Featured image courtesy of STUART FRANKLIN | Credit: Getty Images
At long last the first of the year’s Grand Tours has finally arrived. For such a long time the Giro d’Italia has been unpredictable, spectacular and outright dramatic. The yearly fight for pink, sight of snow-capped mountains in Spring and a Giro where anything could happen – it’s good to have it back!
With no definitive heavyweights to contend for the maglia rosa, the 105th Giro may be missing the presence of Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Egan Bernal as a trio (we await the Tour de France for that battle), but the contenders who will line up in Hungary to set off on their hunt for pink will be venturing into an open contest.
There is an opportunity here for a GC man to claim pink all for himself, the route helps too. Aside from the fast and frenetic (and controversial) start we’ll witness in Hungary, there are a few time trial kilometres which means an outright climber will excel themselves at this Giro.
Before a look at the contenders, it’s good to get an idea of the overall parcours.
The 105th Giro d’Italia starts in Hungary for the Grande Partenza, the first foreign start for this race since travelling to Israel in 2018.
From Friday 6th to Sunday 29th May, the race kicks off with three stages set on Hungarian soil. Stage 1 to determine the first pink jersey won’t be won by a sprinter. From Budapest to a punchy finish in Visegrád, a fast man with a strong finish uphill will claim the day. Could it be Alejandro Valverde for his final season before retirement? The Spaniard has never pulled on the pink jersey.
A Budapest time trial follows on Stage 2 before the sprinters get their opportunity on Stage 3 from Kaposvár to Balatonfüred, a coastal town at Lake Balaton. The first rest-day follows as the rider’s transfer to Italy.
The Giro continues on Sicily with Stage 4 providing the first GC test so early in the race. A ride up the Etna will see the first GC gaps or maybe not a lot depending on what conditions will greet the riders. The last time Etna featured both Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates fell out of contention in 2020 and in 2017 nobody could get a serious attack going because of a strong headwind.
Stage 5 will finish in Messina for another sprint chance before the race reaches the mainland on Stage 6 with a finish in Scalea – another flat day suited to the fast men.
The race continues north on Stage 7, which will be a demanding race through the middle mountains with a total elevation gain of 4,500 metres. Stage 8 will feature a lumpy criterium race in and around Naples and then to conclude week one, the climbing really intensifies on Stage 9 with a double dose and a summit finish on Blockhaus, where Nairo Quintana soloed to victory in 2017, finishing 24 seconds ahead of Thibaut Pinot and Tom Dumoulin, the rider who would eventually triumph in pink that year.
Week two resumes with Stage 10, a flat affair in the first half before some hills in the Marche region to Jesi. The following day is likely to see another bunch sprint in Reggio Emilia.
Stage 12 will be another lumpy test with a downhill finish into Genua, while Stage 13 travels from San Remo to a likely bunch sprint in Cuneo. Stage 14 is a trying circuit race in the hills east of Turin and a downhill finish. The penultimate Sunday’s 15th stage presents a mountainous race to an uphill finish in Cogne in the Valle d’Aosta.
After the final rest day, Stage 16 travels over the fearsome Mortirolo and Passo di Santa Christina before a downhill finish into Aprica. A finish in Lavarone, shortly after cresting the Monte Rovere, which is an ascent of 7.9km with an average gradient of 9.9%, is the order of the day on Stage 17.
Stage 18 travels on mostly flat terrain from Borgo Valsigana to Treviso before Stage 19 serves up 3,230 vertical metres and an uphill finish to the Santuario di Castelmonte – arguably the ‘Queen Stage’ of the entire Giro.
The 20th stage features two climbs which were meant to be climbed in the 2020 stage of Cortina d’Ampezzo but due to bad weather, the Passo Pordoi and Passo Fedaia were cut from the parcours. The 14km finish climb at 7.6% serves a brutal second half with solely double digit gradients – this is where the Giro could be settled.
The Giro concludes in Verona as just like 2019, the final stage is a 17.1 kilometre time trial ending in the city’s arena.
Throughout the three weeks, you’ll here more on the parcours as the Giro progresses. For now, here is the full route map for the 105th Giro d’Italia.
Who are the GC contenders?
First things first, the defending champion Egan Bernal is not around to defend his title. The Colombian is on course to try and win a second Tour de France, but to be fair it would have been unlikely to see Bernal start this Giro anyway. A training crash earlier this year was the worst possible scenario but thankfully he is now riding again.
