Giro d'Italia 2016 Previews
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Stage by stage previews of the Giro d'Italia 2016.
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Guillestre to Sant'Anna di Vinadio
Saturday 27th May, 134kms
The final mountain stage, the final chance to change the GC. And what a final stage this should be - over 4,300m of climbing and descending with three Cat 1 climbs and a Cat 3 climb to finish. It's a short stage though at just 134kms, so we should see fireworks from the very start.
Cuneo to Torino
Sunday 28th May, 163kms
The final act in a wild and wonderful Giro. One last chance for the sprinters - or will it be a repeat of 2015 when Iljo Keise and Luke Durbridge held off the pack to deny the sprinters in Milan. Third that day was one Roger Kluge who held off the sprinters in stage 17, can he do it again?
Pinerolo to Risoul
Friday 27th May, 162kms
Here we go then! In to the Alps and a brutally hard stage which contains the Cima
Coppi at the top of the massive Colle Dell'Angelo. It's the first of two crucial stages in the high mountains, two days that could reshuffle the entire top ten again - can they finally crack Kruijswijk?
Muggio to Pinerolo
Thursday 26th May, 240kms
The fourth last day sees them tackle the longest stage of the race at 240kms and it's almost a mirror image of stage 17 with an opening flat 175kms followed by a lumpy finish with the climb of the Pramartino and a tricky hill in the finishing town that is almost imperceptible on the profile.
Molveno to Cassano d'Adda
Wed. 25th May, 196kms
After a day for the climbers, the remaining sprinters in the race finally get a chance to have some fun again. The opening 40kms are a little lumpy, including crossing a Cat 4 bump with 100kms gone, but from then on it's a flat run to the finish in Cassano d'Adda.
Bressanone to Andalo
Tuesday 24th May, 138kms
Back after a rest day, and boy did some of the riders need a rest. The race has been blown to pieces and turned on its head in the last few days, with Kruijswijk taking control on stages 14 and 15. Nibali has had two days to forget and the gains Chaves made on 14 he gave up in the ITT on Sunday.
Castelrotto to Alpe Di Siusi
Sunday 22th May, 10.9kms
This could well be the decisive stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, a nasty mountain time trial that takes them from Castelrotto to Alpe Di Siusi. There's 1800m of almost flat roads before the road starts rising, and rises all the way to the finish for the next 9kms.
Alpago to Corvara
Saturday 21rd May, 210kms
After a tough day on the mountains on Friday, the riders now tackle the Queen stage on what is a brutally tough day in the saddle. 210kms long, with six categorised climbs and an uphill finish to boot in the Dolomites mountains, this could finally be the day that the GC men really come out to play.
Noale to Bibione
Thursday 19th May, 168kms
This preview is almost like a rest day for me with regards to describing the route and profile - its flat and boring! It's also pretty short too at only 168kms, so for the GC men it's sure to feel like a rest day too. The only complication comes with a tricky closing circuit in Bibione with its tight bends and roundabouts.
Palmonava to C. Del Fruili
Friday 20th May, 170kms
After a completely flat stage we have the polar opposite today with a stage that features two Cat 1 and two Cat 2 climbs and an M & M like profile. The opening two climbs will soften them up, the final two climbs come in quick succession inside the last 40kms and will provide an exciting climax to the stage.
Modena to Asolo
Wednesday 18th May, 227kms
After a day in the mountains it's back to flatter roads for stage 11, 200kms of flat roads in fact before they reach the final challenge of the lumpy hills on the approach to Asolo. It's the 3rd longest stage of the Giro at 227kms, and there will be some tired legs after that hard day in the hills the day before.
Campi Bisenzio to Sestola
Tuesday 17th May, 219kms
Rest day's over and what a nasty welcome back to racing the riders face with the second longest stage of the Giro at 219kms, a stage that has four categorised climbs including the summit finish to Sestola. There are plenty of other little hills along the way in between though and it should make for a very exciting stage.
