The 13 times before – where the start was outside of Italy – the Grande Partenza was hosted in San Marino, Belgium, France, Vatican City, the Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain and Israel. This presents the racing teams with logistical challenges.
“Basically, we have two round trips. One fleet of vehicles is sent to Hungary, the other to Sicily”told Giuseppe Martinellisporting director of Astana, who has experienced nine of the 13 foreign starts so far as a driver and supervisor, the sports show.
Fast in climbing mode
After two flat stages and a short time trial, it’s time for more than 1,000 km long transfer straight up the serpentines to the Etna volcano. Bora hansgrohe professional Emanuel Buchmann sees no major problem in this. “We’re flying there by plane”, he said before the race. Nevertheless, if you don’t switch quickly from flatland mode in Hungary to climbing mode, you could already lose the Giro here.
The 9th stage to the Blockhaus and the 15th to Cogne offer further mountain arrivals before the decisive phase of the tour begins after the second rest day. The 16th stage has the greatest difficulties with the Mortirolo, the 17th to Lavarone and the 20th to the Marmolada. Here the winner should be chosen. At the final time trial in Verona, the distance of only 17 kilometers is at best sufficient for minor repairs in the overall classification.
Perfect race for climbers
Because of the total of only 26 time trial kilometers and the enormous number of meters in altitude – almost 51,000 – this Giro is even more suitable than the previous editions for pure climbers. These include 2019 winner Richard Carapaz from Team Ineos Grenadiers, last year’s third placed Simon Yates from Australia’s Bike Exchange team, former Giro mountain king Mikel Landa from Bahrain Victorioius and former Tour second placed Romain Bardet (DSM).
Bora co-captain Buchmann thinks Carapaz and Yates are the top favorites. Due to illnesses in preparation, he himself is optimistic about the Giro. “First I have to see how well I can get into the Giro. I was ill after the Tour of the Basque Country and it took me a long time to feel well again. Now you have to see how fit I really am.”, he said. His two co-captains Jai Hindley and Wilco Kelderman, second and third at the Giro in 2020, were also plagued by illnesses in preparation.