5 Debutants To Watch At The 2018 Giro d'Italia
The 101st Giro d'Italia is absent of some big names as far as both the general classification and sprints are concerned, which opens the door to an open race as many young riders make their debut at the Corsa Rosa.
Here are five riders making their Giro debut who could very likely produce a career propelling performance.
'Superman' is the rider Astana General Manager, Alexander Vinokourov, has chosen to bestow the task of filling the cleats vacated by Fabio Aru, who departed Astana last year to join ranks with Quick-Step's Daniel Martin and Katusha's Alexander Kristoff on a lucrative contract at UAE Team Emirates.
That said, Aru didn't exactly leave the Kazakh outfit with a particularly glowing CV. The Italian showed tremendous promise throughout 2015, finishing second at the Giro and winning the Vuelta, but had no notable results in 2016.
His final year at Astana was a bit closer to the expected standard - with a decent fifth at the 2017 Tour - but a complete capitulation on the Angliru in the finale of stage 20 of the 2017 Vuelta sealed what would be an acrimonious departure. Lopez's talent was on full show during that race, eventually finishing five places higher and 12 minutes faster than Aru on general classification.
Simon Yates is developing - and has been for four years already - into quite a neat Grand Tour contender.
Yates boasted leadership roles at the 2016 Vuelta and 2017 Tour and emerged with a sixth and seventh respectively, which in any measure shows the Bury-born rider is an emblem of consistency even in the company of the world's best. Apply that consistency to next week's Giro and you could almost feel comfortable putting money on him for a top 10.
Whether Simon was initially penned to lead Mitchelton-Scott for the Giro or not at the point his brother sustained a pelvic fracture at the Volta Catalunya isn't really what matters. What does matter is that Simon had better results over the spring than Adam - second overall at Paris-Nice and fourth at the Volta Catalunya - so maybe his twins unavailability is a blessing in disguise for Matt White and co.
Similarly to Lopez, Yates isn't the first nor 30th name that comes to mind when you think of Grand Tour time trial riders, but the sheer number of summit finishes at this year's Corsa Rosa (eight) means that may not make as much of a difference.
Yates' teammate, Esteban Chaves (who will be wearing the leader's squad number but lacks any form), will be a shout for the overall too. The diminutive Colombian finished second in the 2016 Giro and only lost the maglia rosa on the final day to Vincenzo Nibali. Much like Yates, he'll struggle to keep with Dumoulin et al on the time trial stages, but the climbs should suit him down to a t.
This year's Giro is very thin on noteworthy sprinters. Of the 21 stages, only six are guaranteed sprints, which has led to the likes of Andre Greipel, Dylan Groenewegen, Peter Sagan, Caleb Ewan, Marcel Kittel, Alexander Kristoff and Arnaud Démare giving the race a miss.
The earmarked sprint stages are equally spread throughout the three weeks, so the rider who wins the green jersey will have to hang on through every phase of mountains. It'll be a grueling task, and it's understandable that so few notable sprinters are travelling.
The only recognised "big name" on the start list is Quick-Step's Elia Viviani - statistically the third most successful sprinter this season behind Peter Sagan and Arnaud Demare - but after him there's a decent list of second and third tier sprinters: Sacha Modolo (EF Education First-Drapac), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestini-Selle Italia), Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal), Kristijan Sbaragli (Israel Cycling Academy) and Andrea Guardini (Bardiani-CSF) will be keen to claim some Grand Tour stage wins with so many of their counterparts missing.
One other such rider is Bahrain-Merida's starlet, Niccolo Bonifazio. The 24-year old has had a few good races this year, registering eight top 10s across four stage races, starting with a creditable second place behind Fernando Gaviria on stage one of the Vuelta San Juan in January.
Usually playing second fiddle to Sonny Colbrelli, as you'd expect, Giro 101 is a perfect opportunity for the Italian to stamp his name on a few stages with the absence of so many regulars at this level.
Bonifazio has only started one Grand Tour before - the 2017 Vuelta - and didn't finish, so that doesn't bode well for the young rider claiming the green jersey at the end, but he could still come away with a few good results.
24-year old Schachmann is very much a rider whose stock is steadily rising. He took his first pro win at last month's Volta Catalunya from a remarkable breakaway with Diego Rubio (Burgos B-H) on a challenging stage six, and has regularly finished in the top 20 of stage races - 2017 Amgen Tour of California, 2017 Tour de Romandie and 2018 Volta Algarve.
