The first grand tour of the season. The Giro organisers have decided to make the race back loaded in terms of the mountains, but they’ve also included a few exciting stages in the first two weeks. There are quite a few sprints to get the fast men interested, a little nod to Strade Bianche and good days for the breakaway riders. The battle for the pink jersey looks like being between Roglič and Ayuso, the Spaniard is a new name at this level. It should be a fascinating battle between youth and experience, the bookies can’t really separate them. This preview will look at every stage and each of the classifications. When looking at the previews, the “B” gives out 6-4-2 bonus seconds, the other sprint points don’t give out seconds. 

The race starts in Albania, and on a Friday. It’s not a flat stage, but quite a few of the sprinters will expect to be fighting for the win. The cat 3 climb is 5.3km at 5% and is done twice, last time crests with just 11km to go. 

Scenario – reduced bunch sprint.

The second stage is a 13.8km ITT, with a climb of 1.4km at 5.1%. The race has attracted some of the best TT riders in the world, this could be a close battle between Tarling, Van Aert, Ayuso and Roglič.

This is where non-subscribers are waved goodbye. If you want to sign up, you’ll get the rest of the year for £30. That’s all the grand tours and everything else too, for me, it’s a great deal.