Giro d'Italia preview: Richie Porte & Alberto Contador to battle for pink
Comprehensive guide to the season's first grand tour
Sunday 31 May 2015 19:03, UK
Team Sky’s Richie Porte and 2008 winner Alberto Contador are among the favourites for overall victory at the first of the season’s three grand tours, the Giro d’Italia, from May 9-31.
his year's race covers 3,486km of demanding terrain and contains one team time trial, one individual time trial, six summit finishes and six sprint stages.
Porte and Contador are the two riders most widely tipped to claim the coveted maglia rosa, or pink jersey, but the likes of Rigoberto Uran and Fabio Aru could also have a significant say.
Here is everything you need to know about the race…
THE STAGES
Stage 1: Saturday, May 9 – San Lorenzo al Mare to San Remo – 17.6km team time trial
Winner: Orica-GreenEdge. Pink jersey: Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge).
Stage 2: Sunday, May 10 – Albenga to Genova – 177km
Winner: Elia Viviani (Team Sky). Pink jersey: Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge).
Stage 3: Monday, May 11 – Rapallo to Sestri Levante – 136km
Winner: Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge). Pink jersey: Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge).
Stage 4: Tuesday, May 12 – Chiavari to La Spezia – 150km
Winner: Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Garmin). Pink jersey: Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge).
Stage 5: Wednesday, May 13 – La Spezia to Abetone – 152km
Winner: Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 6: Thursday, May 14 – Montecatini Terme to Castiglione della Pescaia – 183km
Winner: Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 7: Friday, May 15 – Grosseto to Fiuggi – 264km
Winner: Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 8: Saturday, May 16 – Fiuggi to Campitello Matese – 186km
Winner: Benat Intxausti (Movistar). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 9: Sunday, May 17 – Benevento to San Giorgio del Sannio – 215km
Winner Paolo Tiralongo (Astana). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 10: Tuesday, May 19 – Civitanova Marche to Forli – 200km
Winner: Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 11: Wednesday, May 20 – Forli to Imola (Autodromo Ferrari) – 153km
Winner: Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 12: Thursday, May 21 - Imola to Vicenza (Monte Berico) - 190km
Winner: Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 13: Friday, May 22 - Montecchio Maggiore to Jesolo - 147km
Winnner: Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida). Pink jersey: Fabio Aru (Astana).
Stage 14: Saturday, May 23 - Treviso to Valdobbiadene - 59.4km individual time trial
Winner: Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 15: Sunday, May 24 - Marostica to Madonna di Campiglio - 165km
Winner: Mikel Landa (Astana). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 16: Tuesday, May 26 - Pinzolo to Aprica - 174km
Winner: Mikel Landa (Astana). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 17: Wednesday, May 27 - Tirano to Lugano - 134km
Winner: Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 18: Thursday, May 28 - Melide to Verbania - 170km
Winner: Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 19: Friday, May 29 - Gravellona Toce to Cervina - 236km
Winner: Fabio Aru (Astana). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 20: Saturday, May 30 - Saint-Vincent to Sestriere - 196km
Winner: Fabio Aru (Astana). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Stage 21: Sunday, May 31 - Turin to Milan - 185km
Winner: Iljo Keisse (Etixx - Quick-Step). Pink jersey: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
KEY STAGE
Stage 14. There are six summit finishes in this year’s Giro but the 59.4km individual time trial is so long that it is likely to have the biggest say on the outcome of the race.
THE JERSEYS
- Pink: General classification.
- Red: Sprints classification.
- Blue: King of the mountains.
- White: Best young rider.
TIME BONUSES
- 10, six and four bonus seconds will be awarded to the first three finishers on each stage.
- Three, two and one second will be awarded to the first three riders over the line at intermediate sprints.
Time bonuses do not apply on the team and individual time trials - stage one and 14.
WHAT THEY SAY...
Richie Porte
“I haven’t had any pressure put on me by the team. It is only the pressure I have put on myself. If I can keep doing here what I have been doing all season then I should be pretty close coming into those last stages. I’m confident with where I’m at, really motivated and can’t wait to get going now.”
Alberto Contador
“I'm happy to be here and also motivated by the team that I have, because it is very powerful and all riders are here in good shape and excited about this challenge. Now is the time to have good legs.”
Fabio Aru
"My rivals are hardened stage racers. Alberto [Contador] will be very motivated to do well, [Rigoberto] Uran will be very good in the long time trial, and Richie Porte will also be formidable. The last week is also very hard, with the mountain stages on the Mortirolo and up to Sestriere. It will be important to stay focused for all three weeks."
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2014: Nairo Quintana (Col)
2013: Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
2012: Ryder Hesjedal (Can)
2011: Michele Scarponi (Ita)
2010: Ivan Basso (Ita)
2009: Denis Menchov (Rus)
2008: Alberto Contador (Spa)
2007: Danilo di Luca (Ita)
2006: Ivan Basso (Ita)
2005: Paolo Savoldelli (Ita)
THE TEAMS
AG2R-LA MONDIALE
Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita), Carlos Betancur (Col), Axel Domont (Fra), Hubert Dupont (Fra), Hugo Houle (Can), Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita), Julien Berard (Fra), Patrick Gretsch (Ger), Matteo Montaguti (Ita).
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-VENEZUELA
Franco Pellizotti (Ita), Marco Bandeira (Ita), Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Ita), Marco Frapporti (Ita), Oscar Gatto (Ita), Simone Stortoni (Ita), Serghei Tvetcov (Rom), Davide Appollonio (Ita), Gianfranco Zilioli (Ita).
ASTANA
Fabio Aru (Ita), Dario Cataldo (Ita), Tanel Kangert (Est), Mikel Landa (Esp), Davide Malacarne (Ita), Diego Rosa (Ita), Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp), Paolo Tiralongo (Ita), Andrey Zeits (Kaz).
