Most probably a sprinter. The only mountain may be long – 19.5 kilometres -, but the average gradient of roughly 4% is nothing to worry about. Especially since dropped sprinters have ample opportunity to make it back to the peloton. There are almost 100 kilometres remaining at the summit of the Portella Mandrazzi.
Two years ago the Giro crossed the Portella Mandrazzi in a similar type of stage, although the finish was much closer to the summit back then. While some sprinters couldn’t regain contact with the main group, Arnaud Démare outgunned Peter Sagan and Davide Ballerini on the line.
Mark Cavendish won the first bunch sprint of this edition. In stage 3, the British phenomenon outgunned Arnaud Démare and Fernando Gaviria with a powerful performance.
Favourites 5th stage 2022 Giro d’Italia
*** Caleb Ewan, Mark Cavendish
** Mathieu van der Poel, Arnaud Démare, Fernando Gaviria
* Cees Bol, Biniam Girmay, Phil Bauhaus, Giacomo Nizzolo
Another interesting read: route 5th stage 2022 Giro.