From the Dolomites… to a spreadsheet. Promotion and relegation isn’t such a big topic this season as the mens’ teams are at the start of a three year period although trends are emerging already. This year womens’ World Tour licences are up for grabs and this is arguably a bigger deal as there’s a wider difference between World Tour insiders and outsiders.
Primož Roglič rides up Monte Lussari on his way to the stage win and the maglia rosa. If you’d been away for three weeks and glanced at the final results you’d spot Evenepoel didn’t finish and see the other pre-race pick won. Only it wasn’t so simple…
The final stage and once the peloton has arrived by plane in the morning, there’s a quick trip to the beach followed by a criterium around Rome.
A mountain time trial to settle things. Geraint Thomas leads the race and could well the stage today but his slender lead means the maglia rosa is still up for grabs. The order of the podium can be settled, likewise the other places in the top-10. Primož Roglič hardly needs any encouragement but this is right on the Slovenian border.
The tappone we’ve been waiting for, a huge amount of vertical gain in a short space, we’ll see if this is enough to reshape the top three overall and more. There’s always Monte Lussari tomorrow to settle things.
The first of two days in the Dolomites. If this was a music festival, today would see the band playing their new heartfelt acoustic tunes to an expectant audience who really want tomorrow’s Dolomite greatest hits, the stadium rock tracks like the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
A trip out of the mountains to the sea. The profile screams a sprint stage but the mix of riders left could change all of this.
The Giro resumes after a rest day and we begin the backloaded final week with the first of three summit finishes.
As if it’s not been damp enough, an autumnal feel today with a course borrows, or rather copies the Tour of Lombardy, including the lively finish through Bergamo’s citadel… but there’s a good chance the sun’s out today.
