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Well, what a Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia! A win for Matthews, Cadel gaining time and lots of skin left on the roads of Italy.
So, what can we expect from Stage 7? Whatever it is, we’ll have it covered right here on The Roar from 10:30pm AEST.
Sprint or breakaway?
Breakaway or sprint?
I’m voting breakaway but it really could go either way.
Today’s stage will take riders on a 211 kilometre journey from Frosinone to Foligno.
There are two categorized climbs today, the first of these the Cat 3 Valico di Aricnazzo. The climb falls about 30 km into the race and if a breakaway can put some distance between themselves and the peloton, then they may just stay away.
The Valico della Somma has gradients between 4-5% and shouldn’t bother the sprinters, making it a flip of the coin to if the stage will end in a gallop.
The sprinters will naturally want the breakaway caught and a dash to the finish line. They are running out of sprint opportunities and in the face of tomorrow’s summit finish, I suspect they’ll want some last glory.
It’s not a terribly difficult sprint, with good roads but the breakaway will be hoping the sprinters struggle over the final, albeit, easy climb.
Now that I’ve said I want to see a breakaway take the stage, I hope it’s a breakaway lead by Lotto-Belisol’s Adam Hansen.
Any breakaway today will need strong riders, not just chancers but if a breakaway can get away early and put in some good distance, it may just survive.
If the stage ends in a bunch sprint, Elia Viviani of Canondale or FDJs Nacer Bouhanni will be favourites.
One thing I think we can expect from the GC contenders is a quiet day in the saddle, staying out of trouble and conserving their energy for tomorrow’s summit finish to Montecassino.
I suspect I’ll have a busy night at the keyboard, so don’t forget to join me at 10.30PM AEST for all the action, and join the discussion in the comments below.
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