BARDIANI-CSF
Enrico Battaglin (Ita), Enrico Barbin (Ita), Nicola Boem (Ita), Sonny Colbrelli (Ita), Stefano Pirazzi (Ita), Nicola Ruffoni (Ita), Edoardo Zardini (Ita), Luca Chirico (Ita).
BMC RACING
Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Silvan Dillier (Sui), Darwin Atapuma (Col), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (Ger), Damiano Caruso (Ita), Stefan Kung (Sui), Amael Moinard (Fra), Rick Zabel (Ger).
CANNONDALE-GARMIN
Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Janier Acevedo (Col), Nathan Brown (USA), Andre Cardoso (Por), Tom Danielson (USA), Davide Formolo (Ita), Alan Marangoni (Ita), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned), Davide Villella (Ita).
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
Grega Bole (Slo), Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol), Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol), Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul), Maciej Paterski (Pol), Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol), Branislau Samoilau (Blr), Sylwester Szmyd (Pol), Lukasz Owsian (Pol).
ETIXX – QUICK-STEP
Rigoberto Uran (Col), Tom Boonen (Bel), Maxime Bouet (Fra), Gianni Meersman (Bel), David de la Cruz (Esp), Iljo Keisse (Bel), Fabio Sabatini (Ita), Pieter Serry (Bel), Petr Vakoc (Cze).
FDJ.FR
Alexandre Geniez (Fra), Arnaud Courteille (Fra), Kenny Elissonde (Fra), Murilo Fischer (Bra), Francis Mourey (Fra), Cedric Pineau (Fra), Kevin Reza (Fra), Anthony Roux (Fra), Jussi Veikkanen (Fin).
GIANT-ALPECIN
Nikias Arndt (Ger), Chad Haga (USA), Luka Mezgec (Slo), Bert de Backer (Bel), Caleb Fairly (USA), Simon Geschke (Ger), Cheng Ji (Chn), Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe), Tom Stamsnijder (Ned).
IAM CYCLING
Sylvain Chavanel (Fra), Heinrich Hassler (Aus), Matteo Pelucchi (Ita), Roger Kluge (Ger), Saramotins (Lat), Clement Chevrier (Fra), Stef Clement (Ned), Jerome Pineau (Fra), Sebastien Reichenbach (Sui).
KATUSHA
Luca Paolini (Ita), Sergey Lagutin (Rus), Maxim Belkov (Rus), Sergei Chernetski (Rus), Alexander Porsev (Rus), Pavel Kochetkov (Rus), Yuri Trofimov (Rus), Anton Vorobyev (Rus), Ilnur Zakarin (Rus).
LAMPRE-MERIDA
Diego Ulissi (Ita), Roberto Ferrari (Ita), Tsgabu Grmay (Eth), Gang Xu (Chn), Sacha Modolo (Ita), Manuele Mori (Ita), Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol), Jan Polanc (Slo), Ariel Richeze (Arg).
LOTTONL-JUMBO
Maarten Tjallingii (Ned), Rick Flens (Ned), Moreno Hofland (Ned), Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned), Robert Wagner (Ger), Styeve Kruijswijk (Ned), George Bennett (NZ), Martin Keizer (Ned), Nick van der Lijke (Ned).
LOTTO SOUDAL
Andre Greipel (Ger), Adam Hansen (Aus), Jurgen van den Broeck (Bel), Sander Armee (Bel), Lars Bak (Den), Stig Broeckx (Bel), Greg Henderson (NZ), Maxime Monfort (Bel), Louis Vervaeke (Bel).
MOVISTAR
Ion Izagirre (Esp), Juan Jose Lobato (Esp), Giovanni Visconti (Ita), Benat Intxausti (Esp), Andrey Amador (Cos), Igor Anton (Esp), Ruben Fernandez (Esp), Jesus Herrada (Esp), Dayer Quintana (Col).
NIPPO-VINI FANTINI
Damiano Cunego (Ita), Giacomo Berlato (Ita), Alessandro Bisolti (Ita), Daniele Colli (Ita), Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita), Eduard Grosu (Rom), Manabu Ishibashi (Jpn), Alessandro Malaguti (Ita), Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita).
ORICA-GREENEDGE
Michael Matthews (Aus), Simon Clarke (Aus), Luke Durbridge (Aus), Michael Hepburn (Aus), Sam Bewley (NZ), Johan Esteban Chaves (Col), Simon Gerrans (Aus), Brett Lancaster (Aus) Pieter Weening (Ned).
SOUTHEAST
Manuel Belletti (Ita), Matteo Busato (Ita), Elia Favalli (Ita), Mauro Finetto (Ita), Ramon Carretero (Pan), Francesco Gavazzi (Ita), Yonathan Monsalve (Ven), Alessandro Petacchi (Ita), Eugert Zhupa (Alb).
TEAM SKY
Richie Porte (Aus), Leopold Konig (Cze), Mikel Nieve (Esp), Vasil Kiryienka (Blr), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr), Bernhard Eisel (Aut), Sebastian Henao (Col), Salvatore Puccio (Ita), Elia Viviani (Ita).
TINKOFF-SAXO
Alberto Contador (Esp), Ivan Basso (Ita), Manuele Boaro (Ita), Chris Juul-Jensen (Den), Roman Kreuziger (Cze), Sergio Paulinho (Por), Michael Rogers (Aus), Ivan Rovny (Rus), Matteo Tosatto (Ita).
TREK FACTORY RACING
Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita), Eugenio Alafaci (Ita), Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn), Marco Coledan (Ita), Fabio Felline (Ita), Fabio Silvestre (Por), Boy van Poppel (Ned), Kristof Vandewalle (Bel), Calvin Watson (Aus).
