Sardinia is to host the Grande Partenza in the Giro d’Italia for the third time in history. In 1991, the Grand Tour started with the stage Olbia-Olbia and in 2007 the race opened with a team time trial at Caprera, a small island just offshore in the north of Sardinia.
The 2017 Giro d’Italia leaves from Alghero, a town in northwestern Sardinia. It used to be part of Catalonia and the Catalan influences are still all around.
Stage 1 in the Giro d’Italia runs on coastal roads further north. The stage is not too mountainous, still, we can expect a fierce battle to be in the break of the day in order to take the first blue mountain jersey. The first KOM-points are to be gained at the Multeddu and La Contra, peaks that are crested at kilometre 68 and kilometre 90.2. The other one, San Pantaleo, looms with 24 kilometres remaining. It’s a 3.25 kilometres climb at 5.6% with maximum gradients of 12% halfway.
Once before the Giro d’Italia visited arrival place Olbia. Back in 1991 Philippe Casado sprinted to victory. The Moroccan born Frenchman bested his compatriot Didier Theuex with the tiniest of margins. A finish photo was needed to decide on the stage win and first pink jersey in that edition.
The first three riders on the line in Olbia take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the last intermediate sprint (at kilometre 173.2) comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 1st stage 2017 Giro.
Giro 2017 stage 1: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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