Giro 2021 Favourites stage 18: Sprinters or attackers?
The 18th stage suits the sprinters, but since we are in the third week of the Giro the odds are that the attackers will have it their way. The route adds up to 231 kilometres and the finale features a number of hills. (Slideshow route/profile)
It would be a bold investment for a sprint team to control the breakaway, while the finale is quite tricky. The last 35 kilometres feature four climbs. Not long, not steep, but enough to hurt a struggling sprinter. To make a sprint even more doubtful – Ewan, Merlier, Groenewegen, Nizzolo… there is hardly a sprinter left in Italy
In the first week of the Giro it would have been something else entirely. A fresh sprinter should be able to survive the 4% slopes. But no rider is fresh after almost three weeks and more than 3,000 kilometres of racing.
To get back to the question in the headline. Probably, the odds favour the attackers in the 18th stage. Yet, one can never be entirely sure. Riders like Sagan or Ulissi could order their team to control the breakaway.
Favourites 18th stage 2021 Giro d’Italia
*** Patrick Bevin, Diego Ulissi, Rémi Cavagna, Taco van der Hoorn
** Mikkel Honoré, Jan Tratnik, Andrea Pasqualon, Edoardo Affini
* Peter Sagan, Andrea Vendrame, Enrico Battaglin, Nikias Arndt
Another interesting read: route stage 18 Giro d’Italia 2021.
Giro d’Italia 2021 stage 18: finale route, profiles
Click on the images to zoom
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Cycling Calendar 2022
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