A time trial stage and in the absence of Filippo Ganna it feels like the big question is Remco Evenepoel’s winning margin; the other is the order of the other GC contenders and the gaps between them.
Evenepoel is the obvious pick but this stage will show us what health he’s in after his crashes this week. It’s the high point for him on paper as after today he’ll be racing on terrain where his rivals will feel they have the advantage, especially after yesterday’s finish in Fossombrone.
An intriguing stage, a day borrowed from Tirreno-Adriatico. This stage doesn’t look tough as the y-axis of vertical gain doesn’t look fierce but it’s harder than it seems in the finish. After yesterday’s huddled finish we’ll see if the big names attack but they’ll have tomorrow’s time time on their minds.
A summit finish, and a high altitude one too but only the final five kilometres of the climb are selective. With luck we’ll get two races for the price of one, a breakaway to contest the stage win and the GC contenders in action soon after but Jumbo-Visma and others might want to mow down the breakaway for the time bonuses so they can start to take back time on Evenepoel.
Out and back from Napoli, today’s stage should be a lot like yesterday’s one, but drier and hopefully with fewer crashes.
A for ammiraglia. You say team car, in Italian the word is ammiraglia, a naval word that means “flag ship”, which sounds both superior and poetic.
B for Bartali… and Coppi. The pair of riders encapsulate plenty, a golden age and a sporting rivalry that went well beyond antics on the road, they were also opposing characters from different regions with different styles: Bartali the pious Tuscan, Coppi as urbane and modern. Some of the differences were exaggerated and caricatured but that’s the very essence of a rivalry.
C for Campagnolo. The component maker began when Tulio Campagnolo found undoing wing nuts with his frozen hands and invented the quick release lever and in time his firm became a leading component manufacturer. Today though only one World Tour team in Ag2r Citroën rides Campagnolo.
It’s only the fourth stage and Tuesday but here’s a mountain stage with a tough final climb to make today one for the GC riders.
An intriguing stage. The action should be on the flanks of Monte Vulture, an extinct volcano. But who will control the stage? The sprinters’ teams cannot and the GC teams won’t rush either.
A flat stage for the sprinters. They have few opportunities in this race so this is an important stage for them and their teams.
Welcome to the start of three weeks of daily previews. Time trials are a theme of this year’s race as there are three of them and today is a crucial stage, this is not a warm-up antipasto prologue, it’s a hearty main course.
