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- Published on Friday, 27 April 2018 18:13
Giro d'Italia 2018
Jerusalem to Rome, 3562.9km
4th May to 27th May
The 101st Edition of the Giro d’Italia starts on Friday the 5th May in Israel, the first time a Grand Tour has started outside of Europe. The course is varied and challenging, with eight summit finishes and two time trials.
Last year's 100th edition saw the organisers pressured in to trying to hit as many areas of Italy as possible, but they are not under the same constraints this year and instead have planned a route where they hoped to see a strong field do battle across the three weeks. Like all good symphonies though, this year's edition does build to a crescendo with a trilogy of tough summit finishes, before a parade through Rome and a sprint finish to end the race on May 27th.
The choice to head to Israel has been a widely criticised and highly controversial one, with the RCS turning a blind ear to all the protestations and security concerns, the €15 million they got from Israel buys some pretty strong ear plugs. And it's not as if they have found three exciting stages to start the race with over there, they are three pretty dull and dreary stages - a short TT on stage 1, a dull sprinters stage on stage 2 and stage 3 is like something out of the Tour of Dubai across a desert and ending in a sprint finish. Except the only top 20 sprinters in the world that are here are Elia Viviani and Sam Bennett.. we could see some surprise winners.
After spending three days in Israel the riders get an early rest day in order to make the transfer back to Italy, or more precisely, Sicily, as the race returns to the Giro for the second year running. The first two stages there are wavy and challenging and might give the breakaway riders a chance of success, but they have challenging uphill finishes which will suit the strong puncheurs. The third stage on Sicily sees them take on Mount Etna again, and after the snoozefest we saw last year with no one willing to attack in to the headwind, they have decided to come up from a different side this year.. It could be the first opportunity to see who has good climbing legs and who doesn't in this Giro.
They finally reach the mainland of Italy on stage 7 where it should end in another sprint finish, but stage 8 sees them tackle the second summit finish of the race with the 17km Cat 2 climb to Montevergine Di Mercogliano. That is quickly followed with a Sunday treat, the stage 9 to Gran Sasso D'Italia (the great rock of Italy), which sees them climbing for almost 50kms at the end of the stage over two Cat 1 climbs in a row, to the third summit finish of the race.
Stage 10 after the rest day will be a battle between the break and the sprinters' teams, stage 11 sees them roll over the Appenines and on to a very tricky looking finish in Osima with gradients hitting 16% in the last 1600m. Stage 12 is almost totally flat, bar a little Cat 4 bump that comes just 7.4kms from the finish, it should end in a sprint, same goes for Stage 13, but without a Cat 4 bump..
Stage 14 suddenly puts an end to the slumbering flat stages, with an explosive 5 star stage that takes in three Cat 3s, a Cat 2 and the Cat 1 finish at the top of the Zoncolan, widely regarded as one of the hardest climbs in the world (right). 10kms at 12% average will sort the men from the boys.
Stage 15 takes the in to the Dolomites on a wavy stage that looks perfect for the breakaway including someone who wants to win the KOM jersey with three Cat 2s up for grabs. Stage 16 after the second rest day is the crucial 34km individual TT to Rovereto, it could play a big part in deciding the final top 10.
Stage 17 starts off quite lumpy and bumpy, but the last third of the stage is pretty flat - it's going to be another chase between the sprinters' teams and the break. Stage 18 sees them start the crucial final three stages in the mountains, with the 15km climb to the summit finish of Pratonevoso, followed by a brute of a stage 19 which sees them climb over the Colle Della Finestre and it's 8kms of gravel roads at the top, and finish on the Cat 1 Bardonecchia. Stage 20 has three Cat 1 climbs one after the other inside the last 84kms, including the final summit finish of the race on Cervinia. Stage 21 is a crit around Rome.
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 Tom Dumoulin fight off everything that was thrown at him in 2017, including a bout of dodgy tummy on stage 16. Vincenzo Nibali took his second Giro in 2016, Alberto Contador won 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 101st 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 3,615kms, or an average stage distance of a paltry 171kms in comparison!
Contenders and Favourites
Tom Dumoulin comes here as defending champion but he will have his hands full this year with four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome also lining up. But it's more than just a two-horse race as we have an in-form Thibaut Pinot, former Vuelta winner Fabio Aru, the up-and-comer Miguel Angel Lopez who has finished 2nd in the Tour of Oman and 3rd in Abu Dhabi and the Tour of the Alps so far this year, Johan Esteban Chaves and Simon Yates for Mitchelton-Scott, Domenico Pozzovivo, Marc Soler, George Bennett and more.
And what about Michael Woods? 2nd in LBL just a few weeks ago, can he make the transition finally to being a Grand Tour top ten performer?
Chris Froome is the hot 5/4 favourite with the bookies now that he has confirmed he is riding it, and it's a strong Sky squad that they have here to support him, carry his inhaler etc. If he wins, he'll be the first rider since Alberto Contador to hold the titles of the TDF, Vuelta and Giro simultaneously and only the third rider in history to do so, and the seventh to win all three Grand Tours.
Tom Dumoulin would have probably liked more TT miles, but he showed last year he was more than a match for most of them in the mountains. Thibaut Pinot is looking strong and aggressive, you just know he's going to throw it up to the top two. And Aru has looked off the pace so far in recent weeks, but could be timing his peak nicely and has five stages to break his legs in before they tackle Etna.
The battle for the points jersey will be an intersting one with so few top quality sprinters here, it might be that we could get a surprise winner from down the field that makes it to Rome, something that isn't guaranteed with Viviani and Bennett. And the KOM is the usual minefield to try to pick a winner from, with so many riders who could potentially be going for it. Movistar don't really come here with a team leader, so they will be aggressive in stages and should have some candidates who are likely to target the spots jersey too.
My full preview of the main GC contenders chances, the Points Jersey betting, KOM betting and more, along with a daily preview of each stage will be available to subscribers, the cost of subscription is £35, which is less than £1.50 a preview. Overall previews will be ready a day or two before the Giro starts, daily previews will be available around 10.30pm every night before each stage.
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