A dab hand when it comes to time trialing - he was fourth at the German national time trial championships last year - Schachmann has shown his climbing chops this season too, with an eighth at Fleche Wallonne and 16th on the Queen stage of the Volta Algarve, a mere 10 seconds behind stage winner, Michal Kwiatkowski.
Quick-Step's Giro squad is incredibly strong and built around Elia Viviani - who hasn't ridden a Grand Tour for two years - for the sprint stages, potentially leaving Schachmann in a free role.
Perhaps he'll go for breakaways, stage wins and the mountains jersey or, given how little pressure is on him, he could try his hand at general classification. Either way he'll have a lot of freedom to do whatever he feels up to.
Carapaz is the latest South American star to explode onto the scene in the last year, following in the footsteps of Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Daniel Martinez (EF Education First-Drapac). The 24-year old Ecuadorian is on hot form coming into Giro 101 after winning his first stage race at the Vuelta Asturias last week, and makes up part of a rather experimental Movistar team.
Carlos Betancur leads the team, but Carapaz is the only name in the eight that has any meaningful recent results. It's likely Movistar will be targeting stage wins on the summit finishes, with Antonio Pedrero, Eduardo Sepulveda, Ruben Fernandez and Dayer Quintana all under the age of 27 with the freedom to perform without having to work for Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler, Mikel Landa or Nairo Quintana.
Carapaz probably wouldn't have been on everyone's radar until he registered a surprise 11th at Paris-Nice - the race won by his teammate, Marc Soler. He was very consistent in second tier continental races last year, coming second at the Route du Sud and GP Industria & Artigianato, fourth at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and sixth at the Vuelta Madrid.
He's shown he has a fast finish too, twice coming fifth in the stage five and six sprints at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. Time trialing is also a skill he's shown capability in, coming ninth at the aforementioned Coppi e Bartali to secure third overall. The Ecuadorian has only ridden one Grand Tour before, the 2017 Vuelta, and finished 36th overall, demonstrating he shouldn't have a problem completing the three weeks at the Giro.
Here are five riders making their Giro debut who could very likely produce a career propelling performance.
Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)
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| Miguel Angel Lopez wins stage two of the Tour of the Alps ahead of eventual overall winner Thibaut Pinot Photo credit: todaycycling.com |
That said, Aru didn't exactly leave the Kazakh outfit with a particularly glowing CV. The Italian showed tremendous promise throughout 2015, finishing second at the Giro and winning the Vuelta, but had no notable results in 2016.
His final year at Astana was a bit closer to the expected standard - with a decent fifth at the 2017 Tour - but a complete capitulation on the Angliru in the finale of stage 20 of the 2017 Vuelta sealed what would be an acrimonious departure. Lopez's talent was on full show during that race, eventually finishing five places higher and 12 minutes faster than Aru on general classification.
Lopez's 2018 has been a picture of consistency; second at the Tour of Oman, third at the Abu Dhabi Tour and most recently third at the Tour of the Alps, now recognised as the final preparation race for the Giro, taking over from the Tour de Romandie. His only anomaly this season was 16th at Tirreno-Adriatico, a race which massively leans towards time trial specialists, which Lopez definitely isn't. A functioning time trial rider, but not a specialist.
The time trials at this years Giro d'Italia - a technical 9.7km around Jerusalem on stage one and a 34.2km rouleurs course on stage 16 - will probably restrict the Colombian to fighting for a top five spot or maybe a podium place only.
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)
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| Simon Yates wins the final stage of the 2018 Volta Catalunya Photo credit: cyclingweekly.com |
Yates boasted leadership roles at the 2016 Vuelta and 2017 Tour and emerged with a sixth and seventh respectively, which in any measure shows the Bury-born rider is an emblem of consistency even in the company of the world's best. Apply that consistency to next week's Giro and you could almost feel comfortable putting money on him for a top 10.
Whether Simon was initially penned to lead Mitchelton-Scott for the Giro or not at the point his brother sustained a pelvic fracture at the Volta Catalunya isn't really what matters. What does matter is that Simon had better results over the spring than Adam - second overall at Paris-Nice and fourth at the Volta Catalunya - so maybe his twins unavailability is a blessing in disguise for Matt White and co.
Similarly to Lopez, Yates isn't the first nor 30th name that comes to mind when you think of Grand Tour time trial riders, but the sheer number of summit finishes at this year's Corsa Rosa (eight) means that may not make as much of a difference.
Yates' teammate, Esteban Chaves (who will be wearing the leader's squad number but lacks any form), will be a shout for the overall too. The diminutive Colombian finished second in the 2016 Giro and only lost the maglia rosa on the final day to Vincenzo Nibali. Much like Yates, he'll struggle to keep with Dumoulin et al on the time trial stages, but the climbs should suit him down to a t.
Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida)
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| Bonifazio (middle) wins stage one of the 2018 Tour of Croatia Photo credit: merida-bikes.com |
The earmarked sprint stages are equally spread throughout the three weeks, so the rider who wins the green jersey will have to hang on through every phase of mountains. It'll be a grueling task, and it's understandable that so few notable sprinters are travelling.
The only recognised "big name" on the start list is Quick-Step's Elia Viviani - statistically the third most successful sprinter this season behind Peter Sagan and Arnaud Demare - but after him there's a decent list of second and third tier sprinters: Sacha Modolo (EF Education First-Drapac), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Triestini-Selle Italia), Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal), Kristijan Sbaragli (Israel Cycling Academy) and Andrea Guardini (Bardiani-CSF) will be keen to claim some Grand Tour stage wins with so many of their counterparts missing.
One other such rider is Bahrain-Merida's starlet, Niccolo Bonifazio. The 24-year old has had a few good races this year, registering eight top 10s across four stage races, starting with a creditable second place behind Fernando Gaviria on stage one of the Vuelta San Juan in January.
Usually playing second fiddle to Sonny Colbrelli, as you'd expect, Giro 101 is a perfect opportunity for the Italian to stamp his name on a few stages with the absence of so many regulars at this level.
Bonifazio has only started one Grand Tour before - the 2017 Vuelta - and didn't finish, so that doesn't bode well for the young rider claiming the green jersey at the end, but he could still come away with a few good results.
Max Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors)
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| Schachmann celebrates as he evades the sprinters on stage six of the Volta Catalunya to take his first pro win Photo credit: velonews.com |
A dab hand when it comes to time trialing - he was fourth at the German national time trial championships last year - Schachmann has shown his climbing chops this season too, with an eighth at Fleche Wallonne and 16th on the Queen stage of the Volta Algarve, a mere 10 seconds behind stage winner, Michal Kwiatkowski.
Quick-Step's Giro squad is incredibly strong and built around Elia Viviani - who hasn't ridden a Grand Tour for two years - for the sprint stages, potentially leaving Schachmann in a free role.
Perhaps he'll go for breakaways, stage wins and the mountains jersey or, given how little pressure is on him, he could try his hand at general classification. Either way he'll have a lot of freedom to do whatever he feels up to.
Richard Carapaz (Movistar)
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| Richard Carapaz wins stage two of the Vuelta Asturias Photo credit: larepublica.ec |
Carlos Betancur leads the team, but Carapaz is the only name in the eight that has any meaningful recent results. It's likely Movistar will be targeting stage wins on the summit finishes, with Antonio Pedrero, Eduardo Sepulveda, Ruben Fernandez and Dayer Quintana all under the age of 27 with the freedom to perform without having to work for Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler, Mikel Landa or Nairo Quintana.
Carapaz probably wouldn't have been on everyone's radar until he registered a surprise 11th at Paris-Nice - the race won by his teammate, Marc Soler. He was very consistent in second tier continental races last year, coming second at the Route du Sud and GP Industria & Artigianato, fourth at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and sixth at the Vuelta Madrid.
He's shown he has a fast finish too, twice coming fifth in the stage five and six sprints at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali. Time trialing is also a skill he's shown capability in, coming ninth at the aforementioned Coppi e Bartali to secure third overall. The Ecuadorian has only ridden one Grand Tour before, the 2017 Vuelta, and finished 36th overall, demonstrating he shouldn't have a problem completing the three weeks at the Giro.
Prediction
Chris Froome already has two consecutive Grand Tour wins in his legs, so maintaining form to win another when his main focus is a fifth Tour de France title could be difficult. The Team Sky man hasn't ridden the Giro since he was in a support role for Bradley Wiggins in 2010, so his unfamiliarity with racing on the parcours could count against him. It wouldn't be surprising if Tom Dumoulin retains his title, considering how flat and long the time trial is on stage 16.
The rest of GC will be made up of some good climbers without time trialing prowess, but given the vicious finish on Monte Zoncolan on stage 14, the likes of Chaves, Yates, Pozzovivo, Lopez and Aru could still be in contention for a podium place if they can limit their losses in the subsequent time trial on stage 16.
1. Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb)
2. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)
3. Chris Froome (Team Sky)
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)
5. Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates)
6. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)
7. Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida)
8. Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott)
9. Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing)
10. Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale)
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