Giro 2017: Favourites

The 100th Giro d’Italia was headlined by Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali, yet the field was much more impressive than that. Other strong contenders were Geraint Thomas, Thibaut Pinot, Adam Yates, Ilnur Zakarin, Steven Kruijswijk, Tejay van Garderen and, of course, the winner Tom Dumoulin. Ewan, Greipel and Gaviria were the fast men, with Gaviria winning four stages. (Slideshow route/profile)

Read about the overall contenders or click links in the table below for the favourites to win individual stages. Obviously, all these articles were written before the start of the race.

Favourites 2017 Giro d’Italia – per stage:

	Date	Favourites	Length	Type
1	Fr 5-5	Sprint for maglia rosa	206.0 km	flat
2	Sa 6-5	Sprinter, attacker, or fast descender	221.0 km	hills
3	Su 7-5	Sprint fest in Cagliari	148.0 km	flat
	Mo 8-5	Rest day
4	Tu 9-5	Climb to pink	181.0 km	mountains
5	We 10-5	Sprint from Sicily…?	159.0 km	hills, flat finish
6	Th 11-5	Power to the punchers	217.0 km	finish uphill
7	Fr 12-5	Fast men’s fury	224.0 km	flat
8	Sa 13-5	Puncheurs with good descending skills	189.0 km	hills, flat start
9	Su 14-5	Thoroughbred climber on Blockhaus	139.0 km	mountain finish
	Mo 15-5	Rest day
10	Tu 16-5	Perfect day for Tom Dumoulin	39.8 km	ITT, hills
11	We 17-5	Chance for fast descenders	161.0 km	hills
12	Th 18-5	Back to the fast men	234.0 km	hills, flat finish
13	Fr 19-5	Sprinters battle it out in Tortona	167.0 km	flat
14	Sa 20-5	Climber for Oropa trophy	131.0 km	mountain finish
15	Su 21-5	The Giro’s Tour of Lombardy	199.0 km	hills, flat start
	Mo 22-5	Rest day
16	Tu 23-5	King of the Stelvio	222.0 km	mountains
17	We 24-5	Break away boys with climbing legs	219.0 km	mountains
18	Th 25-5	Cobbled finale in the high mountains	137.0 km	mountains
19	Fr 26-5	Big names battle on steep last climb	191.0 km	mountains
20	Sa 27-5	Showdown of shattered GC contenders	190.0 km	mountains
21	Su 28-5	Perfect day for Tom Dumoulin #2	29.3 km	ITT, flat