Is it a stage or a criterium? This Sunday’s Giro stage has the feel of a final Sunday but the race has a week left.
Stage 14 Review: the Aosta valley showed off in early summer hues, a palette of colours and at the finish, views of Monte Rosa, “pink mountain” and one of the highest peaks of the Alps and no crowbar needed to jam in idea that the stage and pink jersey were taken by Jonas Vingegaard.
A strong breakaway had gone clear but they probably needed a longer route to build up more of an advantage by the final climb, and the move had no opportunists looking to move up the GC. Giulio Ciccone and Einer Rubio again traded attacks, but again they were mowed down by Visma and overhauled by Vingegaard.
The climb to the Pila ski station did not offer much surprise, although Ben O’Connor did crack early and Davide Piganzoli did another ride to confirm he’s climbing faster than Sep Kuss. Afonso Eulalio was dropped but remains second overall; third placed Felix Gall is out-climbing everyone except Vingegaard while Red Bull pair Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizari appear to be skirmishing rather than collaborating. Thymen Arensman faded on the climb but limited his losses while pedalling in his serpentine style, his body bending left and right as he advanced up the climb.
If a leitmotif of this Giro is Vingegaard keeps being where he needs to be, that holds firm. He talked of riding more defensively but he hardly needs to mark rivals when he can put almost a minute into them with a late attack on a final climb.
One side-story was Jhonatan Narvaez in the breakaway, winning the intermediate sprint and taking the purple jersey by one point from Paul Magnier. This sets up a duel for the final week with Magnier needing to score big on today and next Sunday’s Rome stages which offer more points; but it could be advantage Narvaez as he could well win another stage and the intermediate sprints next week come late in the stage, after plenty of climbs.
The Route: a start in Voghera, a trip to Pavia to nod to the start of Milan-Sanremo and then a ride into Milan and four laps of 16km circuit on wide roads, complete with their share of urban infrastructure.
The Contenders: a sprint finish on the cards. Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) wins by recent precedent thanks to two stage wins. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) winning in Milan would sound fitting… to foreign ears, as it’s Milano to Italians but linguistics aside this finish suits him well.
Tobias Lund (Decathlon-CMA CGM) has a great lead-out, likewise Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet-Rose Rockets)
Milan
Magnier
Lund, Groenewegen, Van Uden, Plowright
Weather: sunny and 32°C.
TV: KM0 is at 1.55pm and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST. Tune in for the sprint finish.
Postcard from Milan
Is it a stage or a criterium? Cycling is a rural sport and it’s no bad thing for the Giro to exist Italy’s commercial capital and the second largest city by population. Especially as there seems to have been some difficulty between the organisers and the city in recent years. See how “Milan”-Sanremo now starts in Pavia which gets the nod during the stage today too.
And yet this feels like a half-stage, an interlude, an exhibition. We’ll get a sprint finish but surely no change on GC. This would be the same if the race had ridden 150km from point to point to, but at least it would have travelled rather than going in circles.
What if the Rome and Milan stages could be reversed along the route? This way have a Rome stage mid-race as the Giro heads past during its lap of Italy at some point during the first two weeks. Crucially alter the Rome stage to make it more lively. The “City of Seven Hills” could show off the city very well while also providing great sport. It could even help the city by showing off some of the less famous spots and signalling to tourists that there is more than the overcrowded hotspots.
Milan by contrast is flat so today’s stage route could be the template for a final stage. The Tour de France has spiced up the final stage of late but the Giro particularly needs a prize for the sprinter in the third week, or prizes plural otherwise many simply go home. All easier written than done, but that’s the point of a postcard.
