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As every year, the Giro d'Italia is the first of the three grand tours to be contested. The fight for the famous pink jersey begins next Saturday, May 6th, and for 21 days, the cyclists' endurance will be put to the test in one of the toughest races of the year. In total, the riders will have to complete the 3489-kilometers route to the final finish line in Rome, where the name of the winner will be added to those of the illustrious champions who adorn the precious "senza fine" trophy.

Route

The 2023 edition of the Giro includes 73 kilometers of individual time trial spread over stages 1, 9, and 20. Undoubtedly, these three stages will be important for the overall classification, especially the last one, which includes the ascent to Monte Lussari (7.4 km at 11.7%). An uphill time trial that can be breathtaking if the general classification is still tight on stage 20.

The first contact with the mountains comes in stage 7, where the last 50 kilometers are constantly uphill. In stage 13, the cyclists will enter Switzerland to face the Cima Coppi of this edition, the Grand Saint-Bernard (34.3 km at 5.5%), which will be followed by the Croix de Coeur (15.5 km at 8.6%) and Crans-Montana (12.9 km at 7.3%). This is a stage where you can lose a lot of time if you have a bad day. Stage 16, with the arrival at Monte Bodone (22.7 km at 6.4%) is also very tough and accumulates 6240 meters of positive elevation, while the last mountain day (stage 19) includes two second-category and three first-category climbs in a purely Dolomite landscape, with the finish located at Tre Cime di Lavaredo (7.1 km at 7.8%).

For their part, sprinters will have many opportunities for victory: stages 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 17, and 21 add up to eight flat stages, which require selecting sprinters in our team if we want to have any chance of winning a pink jersey for our Cycling Fantasy palmares. Interestingly, most of the top-line sprinters will not be at the Giro, which opens up opportunities for riders who would normally be one step below.

Stage hunters usually set their sights on medium mountain stages, but the uphill finishes of stages 4 and 18 limit the opportunities for men seeking a partial victory from the breakaway. The best opportunities to see a breakaway make it are stages 3, 8, 12, and 15.

Favorites

Everything seems to point to a face-off for the GC between Remco Evenepoel (1200) and Primož Roglič (1200), although riders like João Almeida (1200), Alexandr Vlasov (1200), Geraint Thomas (800), Brandon McNulty (800), Damiano Caruso (800), Lennard Kämna (600), Jay Vine (600), Jack Haig (600), Hugh John Carthy (600), Santiago Buitrago (600), or the winner in 2020, Tao Geoghegan Hart (600), are also GC contenders.

For the sprints, Mads Pedersen (1200) is the top favorite. Other good sprinters who can compete for the ciclamino points jersey are Michael Matthews (1000), Mark Cavendish (800), Fernando Gaviria (800), Kaden Groves (800), Magnus Cort Nielsen (800), Pascal Ackermann (600), or Alberto Dainese (600).

Filippo Ganna (1000) and Stefan Küng (800) are the two main alternatives to Evenepoel and Roglič to wear the pink jersey on the first day, but the start list also includes other time trial specialists such as the former world champion Rohan Dennis (600) or the Italians Edoardo Affini (400), Mattia Cattaneo (400), and Alberto Bettiol (400).

Photo: Giro d'Italia