The stage is set, the final mountains await. The time for talk is over. On Saturday the 194km stage high into the spectacular Dolomites offers the final chance to go on the attack in this year’s Giro d’Italia in the hope of gaining precious seconds before Sunday’s concluding time trial around Verona.
The stage represents the chance of a lifetime for race leader Richard Carapaz (Movistar) to set up the overall victory, while Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) knows he has to pull off perhaps the biggest exploit of his entire career if he is to topple Carapaz and win the Giro d’Italia for the third time.
Nibali also has to gain time on Roglic if he wants to at least hold onto his second place, while the Slovenian will ride to defend his podium place and hope to take advantage of the battle between Nibali and Carapaz. Many are expecting Nibali to go all-in and attack early; in a final attempt to crack his rival’s and make another glorious turn around just like in 2016.
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Nibali will line-up in Feltre on Saturday morning 1:54 down on Carapaz, with Roglic tantalizingly close at 2:16.
That is probably too much even for the Jumbo-Visma leader to pull back in the 17km Verona time trial but Nibali is only 22 seconds ahead and a far more realistic objective. To different degrees and in different ways, Carapaz, Nibali, and Roglic have to be wary of Mikel Landa (Movistar). The enigmatic Basque rider is 3:03 down on his teammate but looks to be the best climber in this year’s Corsa Rosa. He could play a major role in helping Carapaz become the first ever Ecuadorian winner of a Grand Tour, or become the loose cannon of the Corsa Rosa if he decides to ride for himself and joins attacks from Nibali, Roglic or others.
Behind the fight for the pink jersey, there is a myriad of other battles about to be played out on in the Dolomites. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) will try to defend his best young rider’s white jersey, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) is determined to defend his fifth place overall, with other riders are ready to fight for places in the top ten. Hugh Carthy and Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First) are 14:51 and 16:51 back but will be riding to pull back time and climb into the top ten.
The last big mountain stage
Will Nibali ‘do a Froome’ and attack on the Passo Menghen with 140km to go?
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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