Giro 2020 Favourites stage 6: Strong sprinters in movie set

The first half of the race serves two ascents of more than 10 kilometres, but the gradients are shallow – 4%, at the most. Perfect for a bunch of attackers to make a pact.

Whether they will make it to the finish is doubtful. The middle part of the race is virtually flat, making it easy for the peloton to control the breakaway.

With roughly 30 kilometres left a 6 kilometres climb at 5% appears. The descent leads onto a flat section before the route continues in undulating fashion all the way to the finish line in Matera.

The steepest part in the finale rises at 6.3% for 750 metres with 2 kilometres out, which will hurt – and/or drop – pure sprinters. But the likes of Sagan, Matthews and Ulissi are strong enough to survive these sections. A likely scenario is that their teams are going to work together to reel in the breakaway in time.

The last kilometre runs false flat uphill and the last 500 metres go up at 3.3%. A sprint of strong sprinters is on the cards, although a late attack could also be successful.

Finish town Matera is stunning. It is not without reason that dozens of movies have been recorded here. The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, for instance.

Favourites stage 6 Giro d’Italia 2020
*** Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan, Diego Ulissi
** Fabio Felline, Fernando Gaviria, Enrico Battaglin
* Simon Clarke, Mikel Honoré, Mikkel Bjerg, Sebastián Molano

Another interesting read: route stage 6 Giro d’Italia 2020.