Imperia > Novi Ligure 175km Another stage goes the way of the team with 5 men, just imagine if they still had 8! Stage 11 is another one of those days where the sprinters will hope the peloton take it easy, it feels like a long time since we had a sprint finish.

Porcari (Paper District) > Chiavari 195km Ganna took the win, Arensman and Gee-West took time on the other GC riders and Vingegaard was okay, he now sits just 27 seconds away from the pink jersey. Stage 11 looks like a classic breakaway day as the final 3 climbs are too hard for the sprinters but not hard enough for the GC riders.

Viareggio > Massa 42km ITT The return of the super long individual time trial. Grand tours have been shying away from this over the last few years, favouring shorter/hillier TTs, but not this year in the Giro. Just 45m of elevation over 42km, this is a nightmare for the climbers who struggle on their TT bike, it could well be goodbye to any podium hopes.

Cervia > Corno alle Scale 184km Another day trying to predict if the breakaway will take the win.

Chieti > Fermo 156km The finish in Fermo is a beautiful one, it’s been used twice in Tirreno in recent years, you might remember at least one of them. The one I’m referring to is the Sagan win in 2017, when it was a fight between him and a small group of GC riders, he was an absolute monster back then. Barguil won from the break in 2022, Vingegaard, Ciccone and Arensman all raced that day. 

Formia > Blockhaus 245km At 245km, this is an incredibly long mountain stage, I’m a big fan. The finish is at Blockhaus, Hindley and Quintana are the last two winners the previous times the race has visited. It might be early in the race, but this is a huge day in terms of the battle for pink. If Vingegaard takes a big win, he’ll be able to move into defensive mode as he already starts to look ahead to the Tour de France. For the good of the race, I’m hoping for a close stage and at least one rider...

Paestum > Napoli 143km What the fuck happened there? Heavy rain which wasn’t in any forecast, Jan Christen and Giulio Ciccone going for the break but not being allowed, Trek trying to keep the jersey and an epic battle between Arrieta and Eulálio. Just your standard first week Giro stage! Stage 6 is going to be a sprint down in Napoli. Can Milan finally get his win?

Praia a Mare > Potenza 203km The Giro organisers are usually good at finding a stage in the first week where the break can take the stage and pink jersey, and they’ve found another one here. I remember 2019 stage 6, Fausto Masnada took the stage win and Valerio Conti moved into the pink jersey, he stayed in the race lead until stage 12. Make no mistake, this is a life changing opportunity, something that doesn’t come around too often. This means a crazy start to the stage, just about everyone will be trying to get in the break. 

Catanzaro > Cosenza 139km The race has jumped down to the south of Italy, they now start the grind all the way up to the north. The organisers have tried to be kind to the riders, giving them a relatively short stage, hopefully no one is feeling sluggish after the rest day. Everyone will look at this profile and wonder if it’s going to be a boring sprint day, or a reduced bunch sprint.

Plovdiv > Sofia 175km Absolute chaos today, just about all the UAE riders crashed hard, Vine is out the race, and Yates is out the fight for the pink jersey. Jan Christen was able to shine but today was a disaster for the team. Guillermo Thomas Silva took a magnificent win, he now has the pink jersey and will hope to keep it for a few days. This is the final stage in Bulgaria, the peloton head to Sofia, the capital city.