A trip along the coast with some tough climbs in the second half. Another day for Narvaez?
Tempi di Massa: a day of two races. Filippo Ganna won the stage, gobbling up the riders ahead of him a ravenous Pacman. At times he was closing in on the motorbike outriders, they certainly didn’t pick the winner but probably extended the margin of victory. Only two riders got within two minutes of him, and he was more than 2km/h faster than second placed Thymen Arensman. He was done by 3.00pm which left Italian broadcaster RAI hours to savour in Ganna’s “masterpiece”. It was a triumph, but in the sense of reliability rather than overcoming.
Among the GC contenders Arensman fared best, we could predict this but all the same he was ahead with his time gains, helped by a mild flop from Jonas Vingegaard who didn’t gain much time on his GC rivals at all. But mildly so, like he’d been in the Vuelta and Tour last year, the surprise he stayed in this groove.
Vingegaard is just where he needs to be. He’s got 90 seconds on Arensman and hasn’t climbed an Alp yet but already knows he can drop everyone else in the mountains. Afonso Eulalio stays in pink which means Bahrain will work and take the load off Visma. The only issue is whether Vingegaard was below par because of something like an illness but he seemed bouncy and relieved the finish rather than ashen and anxious.
The Route: 195km and flat dash out of Tuscany. It’s after La Spezia that the road starts climbing the Passo della Foce, unmarked above but 3km at 8% most of the way as it goes into the Cinque Terre, a national park with rugged hills that offer great cycling, and remote fishing villages that are prone to overtourism in the summer and can feel more like Shinjuku station in rush hour.
The Termine pass is rarely steep but twists up an old road through woodland, good breakaway terrain. The same for the Colle di Guaitarola, a barren road with one steep section about 2km in.
The Colla dei Scioli is the steepest climb of the day, 6km at 6% but with the last 2km at over 10%.
The final climb of the day to Cogorno is hard going, a steep start, then a twisting road with some 14% mid-way on hairpins. The race was planning to come down here but got changed after the route was presented; if it’s a dicey descent it makes for a hard climb.
The Finish: downhill from Cogorno to Lavagna, the road has several points with no vision around bends but more often plenty of good tarmac. Once by the sea front there’s a detour back around some roads in town that climb via some gentle hairpin bends, it’s not obvious in the roadbook. But the final 2km are flat as the race heads back towards the sea front.
The Contenders: the finish suits punchy riders but they’ll have to get away on the fast flat roads in the first half and having had two rest days (NB most riders don’t race the TT stage hard) plenty will be raring to go.
Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE) is a default pick as he’s suited to this kind of course, in-form and can count on what is left of his team for support. He’s shown he can win from a sprint or go solo. As we saw with his second win he can bide his time as others try to escape in the final hour and cancel each other out. So far, so easy but getting in the right move is not obvious and if he does he’ll be marked. Team mates Igor Arrieta and Jan Christen both have a good chance but with the latter he’s looked good on paper but converting this into a win is proving harder.
We’ve seen riders take multiple stages (Magnier, Vingegaard, Narvaez) so can Thomas Silva (XDS-Astana) get a second? He and Christian Scaroni have a good chance. If doubles count then maybe Magnus Sheffield (Ineos) wins after Ganna yesterday?
Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) is another rider to keep tipping but so far coming up short. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) is now stage hunting and today suits, he is capable of winning an Alpine stage too but can use the climbs today to his advantage, just as long as he shows a bit more craft and guile.
Other Italian picks could be Simone Gualdi (Lotto-Intermarché), Francesco Busatto (Alpecin-PremierTech) and finish town local Andrea Racagni (Soudal-Quickstep) but out-foxing and out-riding the field is a big ask for them all.
Martin Tjøtta (Uno-X) was last yesterday, presumably saving himself. He’s had two top-10s so far and has a good chance but how to win, he’s untested when it comes to beating a World Tour field.
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Narvaez, Silva, Ciccone |
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Tjotta, Arrieta, Van Eetvelt, J-P Lopez, Sheffield, Christen |
Weather: sunny but only 19°C
TV: KM0 is at 12.30 and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST. Tune in early for the action to get in the breakaway.
Postcard from Chiavari
The local rider today? If you read the preview above you’ll reply Andrea Raccagni of Soudal-Quickstep. He grew up in the finish town but he’s since moved away to San Marino.
Further along the coast from today’s finish is Recco. Turn inland here and you’ll climb to Avegno. The road up is daubed with “Finn”. Did the Giro come here before and a Finn Fisher-Black supporter go to work? No, instead it’s for 19 year-old Lorenzo Finn, the Under-23 world champion.
Finn’s father is British and works locally as a building surveyor, his mother is Italian. He grew up in this area and rides for Italy. Italian? Yes but he’s very Ligurian as apparently his favourite dish is pasta with pesto, but he also told La Gazzetta his sporting idol is Geraint Thomas. He speaks both languages fluently and rather than having to belong to one camp he’s probably more marketable because of wider appeal and fluency.
The junior world champion in 2024, he won the U23 title in his first year with the seniors. Until recently he was talked about in the same revered tones as his contemporary Paul Seixas because the pair sparred regularly as juniors. While Seixas has already turned pro and is scaling the career ladder like Alex Honnold, Finn is in the second of a two year apprenticeship as an Under-23 on Red Bull’s development team. His progress is still impressive.
This is all part of a deal where he will turn pro for them next year, as in join the World Tour team. He’s already ridden with them, having won the team time trial day in the Trofeo Majorca races and in the recent Tour of the Alps he was with the front group when team mate Giulio Pellizzari rode away for the win in the Val Martello summit finish and Finn finished sixth, ahead of plenty of other good climbers. Only he broke his wrist soon after so is injured right now but he looks like more than a climber, indeed there’s an outward physical resemblance to Tadej Pogačar. If it wasn’t for Paul Seixas many would be raving about Finn instead.