Geraint Thomas is currently on a podium mission at the Giro d'Italia. The Welshman, second last year, will have to deal with Tadej Pogacar if he wants to succeed. At 37 years old, the Welshman maintains excellent physical shape and should race for at least another year. However he saw his friend and...

Romain Bardet was alongside Thymen Arensman one of the defeated in the opening stage of Giro d'Italia. Not so long after cameras showed the Ineos rider struggling, we saw the Frenchman from Team dsm-Firmenich PostNL also drop out of the front group.In the end, the French leader of the team lost...

The first summit finish of the race.Turin Test: a stage rich in sport and information, particularly in the last hour. The early breakaway went clear and the UAE team took up the reins behind. No poker, no mind games, they just got to work. Lilian Calmejane was among those up the road and held out solo long enough to take the mountains jersey for the day.UAE kept on setting the pace including up the Colle Maddelena. The good news for them was their pace ejected riders like Romain Bardet and Luke Plapp whod both lose a minute while Thymen Arensman who lost two minutes (his team mate Tobias Foss lost eight). Their GC bids are not over but all the same derailed by one short, regular climb in mild weather and with Arensman especially it means Ineos cant play the 1-2 attack already. Yet the bad news for UAE was that if theyd boiled the group down to 30 riders they evaporated too, only Rafa Majka was left with Pogaar.Several riders went clear on way to the finish but they were swept up on the San Vito climb. Majka pulled over to launch Pogaar. The Slovenian was out of the saddle for longer than La Redoute but this time he couldnt shake the field off his wheel. Jhonathan Narvaez was straining but held on, while Max Schachmann was within range and the trio cleared came into Torino to sprint for the stage.If Pogaar could replay the sprint he might launch later but as good as he may be he doesnt get these abilities. Narvaez was quicker for the stage win and if Gianni Bugno might be smiling because his 1990 feat of leading from start to finish stands, Pogaar takes 14 seconds on his rivals and UAE dont have to work as much today. Narvaez and Ineos get the win and the maglia rosa and its welcome to see Schachmann back after a long spell where each recovery from illness seemed to see him struck down by a new virus.The Route: 100km around the Canavese plains, a land of cornfields to supply polenta dishes. Then into the Alpine foothills with some climbing but nothing severe, wide roads and gentle bends for the most part but they help to soften up the field. It changes the character of the stage compared to 2017, when the race last visited Oropa and sped across the plains straight to the foot of the climb.The Finish: an Alpine summit finish. Listed as 11.8km at 6.2%, its got a gentle start and a flat but cobbled section in the middle so the typical gradient is steeper. The obvious launchpad is marked with the warning triangle above, this time its not the inside of a hairpin bend as theres short section that is steeper.Back in 2017 riders came in almost one by one, with only 23 riders within two minutes of the winner Tom Dumoulin. So its selective but the tactics today could be different. It flattens out just before the line.The Contenders: us bloggers have it easy thanks to Tadej Pogaar (UAE). He can pick his place on one of the climbs steeper portions or just win the sprint from a group. But this is conditional on his UAE team wanting to control the stage all day, arguably the mistake they made yesterday. That said perhaps precisely because Pogaar was beaten he and they want to win today.The last three riders to win here are Bruseghin, Battaglin and Dumoulin so do we look for Sutterlin, Grondin, Trentin? They dont climb that well so Alex Baudin (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) fits but hes riding high on GC already in the white jersey. Todays climb is normally too long for Narvaez but he has to give it everything and the finish can suit Max Schachmann.Picking among other famous names is hard because if they are there, so is the little cannibal from Komenda. Still Julian Alaphilippe and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quickstep) are not immediate GC threats to Pogaar, likewise Esteban Chaves (EF Education-Easypost) can be great on short climbs andA breakaway could try to hold out for the stage and 120 riders are now already four minutes down on GC so are not a priority to close down. Wheel of fortune picks are Simon Carr and Jeferson Cepeda (EF), Alexander Kamp (Tudor) and Ewen Costiou (Arka-B&B Hotels).PogaarVansevenantCarr, Chaves, Cepeda, Alaphilippe, NarvaezWeather: mainly sunny, 20CTV: KM0 is at 1.05pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST. Tune in for the final climb around 4.40pm.Postcard from OropaA regular issue for Italian cycling during the Giro is to get noticed while the football season is still on, easier now Inter have already won the Scudetto. Then if people do talk about cycling, the next challenge is to go beyond Marco Pantani.Today the Giro does to Oropa, which in the (translated) words of La Gazzetta is written Oropa but reads Pantani. The Giro has been here several times but the visit in 1999 gets all the mentions. The manner of Pantanis win that day was remarkable: distanced with a mechanical at 9km to go, he then got paced back by team mates before riding through the field like a chainsaw through mozzarella (youtube here).Triumphs at Oropa by Vito Taccone, Piotr Urgumov, Marzio Bruseghin, Enrico Battaglin (pictured) and Tom Dumoulin are footnotes. This is testimony to the indelible presence of Il Pirata and nostalgia for the days when he was winning and seemingly untroubled. Just, as it was a matter of days until his downward spiral began when he was ejected from the Giro following a blood test.While English-language outlets might have anniversary pieces to commemorate his death or Giro-adjacent features, in Italy hes regularly cited in the sports pages and beyond; new conspiratorial angles surrounding his death appear in magazines; there are numerous books, including many recent and new editions.Pantani is a persistent reference point, the denominator of Italian stage racing. When up-and-coming Davide Piganzoli gets profiled in a newspaper the title incorporates Pantani. Pogaar doing the Giro-Tour double? Like Pantani proclaim the headlines. Not to say we should forget Pantani, just to point out just how large he still looms.The post Giro Stage 2 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Marianne Vos has claimed her second victory of this year's La Vuelta Femenina on the seventh stage which brought riders to Sigenza. The rider of Team Visma | Lease a Bike outsprinted everyone on the steep final climb and cemented her lead in the points classification."When the girls do so much work...

Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) has come through the opening first stage of Giro dItalia, avoiding any slip-ups on the first of two stages that always looked like catching out some of the general classification riders. Though Irelands Dunbar took a conservative approach today, opting to follow rather than joining the late attacks off the []The post Eddie Dunbar holds firm amid stage 1 fireworks at Giro dItalia | Video appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

In a sport as unpredictable as cycling, we have to learn to expect the unexpected, says the Doc, no matter how painful that might prove

For Jasper Stuyven this Giro d'Italia will be a bit of a trial by fire, as the experienced Belgian makes a racing return from injuries suffered at Dwars door Vlaanderen. The 32-year-old knows well that with very limited preparation, it's better to speak of wishes rather ambitons for next three weeks...