Boucquet won in 1964; in 1976 it was Fabrizio Fabbri. In 1980, Bernard Hinault won a stage ahead of “the ferret”, Miro Panizza who grabbed the Maglia Rosa and never let go of it until the Stelvio stage, when he handed it over to his French rival for his first Giro win. In 1987, victory went to World Champion Moreno Argentin, ahead of Chioccioli.
TV COVERAGE
TV coverage of the 99th Giro d’Italia will reach all four corners of the world: 184 countries will see the Corsa Rosa on 29 different networks, 24 of them live.
ITALY
RAI – Radio Televisione Italiana, the longstanding host broadcaster, provides extensive coverage of the Corsa Rosa. The action is live in three separate programmes: “Prima diretta” ("Pre-Live") on Rai Sport 1, “Giro in diretta” ("Giro Live") at 15:10 - 16:15 in simulcast on Rai 3 and Rai HD, and “Giro all’arrivo” ("Giro on the Finish Line"), with the last hour of racing until 17:15. The traditional post-race analysis programme "Processo alla Tappa" ("The Stage on Trial") ends at 18:00.
When the race reaches Italy, the stage start will be covered in Rai Sport 1's "Giro Mattina" ("Giro Morning"), showing the signing in ceremony, with interviews, the start of racing, and local colour. The strand "Journey through the Italy of the Giro d'Italia" will show historical and cultural anecdotes and features.
For viewers unable to watch the stage live in the afternoon, the evening show TGiro ("Giro Bulletin") will tell the story of the day's racing from 20:00 on Rai Sport 1, followed by Giro Notte ("Late Night Giro"), with 90’ of stage highlights from 22:45 on Rai Sport 2. The Corsa Rosa will be streamed on the website www.rai.tv.
AROUND THE WORLD
In Italy the Giro can also be seen live on Eurosport, broadcasting to 53 countries across Europe from 14:15, with race commentary in 19 languages.
In France, the stages are live exclusively on beINSports, with reports and features from the scene.
The Dutch public broadcaster NOS is showing three hours of live racing of the first three stages in the Netherlands, as well as the final 90 minutes of the weekend stages in Italy, plus daily highlights of every stage.
Free to air race coverage is live in Flemish via VRT, in Danish on TV2 Denmark, in Switzerland via SRG SSR, in Spain via Teledeporte and EITB and in Kazakhstan, in highlights, on Kaz Sports.
The Corsa Rosa is live in Latin America on ESPN, with Portuguese commentary in Brazil, English commentary in the Caribbean and Spanish across the rest of South America. Colombian fans have a wide range of options, with live coverage on RCN and Señal Colombia. TDN is showing the race live in Mexico and Central America. beIN Sports is covering the Giro in the United States of America and RDS is providing French-language coverage in Canada.
The Giro d’Italia is also on the small screen in the Middle East and North Africa thanks to live coverage on beIN Sports, while in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa the Giro is on the Supersport channels.
In Asia, the Corsa Rosa in available in 16 countries via Eurosport Asia Pacific; J Sports is covering the race live and exclusive in Japan. LeTV is doing the same in China.
Race highlights are on FPT Telecom in Vietnam, while the Thai public can enjoy the key parts of the stage on both True Visions and NOW26.
The huge interest that Australia has shown in the Giro continues in 2016: SBS is showing all 21 stage live, while Fox Sports is showing highlights. In New Zealand, Sky is showing the race live and in highlights.
Finally, the Corsa Rosa is being shown worldwide via SNTV - Sports News Television and Sport24, the 24 hour sports channel for airline and cruise ship passengers.
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