Giro 2014: Stage 6 Favourites: Another for the punchy climbers?

Thursday, May 15th, 2014- Another summit finish after a long but reasonably flat ride. An 8.5 kilometre drag that should suit an explosive climber. (Slideshow route/profile)

Who will gamble on Montecassino?

The finishing climb is longer than yesterday’s but after a reasonably flat opening to the stage it should again suit a type of rider like Rodriguez. It’s a pity Dan Martin crashed out as he would also relish such a stage.

We’re not expecting huge time gaps on these early summit finishes and it may be too early in the race for a rider like Basso, Uran or Quintana to show their cards or wear the pink jersey, so there are opportunities for a sneaky win with riders like Nicholas Roche, Domenico Pozzovivo, Damiano Cunego, Daniel Moreno and Wilco Kelderman all capable of attacking to victory. Yesterday’s winner Diego Ulissi could also be in the mix again if he can hang in on the earlier slopes.

Rodriguez never shies away for a finish that suits his attributes and one suspects he’ll try and take any seconds he can get after losing grand tours before by small margins. He also has time to make up after a poor TTT in Belfast. On the other hand, Cadel Evans, who is sitting pretty on GC, is very good at these finishes as well and wouldn’t mind taking another time bonus as he did in stage 5.

We’re predicting that Dutchmen Pieter Weening will be wearing pink this evening.

Favourites
Joaquim Rodriguez
Daniel Moreno
Cadel Evans

Outsiders
Domenico Pozzovivo
Damiano Cunego
Wilco Kelderman
Nicholas Roche
Diego Ulissi