Pogačar wants the Giro
The Giro d'Italia is undoubtedly the second most important stage race in the world, second only to the Tour de France. For Tadej Pogačar (1200), winner of two Tours and six monuments, the time has come to try to take the maglia rosa and add another great achievement to his already spectacular record. If we also take into account that neither Jonas Vingegaard (1200), nor Primož Roglič (1200) nor Remco Evenepoel (1200) are on the start list, everything suggests that the Slovenian will have no rival in the Italian grand tour. However, in 21 days anything can happen, and if history has taught us anything, it is that cycling is a sport full of surprises.
Route
The route of the 2024 Giro consists of 21 stages, with several finishes including short final kickers, ideal for punchers and explosive riders (stages 1, 6, 9, 12). The route includes two individual time trial stages (stages 7 and 14), 6 flat stages presumably for sprinters (stages 3, 4, 11, 13, 18 and 21), four medium mountain stages (stages 2, 6, 10 and 19) and 5 high mountain stages, concentrated mostly in the final week (stages 8, 15, 16, 17, and 20). Among these stages, the double ascent of Monte Grappa (18.2 km at 8.1%) in stage 20 stands out, and the final general classification ranking will be defined there.
Favorites
As we said, Tadej Pogačar (1200) is the big favorite for the overall victory, and it's hard to imagine who could challenge him. On paper, Geraint Thomas (1000), Ben O'Connor (800), Romain Bardet (1000), Nairo Quintana (400), Thymen Arensman (800), Damiano Caruso (600), Daniel Martinez Poveda (600), Cian Uijdebroeks (600), Lucas Plapp (600), Antonio Tiberi (400), Hugh John Carthy (400), Juan Pedro López (600), Michael Storer (400) or Florian Lipowitz (200) are some of the best climbers on the start list, although it remains to be seen which of them will have the general classification as their main goal.
For the sprints, Olav Kooij (1000), Phil Baihaus (600), Tim Merlier (800), Fabio Jakobsen (800), Danny Van Poppel (600), Kaden Groves (800), Fernando Gaviria (600), Alberto Dainese (600), Jonathan Milan (600), Caleb Ewan (600), Biniam Girmay (800), Max Kanter (400), and Tobias Lund Andresen (400) ensure exciting sprints and an interesting battle for the maglia ciclamino.
Photo: © Giro d’Italia