The key question is can the INEOS Grenadiers make it three Giro d’Italia’s in a row? Tao Geoghegan Hart won pink two years ago albeit among a much reduced field. Bernal’s victory last year was dominant except for one small sign of struggle in week three.
It’s true that without three titans in the GC mix, their eggs all in the Tour basket, that we’ll probably see a new emerging talent win pink come 21 stages. With contenders full of Giro experience, who can realistically claim a high GC finish and potentially pull on the maglia rosa?
Given his past performances in Italy – notably the 2018 Giro – Simon Yates should be the rider to watch, arguably the favourite? Can the rider from Bury finally conquer the race and win the pink jersey?
You can argue that it has been a rollercoaster of a ride for Yates at this race. A memorable 2018 debut where he looked set to dominate and then suffered in the final week in the high mountains. In 2019 it was a Stage 9 time trial that ended his chances, but now beyond a disappointing showing in 2020 it was last year where Yates finally made a Giro podium.
Egan Bernal went on to win pink but in all fairness it Yates himself who seriously applied some pressure in the final week, a third place behind Damiano Caruso as well as a stage win achieved.
So much drama has attached itself to Simon Yates at this race and with his time trialling vastly improved, the two TT’s at this should not faze him at all. More climbs this year, more opportunities, this surely has to be the Giro d’Italia Simon Yates wins.
Just like Yates, another rider who has worn the maglia rosa before but didn’t arrive with an overall win is João Almeida. The 2020 Giro was one full of unexpected moments and the Portuguese gave us something very different – a breakthrough ride for his own career.
A 15-day spell in pink brought João Almeida many fans and rightly so. A fourth place overall two years ago followed by a slightly lower sixth placed finish last year. The difference for Almeida in 2022 is he’s no longer riding for Quick-Step. Remco Evenepoel had the spotlight last year but now with UAE-Team Emirates, Almeida has some more freedom to challenge for the GC.
With time trialling one of his strengths, it’s fair to argue that this year’s Giro doesn’t really favour João Almeida than the previous editions he’s raced. 23-years-of-age, with such a bright future ahead, the pink jersey may be a stretch too far but a podium place looks realistic.
Three former winners are riding the 2022 Giro – Tom Dumoulin, Vincenzo Nibali and Richard Carapaz.
It’s fair to say that expectations for Tom Dumoulin might be low and that’s reasonable. Riding his first Grand Tour since a poor Vuelta in 2020, the Dutchman returns to a race where he won in 2017 but this is a step into the dark with hardly any racing in his legs.
With all the time trialing skills Dumoulin has a former TT world champion, it remains to be seen whether the Jumbo-Visma rider can match the same wins he’s achieved in TTs at the Giro previously. If Tom Dumoulin can put in a descent ride in Budapest and stay within GC contention going into week two then he’ll be a threat. If not then the team will back Norwegian rider Tobias Foss, who finished eighth overall last year.
Astana-Qazakstan need to find wins from somewhere and it has been declared by Vincenzo Nibali that he’ll be going for some. A two-times Giro d’Italia champion in 2013 and 2016, can this great of Italian cycling gain some stages to keep the home crowd happy?
No matter what happens, Nibali will be a key celebrity for this race as he has been for such a long time. A home ride on Sicily with a stage to his hometown Messina, it’s no wonder that the ‘Shark of Messina’ is so loved by Italians when he’s one of the greatest descenders and greatest champions in all of cycling.
Instead, Nibali’s focus might be on not only stage wins but also helping teammate Miguel Angel López. The Colombian has some unfinished business to attend to in Italy after crashing out on the opening Palermo TT last year. A third place at this race in 2018 means that a potential podium once again could well be achieved.
Of all the former winners of the Giro, it’s Richard Carapaz who stands the best chance to pull on pink again. Can the Ecuadorian repeat what he did in 2019 and seal another Grand Tour in Verona?
Three years ago, when riding for Movistar, and while Vincenzo Nibali and Primož Roglič looked at each other, it was Carapaz who dug deep and defended pink with majesty in the final week. Podium positions have since followed at the 2020 Vuelta and a third place at the Tour last year means there is added expectation for Richard Carapaz to triumph in Italy again.
It has been hard to read his form in recent months although second overall at the Volta a Catalunya after a terrific long breakaway with Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) showed that after a difficult start to the season, Carapaz can actually be seen as a favourite.
