Giro d’Italia 2020: Strava stats reveal new fastest times set on Mount Etna ascent

Riders took on a new ascent of the volcano and the power stats are impressive 

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Giro d’Italia peloton tackled the familiar landscape of Mount Etna on stage three, but this time from a different direction.

Strava stats from the first mountain stage early in the Italian Grand Tour show some huge performances on the iconic volcano. 

The ascent from the north east of Etna is an 18.6km-long climb with an average gradient of 6.7 per cent

The stage was one by EF Pro Cycling’s Ecuadorian champion Jonathan Caidedo, who took victory from the day’s breakaway.

Unfortunately Caicedo hasn’t uploaded his data to Strava, but third-place finisher on the stage Harm Vanhoucke has share his ride on the social media for athletes. 

Lotto-Soudal rider Vanhoucke is now the fastest rider on the Strava segment for the ascent of Mount Etna from the north east.

The Belgian set a new fastest time of 47-24, with an average speed of 23.3km/h for the 18.44km-long climb. 

Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) is now second, with a time of 47-53 as he rode to a tenth-place finish on the stage to pull himself back into the GC race. 

The fastest rider to share his power data on Strava is Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck - Quick-Step, who is the third fastest on the leaderboard with his time of 48-28.

Masnada pushed 348 watts for the duration of the climb (5.3 watts per kilogram), which carried him to 16th on the stage. 

Britain’s James Knox (also Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was strong on the climb, as he pushed 333w for 48-43 on the climb, good enough for 22nd place on the stage.  

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Knox is the sixth fastest rider on Strava.  

The previous fastest time had been set in May this year by British rider Calum Johnston, who pushed 241w for a time of 1-05-55. 

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Alex Ballinger

Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers.  Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.