<\/a><\/p>\n A sprint stage? With some climbing mid-way this could resemble the race to Cosenza last week where Movistar got to work on cracking the sprinters only for Jhonatan Narvaez to profit but the pickings for the sprinters are running out so they really need a result today.<\/p>\n Stage 11 Review<\/strong>: a superb day at the Giro. Show someone footage from this stage on a damp day in late November and it ought to be identifiable as the Giro within three seconds.<\/p>\n The first attempt at a breakaway didn\u2019t work, on days like this waves of riders might have to attack for the sake of it in order to soften the field so that an hour or two later their higher ranked colleagues can move.<\/p>\n Once the flat roads were done and the race climbed out of Tuscany Enric Mas and Jhonatan Narvaez made their moves. We can imagine the sinking feeling others in the lead must have experienced when Narvaez jumped across.<\/p>\n You can often break races down into phases, such as when riders fight to go clear, when the breakaway has established a lead and so on. Only such moments of stasis felt brief, riders in the 12 man breakaway kept making moves. With 40km to go there was a crash as well taking out Van Eeetvelt, Zana and Scaroni, all three contenders for the day.<\/p>\n Moments later Aleksandr Vlasov attacked with Jasper Stuyven and Narvaez. They were caught and things regrouped. On the last marked climb Mas accelerated and only Narvaez could follow leaving the likes of Chris Harper and Vlasov struggling in the heat.<\/p>\n Mas tried a final attack in the streets of Chiavari but this hardly an ambush, he stood up on the pedals and Narvaez responded while seated. In the finish the pair could sense the chasers closing in and Mas was able to put Narvaez on the front but that was as tactical as it got. The Ecuadorian\u2019s sprint win felt inevitable and he delivered his third stage win.<\/p>\n If Mas got smoked in the sprint the consolation is that he is able to make the moves and once the climbs get longer in the coming days he ought to find terrain to suit even more.<\/p>\n Narvaez is now second and 19 points shorts of Magnier in the ciclamino<\/em> points competition. The points scale<\/a> is weighted to sprint stages so it\u2019s advantage Magnier but another raid or two by Narvaez, and there are stages to suit<\/a>, could see the UAE rider take both the intermediate point and the stage gains. \u201cCould\u201d as in this competition isn\u2019t there yet\u2026 but Magnier can\u2019t afford to miss out on days that suit. Talking of which\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n The Route<\/strong>: a reverse Milan-Sanremo? Yes, but think of the 2020 August edition which avoided the coastal road so as not to block beachgoers, and instead went via the Colle di Nava. This picks up some of that route but uses tunnels to avoid climbing too much at the start, and all on a big road. A reverse Milan-Sanremo? Again yes, but think of the start of the century when they climbed the Bric Berton as an alternative to the Passo Turchino which was closed because of landslides and roadworks.<\/p>\n After 95km the race heads inland. The Colle Giovo and the Bric Berton are solid climbs, it\u2019s here sprinters can be put under difficulty as they have long 6% sections some some 10% pats too. There\u2019s 50km to the finish via the Gavi vineyards.<\/p>\n The Finish<\/strong>: the last three kilometres take a straight flat road out of town.<\/p>\n Postcards here have lamented the Giro finishing in humdrum industrial zones when there\u2019s a beautiful town to promote, but there\u2019s a special reason for the finish and today\u2019s postcard below explains more.<\/p>\n The Contenders<\/strong>: the sprinters\u2019 teams will want this stage as there\u2019s only the Milan and Rome criterium stages left for them and today is just about within reach. Or Movistar can do a repeat of Stage 4\u2019s elimination race and aim to set up Orluis Aular<\/strong> for the win. NSN have been hard to spot in this Giro but Corbin Strong<\/strong> could feature. Today\u2019s stage has points to eliminate sprinters but also more chance to get back on.<\/p>\n Paul Magnier<\/strong> (Soudal-Quickstep) can handle some climbs so this gives him an advantage today but the long finish is open to plenty of they\u2019re able to cope with the Bric Berton.<\/p>\n Weather<\/strong>: summer is here, 28\u00b0C.<\/p>\n TV<\/strong>: KM0 is at 1.15pm and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST<\/strong>. Tune in for climbing mid-way around 3.30pm.<\/p>\n Postcard from Novi Ligure<\/strong> Back to the finish town and ask Italians what they associate with Novi and the answer probably begins with a C but it\u2019s not Coppi. Instead Novi is a brand of chocolate found all over Italy and comes from here. Today\u2019s finish is right outside the factory and that\u2019s no coincidence: Novi is the \u201cofficial chocolate\u201d of the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n The race has a slew of official products. Lauretana is the \u201cofficial water\u201d of the Giro d\u2019Italia and it markets itself with the strapline: l\u2019acqua pi\u00f9 leggera d\u2019Europa<\/em>, or \u201cthe lightest water in Europe\u201d which could be good to know if you want to save weight in your bidons.<\/p>\n Hungarian meat company Kometa is the \u201cofficial cured meats\u201d supplier and Wonderful Pistachio is the \u201cofficial pistachio\u201d brand. Closer to home Rana is the \u201cofficial pasta\u201d brand, Altograno produces the official cereal products like biscuits and Bialetti is the \u201cofficial coffee\u201d.<\/p>\n If consuming all of these begins to overwhelm, or you\u2019ve got indigestion from something unofficial, you can head to the toilet, drop your \u201cofficial trousers\u201d by Tramarossa and then clean up with Regina toilet paper which which is of course the official supplier of the Giro (yesterday\u2019s stage start was outside their HQ).<\/p>\n There\u2019s official insurance, official weather forecasting, official wine, official luggage and official shoes. Socage<\/a> sounds like the sock supplier but it\u2019s the official \u201ctruck-mounted cherry picker\u201d company. All these sponsorships are tiered, it\u2019ll cost you a lot more to sponsor the maglia rosa<\/em> than to bid for the \u201cofficial trouser\u201d ticket.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible to ignore the Giro in Italy if it\u2019s not causing traffic mayhem in your town, if you don\u2019t watch RAI\u2019s daytime output, or you don\u2019t reach the final pages of the Gazzetta Dello Sport newspaper too. But walk into a supermarket and you find pink all over the place. Chilled cabinets laden with Rana pasta, shelves stacked Regina\u2019s paper rolls, Bialetti coffee with Giro logos and more, all with pink packaging this month, all this surreptitiously signals the race is on. If you visit a supermarket to see for yourself, make it a Conad because it is the \u201cofficial supermarket\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/3773177d509d050a43dc067530d6868c\/5e819fcc7d3de6dd-80\/s2048x3072\/eae79e7b80a54a5fd795c1b47b3bc383f765c109.jpg\")
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\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/inrng.com\/medias\/images\/threerings.jpg\")
<\/td>\nMagnier, Aular<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/inrng.com\/medias\/images\/tworings.jpg\")
<\/td>\nMilan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/inrng.com\/medias\/images\/onering.jpg\")
<\/td>\nStrong, Lund, Turner, Vernon, Silva<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n ![](\"https:\/\/inrng.com\/medias\/images\/giro2026cartolinanovi.jpg\")
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Today\u2019s finish in Novi Ligure is famous in cycling for Fausto Coppi. The campionissimo<\/em> started cycling as a delivery boy here. Is it possible that someone delivering takeaway meals for Glovo or Deliveroo wins the Giro in ten years\u2019 time?<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/afc6a035cce3a1e55a809086c47e3ee5\/fce76bd4e633297d-ef\/s1280x1920\/ef408b10ae7377c243a253bd5de4f8d16cc30184.jpg\")
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