Think the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Diego Ulissi, Biniam Birmay, Magnus Cort, and possibly even Caleb Ewan. The hills are Milan-San Remo’ish and that’s a race where the Australian poket-rocket performed remarkably well in the past. Moreover, he aims to win the World Championships road race in Australia on a route that’s not exactly flat either.
On the other hand, a scenario that’s similar to how stage 8 ufolded is not unlikely either. So with a winner from the breakaway. A breakaway that could take shape in the second half of the race after a first attack has been neutralised in the hilly zone.
Following the pan-flat first half of the race along the Adriatic coast the route continues in the interior of Le Marche. The riders tackle the climbs to Civitanova Alta (2.7 kilometres at 5%), Crocette di Montecorao (4.9 kilometres at 2.2%), Sant’Ignazio (1.8 kilometres at 5.9%), Recanati (3.4 kilometres at 6.9%), Filottrano (in quick succession: 600 metres at 7.6%, 1 kilometres at 5.1%, 700 metres at 8.9%, and 2.7 kilometres at 4.2%), Mazzangrugno (1.9 kilometres at 5.3%), and Monsano (4.2 kilometres at 4.2%).
After moving through Monsano there are 8.5 kilometres remaining. Most of it goes downhill, although the route returns to climbing – at shallow gradients – just before the flamme rouge.
All in all, the last 100 kilometres include an elevation gain of 1,760 metres.
Favourites 10th stage 2022 Giro d’Italia
*** Mathieu van der Poel, Biniam Girmay, Magnus Cort
** Diego Ulissi, Caleb Ewan, Diego Rosa, Koen Bouwman
* Arnaud Démare, Giacomo Nizzolo, Mauro Schmid, Andrea Vendrame
Another interesting read: route 10th stage 2022 Giro.
Bini