[Article was written before the start of the Giro and has not been updated.]
Taking account of experience, home-rider and title holder Vincenzo Nibali is the man to beat. He did win the Giro d’Italia in 2013 and 2016, while he pocketed the Tour de France in 2014 and the Vuelta a Espana in 2010. But past performances have nothing to do with the likelihood of future success. In current season the performances of Shark of Messina have been far from impressive.
Another former Giro d’Italia winner, Nairo Quintana (2014), has got better credentials. The Colombian ended last season with a Vuelta win ahead of Chris Froome and he started off this season on the same foot with victories in La Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana and the Tirreno-Adriatico. Given his age (27) and his pure talent, the Colombian is the man to beat in the centenary Giro d’Italia.
Other contenders with fine credentials in 2017 are Bauke Mollema (winner Vuelta a San Juan), Rui Costa (winner Abu Dhabi Tour), Thibaut Pinot (Queen Stage win Ruta del Sol, stage win Tour of the Alps), Geraint Thomas (stage win and GC Tour of the Alps), and Rohan Dennis (stage win Tour of the Alps).
Favourites Giro d’Italia 2017
***** Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Bauke Mollema, Thibaut Pinot
**** Geraint Thomas, Tom Dumoulin, Adam Yates, Steven Kruijswijk
*** Mikel Landa, Rui Costa, Ilnur Zakarin
** Bob Jungels, Rohan Dennis, Tejay van Garderen
* Andrey Amador, Domenico Pozzovivo, Wilco Kelderman
Giro d’Italia 2017: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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What is happened with Froome?
Hi Anatoly,
He is not participating. He will compete in the Tour de France.
H