It’s a stage that will reveal which GC favourites have good climbing legs and would appear to suit Joaquim Rodriguez or maybe even Cadel Evans for the win.
Rodriguez suffered through the Ardennes this year after a fall in Amstel Gold. He arrives at the Giro with a point to prove and this is his 1st real opportunity. He also needs to take some time back on GC after a poor TTT in Belfast. Evans on the other hand is sitting pretty on GC but we’ve seen him drag race to wins on similar climbs in the past and he may have a dig today.
The climb is Ardennes style and shouldn’t have massive time gaps and it’s unlikely it would suit a long distance attack but that doesn’t mean someone like Quintana couldn’t pull off such a feat. One might question the benefit of attempting this given the more substantial climbs coming up.
It’s also possible riders like Moreno Moser or Daniel Moreno could pull off a win. Watch out for Edvald Boassen Hagen as well who might fancy a try.
Favourites
Joaquim Rodriguez
Cadel Evans
Outsiders
Nairo Quintana
Damiano Cunego
Moreno Moser
Daniel Moreno
Edvald Boassen Hagen
Giro 2014 stage 5: Images and more
Click on the images to zoom.
How stage 5 was won in 2014
Serra di San Chirico cyclingthealps.comHow stage 5 was won in 2013
Viggiano cyclingthealps.com 
