We take a look at the Giro d’Italia, the first Grand Tour of the season, which kicks off on Saturday.
All eyes on the Giro
Preview of the season’s first Grand Tour
We take a look at the Giro d’Italia, the first Grand Tour of the season, which kicks off on Saturday.
After a hugely demanding parcours in 2011, the Giro organisers have sought to create a more rounded route for the race's 95th running, albeit one that still provides a host of climbing challenges.
With a combined 3476 kilometres on the menu, this year the race holds its ceremonial start in Denmark with three stages in Scandinavia before the transfer south into Italy.
The first week provides plenty of opportunity for sprinters including world champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) who struggled to find a flat run-in the year previous, the race serving up a likely seven possible bunch kicks.
Bookended by time trials, the event has a more balanced feel, albeit with a rest day after three stages to allow for a transfer from Denmark.
The race looks set to come to a thrilling conclusion with a mountain double-header, culminating in a climb over the mythical Passo dello Stelvio one day before the finish in Milan.
Classic test
Team Sky arrive at the race with a strong nine-man squad, with Cavendish targeting sprint victories along with general classification aspirations Colombians for Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao.
The fight for the overall victory is wide open, with Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) lining up with the number one on his back following his inherited victory from Alberto Contador in 2011.
The Italian will face stiff competition from the likes of Roman Kreuziger (Astana), John Gadret (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), while all eyes will be on established names like Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) to see if they can salvage disappointing seasons to date.
Cavendish is one rider hoping to profit from a largely flat first week to the race, beginning in a country he has fond memories of.
He said: "I was really happy when I heard the Giro was starting here - it’s great to be back where I won the World Championships. I love this country - this is the first time I've been in this part of it but it's a really nice place.
"There are a lot more than the two sprint stages there were last year. There are six possible sprint stages in this Giro so hopefully we’ll try and win what we can out of that and we’ve also got the team time trial for which we’ve got a strong line-up.
"We’ve got some guys who can win other stages too so we’re coming here with a team built around winners. Hopefully it won’t just be me winning stages and we’ll have a lot of different names by the end of the Giro."
TeamSky.com will be running daily live interactive text coverage throughout the race so make sure to tune in on Saturday.
