After 2 stages for climbers and puncheurs, not to mention a serious GC shake-up, the sprinters return to the spotlight today in what should be a bunch finish. Expect the same men to be challenging and 1 of them should be wearing the red points jersey at this point.
There are many capable sprinters in the Giro peloton this year and with no Kittel, Cav or Greipel, the opportunity for Grand Tour success increases dramatically. Bouhanni, Viviani, Farrar and Swift should be in the mix and let’s not forget Alessandro Petacchi (image), who has won numerous stages in the past and should captain OPQS in the sprints.
Bouhanni starts as favourite given his stage 4 win and it looks like the Frenchman is developing into a sprinter who will challenge the big three in the near future.
Michael Matthews deserves a mention, he was supposed to be a sprinter right? After winning a mountain stage in pink, it’s hard to know if he’ll get himself involved today but writing him off in any way at the moment could make us look very silly!
Favourites:
Nacer Bouhanni
Alessandro Pettachi
Boy Van Poppel
Ben Swift
Elia Viviani
Michael Matthews
Tyler Farrar
Giro 2014 stage 7: Images and more
Click on the images to zoom
Related articles Riders and teams - Giro 2014 Favourites - Giro 2014 Withdrawals - Giro 2014 Favourites - Giro 2014 The Route - Giro 2014 More articles Vuelta 2020: Soler solos to victory, Roglic still leader
Giro 2020: O'Connor climbs to victory, Almeida still leader
Giro 2020 Route stage 18: Pinzolo – Laghi di Cancano
Giro 2020 Favourites stage 18: Grueling journey over the Stelvio
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 3: Lodosa - Laguna Negra
Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 3: Decisive steep last kilometre
Giro 2020 Route stage 19: Morbegno - Asti
Giro 2020 Favourites stage 19: Last chance for fast finishers
Giro 2020 Route stage 20: Alba – Sestriere
Giro 2020 Favourites stage 20: Four brutal mountains in 100 km
Giro 2020 Route stage 21: Cernusco di Naviglio – Milan
Giro 2020 Favourites stage 21: For pure ITT specialists
Giro 2020: The Route
Giro 2020: Riders
Giro 2020: Withdrawals
Vuelta 2020: Route
Vuelta 2020: Riders
Vuelta 2020: Withdrawals
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 2: Pamplona - Lekunberri
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 4: Garray - Ejea de los Caballeros
Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 4: Bennett vs BORA
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 5: Huesca - Sabiñánigo
Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 5: Attackers in Pyrenees' foothills
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 6: Biescas - Tourmalet
Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 6: GC clash on the Tourmalet
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 7: Vitoria Gasteiz - Valdegovia
Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 7: Breakaway day
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 8: Logroño - Moncalvillo
Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 8: Mountain goats on irregular finish climb
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 9: Castrillo del Val - Aguilar de Campoo
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 10: Castro Urdiales – Suances
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 11: Villaviciosa – La Farrapona
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 12: Pola Laviana - Angliru
Vuelta 2020 Route stage 13: Muros - Mirador de Ézaro
Cycling Calendar 2020
