She started the Grand Tour for the first time in the country of the former Eastern Europe
The host of the first three stages is Hungary. This is the first time in the history of Gira but also of all Grand Tours that begins in “Eastern Europe”. The closest so far was the start of the Tour de France in 1987 in West Berlin right at the Berlin Wall. The most exotic start so far took place in 2018, when the Giro started in Israel.
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In particular, historic Budapest will be a dignified backdrop to the race and for Hungary and its image it is a great victory. At the same time, however, the Hungarian start is not without a controversial political background. President Viktor Orbán is Putin’s ally, Hungary has not joined the sanctions against Russia and, in addition, has adopted antigay and antitrans legislation in the last few years.
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Big favorites are missing
Giru is missing a lot of current stars in the world peloton. Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), three-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič (Jumbo – Visma) – both are preparing for the Tour de France, injured Tour winner Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), injured world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Quick -Step Alpha Vinyl), Enric Mas (Movistar) and others – Peter Sagan, Nairo Quintana, Warren Barguil, Steven Kruijswijk, Dani Martinez, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Thibaut Pinot…
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The biggest stars at the start
The biggest star at the start is the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), but of course you can’t expect an overall victory from him. He will be a hot favorite for the wearer of the scoring jersey and for partial stage victories.
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The favorites for the overall victory are the winner of Gira 2019, second at Vuelta 2020 and third at Tour 2021 Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), winner of Vuelta 2018 and third from last year’s Gira Brit Simon Yates (BikeExchange) and fourth at Girau 2020 (sixth at Giro 2021 ), third in last year’s Round of Catalonia Portuguese Joao Alemida (UAE Team Emirates).
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These include Italian Vincenzo Nibali and Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez (both Astana), Frenchman Romain Bardet (Team DSM), Spaniard Mikel Land (Bahrain Victorious), Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), British Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) …
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The first stage was a massacre
The first stage from Budapest to Viszegrad Castle above the Danube was marked as flat, but it was no plane. So the first 190 km yes, but in the end there was a 5.6 km small horror. The climb to the castle started discreetly at some 2.6%, then suddenly shot to 8%. The peloton began to stretch massively.
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Mathieu van der Poel, the main favorite, won the final spurt in the final spurt just ahead of the great Eritrean Biniam Girmay. The third of the sprinters, Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Doudal), could have finished third, but he lost to Girmay and fell. Thanks to the victory, the Dutchman also wore a pink jersey.
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Richard Carapaz, the main favorite in the overall standings, did 4 seconds in the first stage.
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The mountains decide
Time trials should play a minor role in this Giro. Experts believe that not even 27 time trial kilometers (the lowest number since 1962) can compete with the hills. That’s why Carapaz is considered the main favorite. He is an excellent mountaineer, he is smart, unpredictable, he can strike at an unexpected moment. But beware, only three stages end at the tops, which means that the profiles will suit not only climbers but also universal riders.
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The first big test will be the 4th stage (172 km) with an exit to Etna. It is not steep, but it can be windy and comes mainly immediately after a lengthy move from Hungary. And it’s also the first big mountain climb of the whole race.
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Next is the 9th stage (191 km) from Isernia to the Blockhaus in the Apennines. In the second part, two premiums of the 1st category with the final difficult exit to the Blockhaus (1,665 m) – a total of almost 5,000 meters of elevation gain. It will be shown here who will have the Giro for this. The losses here will be huge.
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The third big test will be the 15th stage (177 km) to Cogne. Three big climbs in the Alps at the end of the second week can take over. And again they reach the top (1,611 m), although the final climb is not so steep.
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And then comes the very difficult 16th stage from Saly to Aprika, 202 km long. The dreaded Mortirolo awaits in the middle, at the end there will be another first category exit and then a seven-kilometer descent to Aprika.
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Immediately after this test, the 17th stage from Ponte di Legno to Lavarone (168 km) will follow with two more first-category exits and then a short descent to the finish.
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And finally the royal 20th stage from Belluno to Passo Fedaia (168 km). Two first category exits and between them the huge Passo Pordoi hill outside the category. The final Fedaia is 14 km with an average slope of 7.6 percent, but in some places it will be up to 18%. Cyclingnews likened it to the Strait of Magellan. Whoever is in charge will defend the position. The others try to attack.
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The only Czech Jan Hirt
Czech mountaineer Jan Hirt can probably only surprise. He started fantastically this year – he won the Tour of Oman overall. He has already finished 12th on Giro once, the race is just quite right for him, but he is known to start more cumbersome and the last week is the best. The team also has Italian Domenika Pozzoviva, he is expected to help him in the hills.
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Compostable bidons
EF Education-EasyPost riders will use 100% compostable water bottles on the Giro to reduce the environmental impact of professional cycling. It is the first such step in a professional peloton and comes a year after the rules punishing littering in the peloton have provoked strong criticism among riders. The bottles supplied by the team’s Cannondale bike manufacturer are made from plant materials and are designed to decompose in the right conditions in just three months.
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According to Cannondale, 630,000 bottles are used in the professional peloton each year, many of which are thrown off the side of the road for fans to pick up as souvenirs or end up in landfills, with EF-EasyPost alone using 34,000. EF-EasyPost’s male and female teams will start using the bottles immediately. The bottle itself has a simple white-green design that matches the white Cannondale SuperSix EVO wheels that EF-EasyPost will use on the Gira. Too bad there are no plans to put the bottles on sale to the public yet.
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Big business
Grand Tours are big business – not least in terms of rewards for successful teams and riders. The total remuneration fund is a staggering 1,500,000 euros this year. But this huge amount of money is not easy to distribute. Let’s see how it’s done.
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Whoever can withstand the pitfalls of Gira and wins, will receive a decent amount of 115,668 euros. The second earns a total of 58,412 and the third 28,801 euros. By the way, the riders in 10th to 20th place will take home 2,863 euros each. In addition to the reward for the overall ranking, a “special prize” fund of € 303,500 is available. The winner will receive 150 thousand euros, the second 75 thousand and the third 40 thousand euros.
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The winnings in the stages are also lucrative and will bring the riders 11,010 euros, 5,508 for second place and 2,763 euros for third. Rewards are awarded up to 20th place in each stage and in positions 10 to 20, each competitor will receive 276 euros.
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In addition, after each stage, the wearer of the pink “maglia rosa” jersey receives a cash prize of 2,000 euros. In addition, cash prizes are awarded for other jerseys – scoring, mountaineering and for riders under 25 and also for the best teams. Add extra rewards for time spent in the escape, for combativeness and fair play, for sprints on sprint inserts…
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