A stronger favourite than Simon Yates? That could be the case but there’s no guaranteed script. Richard Carapaz is a top contender to win pink again, arguably the rider to beat.
Any other names who should be considered?
With hardly any serious time trialing kilometres it really does open the field – this Giro could be the most fascinating yet!
A seventh place on Giro debut last year means that Romain Bardet has come back for more, the Frenchman keen to move all focus away from the Tour de France. The bar has been set higher than last year though, most notably due to Bardet’s recent victory in the Tour of the Alps, overall achieved as well as the final mountain stage to seal the deal.
The Giro is another level and it will be key test to see whether Romain Bardet is really back in the GC hunt and there is no pressure unlike what the Tour de France heaps on a French GC contender year after year.
It’s been a long time since Bardet finished on a Grand Tour podium as it has for Mikel Landa too. 2015 at this very race was the last time and since then there have been encouraging signs for the Spaniard but also disappointing lows including last year.
Mikel Landa looked good in the first few stages before a crash saw him abandon. Bahrain-Victorious go into this Giro with another strong team to help Landa, including Pello Bilbao, who has a better consistent Grand Tour record than his compatriot.
Two potential dark horses to mention should be Bora-Hansgrohe pairing Wilco Kelderman and Jai Hindley, who both finished third and second respectively behind Tao Geoghegan Hart two years ago. With German climbing specialist Emanuel Buchmann and an in-form Lennard Kämna, should either Kelderman or Hindley find the form they had in 2020, expect both to feature high on the GC standings – a top ten a serious possibility at least.
And finally, the sprinters.
At least six stages will see a nailed-on flat finish so will claim the most and who can go all the way and claim the maglia ciclamino points jersey, won by Peter Sagan, Arnaud Démare, Pascal Ackermann, Elia Viviani and Fernando Gaviria in the last five years.
Considering the form book, Caleb Ewan looks the likely sprinter to gain the most wins, the 27-year-old currently on five Giro stage wins so far. The Australia sadly crashed out of the Tour last year after claiming stage wins in Italy previously. Making amends will be the sole aim at this Giro before riding another Tour.
Two years ago, Arnaud Démare took four stages which at the time looked a bad decision by Groupama-FDJ not to take the Frenchman to the Tour that year. It looks as if he will complete this Giro as another chance to ride in France might be going begging again. The maglia ciclamino should be Démare’s to lose but wins should be achieved too, most especially when he beat Caleb Ewan at Tirreno-Adriatico back in March.
Three years since Fernando Gaviria last won a stage at a Grand Tour, can the Colombian ride back into form after taking two wins in the Tour of Oman back in February? Gaviria still looks a shadow of his former self during his halcyon days at Quick-Step where he won four stages of the Giro on debut in 2017. Still only 27, Fernando Gaviria has a chance to get his sprinting career back on track.
If Danish rider Magnus Cort wins just one sprint at this Giro he’ll enter the elusive club of having won stages at all three Grand Tours. The 29-year-old ratcheted up a hat-trick of stages at the Vuelta last year – who would bet against Magnus Cort doing something similar in Italy?
One Italian sprinter who could take a possible win is Team DSM’s Alberto Dainese. The 24-year-old claimed five top fives at last year’s Vuelta, including second place behind the speed of Fabio Jakobsen on Stage 8. Dainese may not be a red hot favourite, but he’ll no doubt put himself in a position to pounce should any of the big name sprinters have a bad day.
There are so many fast riders who could claim a stage or too at this Giro. So in terms of the pure sprinters, last but not least is Mark Cavendish, who makes his first appearance at the Giro in nine years. Five stages were achieved in 2013 as well as the points jersey, the current Giro wins tally at 15, a far lower count than his record-equaling 34 achieved at the Tour last year.
There is a sentimental feeling that Cav should be focusing more on the Tour to beat Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 but then again there’s a reason why Fabio Jakobsen should get a chance instead – he’s young. History aside, Cavendish will try and go for stages and it’ll be interesting to see if he can beat the field, which is nowhere near the same battlefield Cavendish got the luxury of last year. Caleb Ewan is here to sprint, Cavendish may find this Giro tough to get at least one win altogether.
21 stages in total from Hungary to Verona, the first of three Grand Tours has finally arrived. Let the wide-open race for pink begin…
