2014 Giro d'Italia Race Preview
The details of this year's 2014 Giro d'Italia are falling into place. Find the latest route profiles and maps below, followed by our strategic preview of the race.
The 2014 Giro d'Italia promises to be one of the most compelling editions of the Italian grand tour in recent memory, with a startlist packed full of genuine contenders and a route that looks certain to produce fireworks across all three weeks of racing.
The race gets underway in Belfast, Northern Ireland, making history as the first grand tour ever to begin on Irish soil. The opening three stages will take place in Ireland before the peloton transfers to the Italian mainland, and the organisers have gone to considerable lengths to ensure the occasion is celebrated in style. A team time trial in Belfast kicks things off before road stages take the riders through some of the spectacular Northern Irish countryside and then across the border into the Republic.
Once the race settles into Italy, the route becomes increasingly demanding. The parcours features a significant number of summit finishes and mountain stages that will test even the most accomplished climbers in the professional peloton. The organisers have been characteristically ambitious in their design, threading the route through some of the most iconic and brutal climbs the country has to offer. The Stelvio, one of the most famous mountain passes in all of cycling, features prominently and is expected to be a decisive point in the general classification battle.
Among the favourites, Nairo Quintana arrives carrying enormous expectations after his remarkable debut at the Giro two years ago and his stunning performance on the Alpe d'Huez stage at last year's Tour de France, where he announced himself as arguably the finest pure climber in the world. The young Colombian from Movistar will be eager to claim his first grand tour victory and has shaped his entire season around this race.
Cadel Evans represents another significant threat. The Australian, winner of the 2011 Tour de France, has long had a complicated relationship with the Giro but arrives in Belfast determined to add the Italian race to his palmares before his career draws to a close. His experience and ability to read a race intelligently could prove invaluable over three weeks.
Rigoberto Uran, who finished second at this race last year, will be hoping to go one better in 2014. The Colombian climber has the strength and consistency to challenge over three weeks and knows from experience what it takes to compete at the very front of a Giro general classification battle.
Ryder Hesjedal, the 2012 Giro champion, is another rider who cannot be overlooked. The Canadian has shown a particular affinity for Italian racing and will be motivated to recapture the form that brought him the maglia rosa two years ago.
Italian hopes rest on a number of shoulders, but perhaps most prominently on Vincenzo Nibali, who won this race in 2013 and arrives looking to defend his title. The Sicilian is one of the most complete riders in the sport, capable on climbs, in time trials and in the kind of aggressive tactical racing that the Giro so often demands. Having already conquered the Giro and the Vuelta a Espana, he will be hungry to add further grand tour victories to his collection.
The sprinters will have their opportunities in the opening and middle weeks, with several flat and rolling stages providing chances for the fast men to compete. Mark Cavendish, who has shown he is capable of winning on virtually any terrain that suits a sprint finish, will be among those hoping to add Giro stage victories to an already extraordinary palmares.
The race looks exceptionally well balanced between climbers, all-rounders and specialists, and the Irish opening adds an element of novelty and spectacle that should capture the imagination of a worldwide audience. Three weeks of racing, thousands of kilometres through some of the most beautiful and challenging landscapes in Europe, and a battle for the maglia rosa that could go to any number of deserving champions. The 2014 Giro d'Italia has all the ingredients to produce something truly memorable.
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