We’ll return to the politics, propaganda, business, appearance fees, anti-doping tribunals and more in the coming days but it’s sometimes important to remember the Giro is a bike race too. It begins with a time trial through the streets of Jerusalem and already the contenders for the overall classification in three weeks’ time face a big test of their form. For others it’s the chance to win big, to take the stage and wear the maglia rosa for several days.
Who is going to win the Giro d’Italia? It’d be boring if we all knew today and hopefully the race brings a few surprises along the way. Here’s a closer look at the contenders for the maglia rosa ahead of the start on Friday.
Here’s a simple and accessible Giro d’Italia guide which starts on Friday. There’s a concise preview of every stage below as well as explainers on the rules for the mountains and points competitions; TV guide and more.
Three weeks to the Giro d’Italia and if the start itself feels like a stunt too far there’s still a race behind it so here’s a quick look at where the contenders are at. The Tour of the Alps runs from Monday to Friday next week and will give us a better look at their form so ahead of all of this here’s the chance to look back at results, issues, contractual concerns and more.
All roads lead to Rome and the route of the 2018 Giro d’Italia was presented late last year with a course going from Israel to the Italian capital. Here are some notes on the course.
In the past the blog has opened with some predictions for the year ahead but forecasts so far out inevitably go wrong so instead here’s a collection of known things which look promising…
How was the Giro for you? With hindsight the “fight for pink” to borrow the race’s awkward strapline wasn’t vintage stuff. Tom Dumoulin was climbing so well he kept Nairo Quintana within seconds on the Blockhaus and took minutes from him in the time trials and if it wasn’t for the imbroglio over his bowels on the Umbrailpass then he would have cruised to the win. But circumstances combined to give Quintana a shot on the final mountain stage where he, Pinot and Nibali and others put Dumoulin on the spot.
The Vuelta a España climbs La Pandera tomorrow. It’s one of several new climbs in the race that are gradually making a name for themselves because of the Vuelta’s spotlight and in time they will become destinations for more than the locals.
La Pandera? It all began thanks to a local teacher who discovered the road was open and decided to visit and thought it was so hard they just had to tell the Vuelta…
The winning moment? It’s hard to distil three weeks of racing into one instance, the story of so many roads, places characters into one snapshot but Tom Dumoulin’s stage win at Oropa stands out. He didn’t just control his rivals, he beat them on their terrain and took a prestigious stage win while wearing the maglia rosa.
