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With the first rest day over the 2015 Giro d’Italia resumes with what could be considered a rest day on wheels for the general classification riders and climbers of the peloton. Join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 10 from 10:30pm (AEST).
Beginning in Civitanova Marche and following the Adriatic coast for much of the 200 kilometre journey before moving inland to reach our finishing line in Forli, today’s stage profile is almost as flat as a pancake. A rather featureless day beyond the scenery, the weather forecast does not offer much hope of the stage being livened up by the wind along the way.
Apart from the stage victory the only other points of interests on Stage 10 will be the two intermediate sprints. Located within the final third of the race at the 159.4 kilometre and 178.8 kilometre marks there could be some incentive for Trek Factory Racing to reel in the breakaway of the day earlier than usual so that Giacomo Nizzolo can earn maximum points in his tussle with Elia Viviani for the Maglia Rossa (Red Jersey) of the points classification.
The peloton will approach Forli mainly on the large SS 9 Emilia with the majority of the final nine kilometres of the stage straight-out. Road furniture, in the way of several roundabouts, will be the toughest obstacle the riders will need to safely navigate en route to the final 1000 metres.
Upon reaching the Piazzi Staffi, just before the Flamme Rouge, the peloton will shift on to 600 metres of inner-city pave. Turning right off the Corso della Repubblica and on to the Corso G. Mazzini, the paved road surface finishing with just 500 metres remaining as the riders turn left past a roundabout on to the viale Vittorio Veneto.
The viale Vittorio Veneto will be acting as our finishing straight for today’s stage, where the stage victory is expected to be decided by a fierce bunch sprint. The finish straight on the viale Vittorio Veneto measures about 400 metres in length and should accommodate several riders sprinting side-by-side at a width of seven metres.
After reasserting his dominance on Stage 6 to Castiglione Della Pescaia Lotto – Soudal’s Andre Greipel is the stand-out favourite to claim the stage honours. The German’s supporting cast however will need to be prepared for a tough fight for position up against the sprint trains of the other teams, with Greg Henderson and Greipel needing to be very close to the front after the final corner.
The Italian favourite for today will likely be Team Sky’s Elia Viviani, who still wears the Maglia Rossa (Red Jersey) of the points classification. Again the Italian will be without much of a lead-out as the team looks after team leader Richie Porte, however, if he can shadow the right wheels to the front of the pack the Italian should be very competitive.
Bringing a dedicated team for the sprint stages to the 2015 Giro d’Italia there will be an onus on Trek Factory Racing to snatch the stage honours. While Trek Factory Racing are not particularly renowned for their lead-outs in the sprints they have a strong squad present at the race that could deliver Giacomo Nizzolo to victory if they manage to get all the little details right.
Giant – Alpecin will be aiming to be very competitive in the finale as they look to secure at least one stage victory with Luka Mezgec. The German outfit are not here with their very best lead-out riders but if the team can nail the consistency that saw them dominate most of last year then Luka Mezgec will be in contention for the stage victory.
With a lead-out containing the likes of Maximiliano Richeze and Roberto Ferrai it would be foolish to overlook the chances of Lampre – Merida’s Sacha Modolo. While the Italian outfit may not have got the result they were looking for with Sacha Modolo during Stage 6 they bounced back strongly on Stage 7 with Diego Ulissi.
Other sprinters in with an outside chance of claiming the stage honours include IAM Cycling’s Matteo Pelucchi, Orica – GreenEDGE’s Michael Matthews, Bardiani – CSF’s Nicola Ruffoni, Etixx – Quick-Step’s Tom Boonen, Movistar’s J.J Lobato and LottoNL – Jumbo’s Moreno Hofland.
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