Details

Published on Monday, 25 April 2016 21:13

Giro d'Italia 2016

Appledoorn to Turin

6th May to 29th May, 3486km

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. 

The opening time trial (not prologue!) is a flat and pretty straightforward event around the urban streets of Appledoorn, (which sounds like a kingdom in Game of Thrones by the way) but with eight sharp turns it could become challenging should it rain on the day. The TT is starting on a Friday in order to allow the riders a rest day following the long transfer back to Italy after stage 3. It's the twelfth time that the race has started outside of Italy with the ever-growing popularity of the Grand Tours and the appetite to take the races to an ever-wider audience. 

They couldn't have gone much further south as stage 4 starts in Catanzaro on the Tuesday on the 'sole' of the 'boot' of Italy. The rest of the route sees them head northwards through central Italy, taking in some hilly days in the Apennines before looping right over to the Dolomites and back left to finish in the Alps.

The first summit finish comes on stage 6 with a tough finish to Roccaraso, and it, together with the 40.4km 'Chianti Classico' time trial on stage 9 through the vineyards of the Chianti region should see the first major moves in the race by the GC hopefuls.

They continue northwards in a question-mark shape, heading east to the Dolomites, with stage ten looking particularly challenging and one for aggressive racing with lots of hills, including two inside the last 30kms and an uphill finish to Sestola. Stage 11 and 12 look like being sprinters stages, but 11 has two hills to get over in the last 10kms before they can sprint for the win.

Stage 13 is a tough '4-star' stage that runs close to the border with Slovenia, with four categorised climbs, including the climb of the Valle which is just 13kms from the end, with a 6.4km flat run to the finish. Stage 14 to Corvara is a horrible stage, with six categorised climbs, including the 70km ascent to the top of Passo Pordoi, the Passo Campolongo, the Passo Giau and Passo Valparola before the descent to Corvara.

Stage 15 gives no respite to the riders as it's a 10.8km 'Cronoscalata' or mountain time trial. It starts flat for 2kms, but then kicks up and rises at 8.7% for the next 9kms, hitting 11% in a spot 3/4 ways up (right).

Stage 16 is lumpy and takes them over the Mendelpass, but it's a short punchy stage at 133kms and looks made for a breakaway, Stage 17 and 18 are much longer but should be stages for the sprinters left in the race as they head towards Lombardy and the Alps. 

Stage 19 is another brute with the 70km ascent up to the Colle delle Agnello, at 2744m high, the Cima Coppi prize for the highest point in the race. The descent down the other side takes them in to France and a final climb up to Risoul, 11kms at 7%. If the race is still undecided, stage 20 to Sant' Anna di Vanadio is sure to shake things up for one last time, with another brutal day in the mountains, with a second climb in two days that breaches 2,700m in the Col de la Bonette and the 20km ascent of the Colle Della Lombarda. The final stage is a gently sloping downhill run to Torino and eight laps fo the finishing circuit before a likely sprint. I say likely, but last year, Iljio Keise and Luke Durbridge caught the sprinters on the hop and held their break advantage to the line on the final stage to Milano. 

At  3,383kms it is just under 100kms shorter than last years race and it's unusual with regards to the format of recent Grand Tours with three time trials in total, with a nasty uphill one included in the mix. There are also quite a lot of sprint stages for a GT, with up to seven potential sprinter-friendly stages, a lot more than in recent years at the Giro. You can see by the profile below though that the hardest part of the race comes from stages 14 onwards with some seriously high spikes on the chart in stages 19 and 20. 

This year's race though seems to have fallen well short in terms of attracting the top GT riders in the world, with Nibali probably fourth in the list at best behind Froome, Quintana and Contador. His biggest challengers look like being an in-form Mikel Landa and a confident Alejandro Valverde, despite his disappointment at Liege. Just behind them there are a bunch of riders who could be anything in the race, from 1st to 101st - Rigo Uran, Richie Porte, Tom Dumoulin, Dom Pozzovivo and Ilnur Zakarin. All of the above are taking part in the Tour of Romandie this week so we'll start to get an idea of who is in top form and who still has work to do in order to be a contender here.

History, Tradition, Legend

This is a legendary race, a race littered with superstar names like Bartali, Coppi, Grimondi, Merckx, Hinault, Roche, Fignon, Bugno, Indurain, Pantani. More recently we have had Alberto Contador win it in style in 2015, Quintana in 2014, Nibali in 2013 and Hesjedal motored to victory in 2012.

This is a race steeped in history - it's the 99th running of the Giro, which was first run in 1909 (skipped a few years because of the world wars). The race was first suggested by the editor of La Gazetta Della Sport to his cycling editor and the owner, as he wanted to create an Italian replica of the Tour de France, seeing it as a way to promote and increase sales of the newspaper. They were up for it, but the problem was lack of funds. It resulted in a scramble around Italy to raise donations, but they managed to raise enough to fund the operating costs, even securing 3000 Lira from their rival newspaper Corriere. 

The first race may only have had eight stages, but the 127 riders that started faced an incredible 2,448Kms in just those eight stages, an average of 306kms per stage! It's a miracle that 49 riders managed to finish it! This year's race is of course very different with 21 stages stretched over 3 weeks, covering 3,383kms, or an average stage distance of a paltry 161.1kms in comparison! 

The Course Preview Video

The route this year will favour the climbers, as is almost always the case with the Giro, but this year you will also need to be good against the clock with the three time trials. The race may not be won in the time trials, but it could be lost and so anyone with GC ambitions better be on top form for the 'cronos'. As Pier Bergonzi, the Deputy Editor of La Gazetta Della Sporto put it "A contemprary Giro with just the right amount of strain".

There are also plenty of opportunities for the sprinters, seven potential sprint stages should keep them happy and Kittel could have a field day, but he will face strong opposition from the likes of Viviani, Ewan, Demare, Pelucchi, Greipel and an in-form Nizzolo fresh from two 1sts and a 2nd in the Tour of Croatia. It's sure to be a great battle for the Points Jersey as well as for the coveted 'Maglia Rosa'. 

Contenders and Favourites

My analysis of the main favourites, the outsiders, jersey betting, team classification will be live a few days before the Giro starts. You will be able to access these once you have subscribed for my Giro d'Italia preview membership. With the Full Membership you will also get my daily previews and tips every evening for each stage. 

Click on the button below to subscribe now for the three weeks of the Giro for £30.

If you subscribe for the Giro before midnight on the 4th May you'll get access to the Vuelta subscription for half price. [DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, I'M EXTENDING THIS TO MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY THE 6TH!]