Today’s stage of the Giro doesn’t look like a thriller but ride the route and there are plenty of tales along the way, especially at the finish in Reggio Emilia where the city’s sports arena, the Mapei stadium, is a reminder of Italian cycling’s last glory days.
A hilly day in the Apennines with hardly a metre of flat road but it’s not mountainous like we’ll see in the Alps. Many riders will have ticked today for the breakaway.
A time trial to reshape the overall classification. Tom Dumoulin can ride in the race lead and we’ll see how Nairo Quintana can limit the damage.
The opening week of the Giro is done and time to look back in order to help look ahead. It’s been a lively week of racing, perhaps with some dull moments if you followed the stages live on TV for too long but otherwise the outcomes have been varied and thanks to the Blockhaus the race has been shaken up.
After a coastal procession the second half of the stage is much harder with its climbs, some categorised and some not, as well as twisting roads and all before a tricky uphill finish.
There are hours and hours of the Giro d’Italia on TV and some of the upcoming stages will be shown live from start to finish, a novelty for 2017. The Tour de France will have every single stage live on TV from start to finish too. It’s great but is it too much?
A long stage that’s likely to end in a sprint finish but beware the crosswinds that are forecast for most of the day.
A spicy finish with hills and hairpins lend this stage an air of Milan-Sanremo but the final two kilometres are all uphill so even if there’s a sprint we’ll see some different names in the mix.
A hilly start to encourage a breakaway before a flat run along the coast and then a circuit around the city of Messina, birthplace of Vincenzo Nibali, and a likely sprint finish awaits.
