Who Will Win The Giro?

Vincenzo Nibali wins Il Lombardia in 2015

Is Vincenzo Nibali in form? Can Mikel Landa limit his losses in the time trials? Will Alejandro Valverde prove consistent enough. Can Ilnur Zakarin carry the form from Romandie into the Giro and stay consistent for three weeks? Will Rafał Majka deliver the grand tour win he’s been aiming for? Is Rigoberto Uran back to his golden form of recent years? Six contenders in search of answers, it could be a Pirandello play but it’s the Giro d’Italia. This uncertainty is to be celebrated as it promises surprises between now and the end of the month.

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Team Victory Rankings

Mathew Hayman

Etixx-Quickstep still top the table but a charge by Movistar sees the Spanish team go from five to 18 wins since the last look at the rankings at the end of March. April has more race days than any other month with plenty of chances for teams big and small to start collecting the trophies and bouquets.

As well as the stats it’s a chance to review some wins, lob in some transfer gossip and explore the problems at Cofidis.

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Giro d’Italia Guide

Here’s the Giro d’Italia guide. There’s a concise preview of every stage, with my quick take on the day added. Use the links to find your way around the stage previews, the rules and the other points. From now until the end of the race you’ll find the page linked at the top of the screen, desktop users can look for “Giro” in the bar at the top and if you visit via your mobile then “Giro” on the drop-down menu.

There will be daily stage previews and more on the race and Italian cycling in the coming weeks.

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Giro iCal

Giro d'Italia

The Giro starts on Friday Just as there’s a season-long calendar of all the major men’s and women’s races to download, here’s the stage by stage Giro ical for your phone or electronic diary ahead of this Friday’s grande partenza in the Netherlands.

The calendar file proves surprisingly popular for each grand tour. It lists each stage along with the distance and a stellar rating. The Giro awards stars to each stage to indicate the difficulty or importance, from one to five stars for the biggest days.

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The Team Tipping Point Theory

There’s plenty up in the air right now given the proposed UCI reforms, their rejection by ASO and all the uncertainty ahead but since this is about a theory, let’s run with it. The idea is that if 18 teams or less apply for the 18 World Tour spots then all is well but the moment another team applies the equilibrium is broke with consequences for teams, tactics and wages.

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Tuesday Shorts

Marcel Kittel won today’s stage of the Tour de Romandie, hanging on over the climbs when other sprinters were dropped. It puts him at the top of the individual rankings table with eight wins this year.

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Tour de Romandie Preview

Tour de Romandie

Over millennia many have believed gods live atop volcanoes. Some cycling fans may perpetuate this given the amount of star riders who spend their time living on top of El Teide and Mount Etna. It’s becoming normal these days for riders to spend weeks at altitude before racing once and returning to altitude again. For several reasons this week’s Tour de Romandie has become a rare meeting point for many grand tour contenders.

Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Nairo Quintana, Tejay van Garderen, Richie Porte, Simon Špilak, Ilnur Zakarin, Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, Miguel Angel Lopez, Mathias Frank, Rui Costa, Tom Dumoulin, Rafał Majka… that’s just a few of the names in contention. With this in mind a quick look at the route and contenders.

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The Classics Revelations

Who were the revelations of the spring classics this year? Starting thinking about this and you might catch yourself asking if there were any revelations at all. The longer the spring classics went on the longer the wait for a neo-pro to impress. The 2016 classics have been more about confirmations than revelations but there were some surprises along the way.

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The Moment Liège-Bastogne-Liège Was Won

The last of the Ardennes classics gets decided by a cobbled climb. Michael Albasini has powered up the Rue Naniot with 2.5km to go and Rui Costa, Samuel Sanchez and Wout Poels are going to get across while Romain Bardet and Arnold Jeannesson will not. Albasini’s move and Poel’s efforts to get across were the moment the race was won.

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Liège-Bastogne-Liège Preview

The last of the spring classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is a race of transition. Part Belgian classic, part-mountain stage and a rare chance to see the grand tour specialists go all-in for one day over a tough course. There are ten marked climbs, countless more rises and a new cobbled climb right before the finish.

Alejandro Valverde is the obvious pick as he hopes to double-up his Flèche Wallonne win but this is a harder race to control and bad weather could make the race wilder still. Here’s the usual preview with the route, contenders, ratings, TV times and more.

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