This year’s Giro might have only one solo time trial but today’s stage compensates with a route so long and challenging that it’s worth two time trials, one flat 30km effort followed by another 30km in the hills.
If the overall classification is still a jumble of jigsaw pieces waiting to be put into place this will give us a better picture. The Alps start tomorrow.
For years Jacques Anquetil didn’t know what to do. As much as he’d win he couldn’t beat the popularity of Raymond Poulidor. The more Anquetil beat Poulidor, the more popular “Pou-Pou” became. The public love an underdog and sometimes Poulidor wasn’t beaten by a superior rider, he was undone by misfortune. He would have won where it not for some random incident like a puncture or a crash. While Anquetil avoided potholes or stayed upright his rival was wiping out but also becoming increasingly popular.
Decade after decade cycling has celebrated the “moral winner”, the rider who should have won but was thwarted by the cruelty of sport.
If a picture says a thousand words the profile above says enough: a day for the sprinters as the race heads to the seaside resort of Jesolo. But this Giro brings a surprise every day and the odds on a breakaway surviving are higher than usual. The biggest obstacle is the tricky finish, described in the roadbook as “sprinkled” with roundabouts.
Look closely at the finish on the profile because the race finishes on Monte Berico where the road rears up to 11% just before the line. Will this be where Fabio Aru give it everything to take over the race lead from Alberto Contador?
We’re halfway through the Giro and so far fortune favours the brave with over half the stages rewarding breakaway riders. The stage features laps of a tricky finishing circuit with some steep climbs. Will Richie Porte go on a revenge rampage?
The Giro swings north with a parade up the Adriatic coastline and an inevitable bunch sprint. The finish includes two late intermediate sprints and some cobbles in the last two kilometres.
The Giro d’Italia opened with a team time trial and for the whole week Astana and Tinkoff-Saxo have kept going in the formation. Day after day the bunch has been driven to exhaustion by a line of sky blue or fluo-yellow jerseys. But for all their efforts there’s little to show with Alberto Contador and Fabio Aru just three seconds apart.
Alberto Contador’s shoulder has been the preoccupation since his crash but what about his legs? His attack on the road to Abetone wasn’t the usual heavyweight blow to his rivals and he was quickly reeled in by Fabio Aru. Meanwhile Richie Porte has covered everything and sits in the perfect position, assuming his off-day doesn’t arrive.
A day for a breakaway with tough terrain all the way to the finish to disrupt any chase. But there’s no script and Astana might fancy another tug of war with Tinkoff-Saxo. Unlikely but the hilly course as means there’s uncertainty.
If Wednesday’s uphill ride Abetone had a lively finish it was short. Today’s arrival at Campitello Matese is a genuine summit finish with 13km at 7%, enough to scatter the field into small groups. Whoever takes the maglia rosa here can hope to hold it for a week.
A marathon stage with a strength-sapping uphill finish. Of all the stages to ride after your shoulder has been dislocated and taped up this has to be a tough one. At least there’s no strade bianche portions for Alberto Contador to endure.