Strava stats reveal the huge efforts behind stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia 2021

The gravel of stage 11 at the Giro d’Italia 2021 did not fail to disappoint, as the fight for the maglia rosa exploded into life, with Egan Bernal once again emerging as the strongest contender. 

After the stage, riders have shared their stats on Strava, revealing how demanding the unpaved roads of Tuscany really were, with Filippo Ganna, Emanual Buchmann, and Attila Valter amongst those sharing their power files. 

Stage winner Mauro Schmid (Qhubeka-Assos) and race leader Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) didn’t share their full power files online, but thanks to insights from cycling data company Velon we can gain some insight into Bernal’s ride as he extended his advantage. 

In the final 70km of the stage, the Colombian averaged a formidable 295 watts, which equates to around 4.8 watts per kilogram for the lightweight climber, or 335w weighted average power.

Into the final 13km Bernal held 350w, or 370 weighted. 

That carried Bernal to the finish with an average speed of 38.4km/h for the final one hour and 50 minutes of racing, as he powered away from rivals Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) and others. 

Stage 11 of the Giro burst into life on the first gravel sector - a nine kilometre stretch which came 90km into the 162km stage from Perugia to Montalcino.

Ineos Grenadiers powerhouse Filippo Ganna was the main antagonist as he set the pace on the unpaved roads, with the world time trial champion holding 376w (4.5w/kg)  for 12 minutes on the Strava segment. Ganna did set the fastest time on the first gravel sector as he split the race to pieces, but his time was matched by Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), who held 316w (4.8w/kg). 

The final gravel sector of the race came around 15km from the finish, a 4.91km-long unpaved section that gradually rose up towards the finish. 

EF Education-Nippo rider Ruben Guerreiro  was the fastest rider on Strava during the final sector, as he pushed a huge pace in the GC group for his team leader Hugh Carthy. 

>>> Dan Martin says 'cycling is not worth the risk' after losing six minutes to Egan Bernal on gravel of Giro d'Italia 2021

The Portuguese pro pushed 417w (6.4w/kg) for 7-57 on the segment, topping the Strava leaderboard ahead of Emanual Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), who pushed 341w or 5.7w/kg and finished one second slower.