Radda to Greve in Chianti
Sunday 15th May, 40.5kms
After eight stages of shadow boxing and a lots of funs for the sprinter types, things get real serious now with this long time trial through the hills and vineyards of the Chianti region. There's hardly a flat kilometre of road for the 40.5kms of the route, and we should see some sizeable gaps start to open between the main GC contenders.
Foligno to Arezzo
Sat 14th May, 186kms
After a day for the sprinters, stage 8 is a different matter entirely with a stage that is all about the 10km climb on the dirt road of the Alto di Poti, the top of which comes less than 20kms from the finish. They arrive in to the beautiful city of Arezzo with 32kms to go and pass the finish line before embarking on a loop that takes in the climb of the Alto di Poti.
Sulmona to Foligno
Friday 13th May, 211kms
Friday the 13th - will it be lucky for someone? The 3rd longest stage of the race takes them further up the middle of Italy and out of the worst of the Apennines on a rolling 'transition' stage that could well see a breakaway succeed or it could end in another bunch sprint like it did the last time the Giro came to Foligno in 2014.
Ponte to Roccaraso
Thursday 12th May, 157kms
The Giro tackles its first summit of the race as it heads further north and in to the mountains of the Apennine range which runs down the centre of Italy. A ski station during the winter, the riders will be hoping for better weather than they have faced lately in races like Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Romandy.
Praia a Mare to Benevento
Wed 11th May, 233kms
Things start to get a bit interesting now with a challenging stage that is the second longest of the Giro at 233kms (stage 18 is 11kms longer). The stage looks like one maybe for the breakaway with a 35km climb right from the start and an undulating course that ends with an uphill pull to the line for the last kilometre.
Catanzaro to Praia a Mare
Tuesday 10th May, 200kms
Following the rest-day transfer back to Italian soil, the race starts again on the most southern part of Italy with a stage that breaks the run of flat stages. It's a bumpy route that takes them up along the coast with occassional dips inland to take in some categorised climbs but is likely again to finish in a bunch finish.
Nijmegen to Arnhem
Sunday 8th May, 190kms
Stage 3 reverses the start and finish towns of stage 2 with the race starting in Nijmegen and finishing in Arnhem, taking in the flat lowlands of Holland, with the dangers the winds and the street furniture bring. We may see echelons and splits, but it's likely the stage wiil finish in a sprint, whether all the sprinters will be there or not is the question.
Saturday 7th May, 190kms
A flat run around Holland for 190kms, with nothing on the profile that should cause any problems to anyone it would seem. What you won't see on a profile though you might see on a weather forecast, particularly the wind forecast. The wind can really whip up around these parts and we could see plenty of echelons and possible splits.
A selection of other bets that caught my eye..
I've done the Favourites and who I think will win the Sprints jersey, the KOM jersey, the Young Riders jersey and the Team Classification. This page will just be a collection of other miscellaneous markets that I see bets I like, and I hope to add more bets to it as the race goes on.
Who will win the Red and Blue Jerseys?
Not only does the Giro have a very different and distinct leader's jersey compared to the ubiquitous yellow jerseys of so many other races, but it also has slightly unusual colours for the winners of the Mountains and Sprinters jerseys of the Giro. The leader of the sprints competition wears red, the leader of the Mountains a deep blue.
Vincenzo Nibali's season has been building up to this. Although impressive in winning the Tour of Oman on Green Mountain early in the season, his results have been fairly average since then to say the least. Those results will matter little though if it all comes together for Nibali and he hoists the spiral trophy in Turin in three weeks time.
Apeldoorn to Apeldoorn
Friday 6th May, 9.8kms ITT
The Giro starts with a short time trial of just 9.8kms around the streets of Apeldoorn, a small town of 159,000 inhabitants smack bang in the middle of Holland. It's too long to be classed as a prologue, but at nearly 10kms there will be some gaps between some of the main protagonists right from the off.
The Giro d'Italia starts in Appledoorn in the Netherlands on Friday the 6th May with a 9.8km opening time trial. It's followed by two flat stages which should end in sprints, but could potentially be split by crosswinds in the open Dutch lowlands. It's a varied course with something for everyone, including three time trials, seven medium mountain stages, four high mountain stages and potentially seven sprint stages.
