The race in Rome is not entirely flat, but no pro-cyclist worries about the rolling roads in the ancient city. So if the sprint teams don’t fall asleep – which would be surprising with thousands of roaring tifosi along the track -, the Giro d’Italia should come down to a bunch sprint.
The home straight is paved with sanpietrini, or sampietrini – cubic cobblestones.
Elia Viviani is the only world class sprinter on the start list, which showed from the start. He sprinted to victory in the 2nd stage and the 3rd stage. The Italian’s flawless Giro-campaign was interrupted by Sam Bennett though, when the Irishman outgunned him on stage 7 to claim his first ever Grand Tour victory. Yet, there was more to come. Bennett went on to win the 12th stage on Imola racing circuit with an impressive long-range sprint, while Viviani was nowhere to be seen as he was dropped earlier in the demanding finale.
Yet, the Italian bounced back in the 13th stage and 17th stage, winning both sprints ahead of Bennett.
Favourites 21st stage 2018 Giro d’Italia
*** Elia Viviani, Sam Bennett
** Sacha Modolo, Danny van Poppel
* Niccolo Bonifazio, Jens Debusschere
Read also: route 21st stage 2018 Giro d’Italia.
Giro d’Italia 2018 stage 21: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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