Gravel racing the first act of three days of dramatic Giro d’Italia racing

The Giro d’Italia has produced fascinating racing on every stage since it rolled out of Turin last Saturday. The gravel roads of Tuscany on Friday elevated the quality and entertainment to the next level, on the first of a three-day feast of contrasting Grand Tour racing.

On the second Saturday of racing, the GC contenders will fight for every second in the 40.6km time trial to Perugia, testing their abilities in a very different aspect of stage racing. Then 24 hours later, in a dramatic switch from big gears and aero positions, they will fight gravity and ascend deep into the central Apennines for a 14.6km climb to the mountain finish at Prato di Tivo.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) appears to have toyed with his rivals so far but without dominating them. This trittico of stages will reveal his true strength and ambitions and the ability and resolve of Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and his other rivals. Is Pogačar still Merckxian or has he become human?

Pogačar has shown his usually aggressive nature but only leads Thomas by 46 seconds in the GC, Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) by 47 seconds and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 55 seconds, with 15 riders still within two minutes. A week into the Corsa Rosa and Pogačar has not killed the race so far.

By the time the Corsa Rosa reaches Naples on Sunday and the riders enjoy the first resort day in Pompei, the GC battle will surely be very different and perhaps much clearer. We will know the narrative of the second week of the Giro.

Heroic racing on the gravel with a modern twist

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The ‘Strade Bianche’ stage to Rapolano Terme gave us the first hints of what to expect in the next 48 hours and beyond, teasing us with glimpses of greatness, but also fatigue, confidence, team strength and doubt.

The 180km stage was raced at close to 45 kph, with the break only going clear after two hours of attacks, with the break and the GC riders then locked in a tense battle for victory and survival on the three gravel sectors in breath.

Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) and Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) put on a show, as they fought each other for the stage victory and the control of the GC leader and the peloton.

In a sign of hope for the outsiders and future breakaways, they had the speed and determination to stay away and race for victory. All three riders arguably deserved to take the spoils for different reasons. Who wouldn’t have loved to see Alaphilippe back to his best or Plapp show his class on a day when he just decided to roll the dice and race. Sánchez won the sprint on the rising finish in Rapolano Terme to step to the big stage and give Movistar something to cheer about.

Their battle was like watching Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert, Tom Pidcock or Pogačar race a Classic. Stage 6 of the Giro was Strade Bianche in May, rolled into the first week of a Grand Tour. The dirt roads and dust clouds were as spectacular as ever, their reminiscence of ancient heroic racing was as modern as anything in the sport.

There were no time differences between the overall contenders as they finished 29 seconds down the attacking trio in Rapolano Terme but there were lots of subtle indications to note and remember for the days and weeks to come. It was like trying to ‘see’ four moves ahead in a chess masters tournament.

Pogačar was calm and collected as ever but opted not to go on the attack. He rarely put his nose in the wind and was unusually controlled and cautious. There was no bravado, no repeat of his Strade Bianche 80km solo attack.

He used his UAE Team Emirates squad to close down attacks for the first half of the stage but then let a group go clear, and even admitted he would have been happy for Plapp to take the maglia rosa, even for a day or two, to remove the burden and extra obligations of being race leader. Is the maglia rosa already starting to feel heavy on his shoulders? 

“It was a hard day, I’m happy that it’s over,” Pogačar said, summarising his day.

He will be back in the pink and purple two-tone leader’s skinsuit for the Perugia race of truth. Former pro turned Eurosport pundit Philippe Gilbert suggested Pogačar could gain a second per kilometre on Thomas and other rivals in the 40.6km time trial. After racing cautiously on Thursday he should be fresh for the time trial but what happens if he doesn’t gain a significant amount of time on his rivals?    

Thomas likes to race fair but couldn’t resist teasing Pogačar with a tweet on Thursday evening after the Slovenian positioned himself in the Ineos Grandiers line of riders that protected the Welshman so well on the gravel and to the finish.  

Filippo Ganna, Thymen Arensman and Magnus Sheffield impressed as the red Ineos train dragged Thomas and Jhonatan Narváez to the finish, deterring anyone else, including Pogačar, from making a move. Only the strength of the breakaway stopped Narváez from winning a second stage.

“The boys did incredible,” Thomas said with pride, quickly recovering after unclipping a pedal on the final steep climb four kilometres from the finish.

“Going on the gravel, we said we’d take the lead and dictate what we’re doing, less people in front of us. And after the last sector, we just kept it going really. It was just to stay at the front.”

Everyone else, from the quiet but smart-thinking Martínez and rising talent  Uijtdebroeks to everyone else all survived the gravel stage to live for another day.

Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) took a tumble but quickly got back on to the front group to avoid any problems, while only Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) lost a chink of time. But he is riding to help younger teammate Antonio Tiberi and perhaps chase a stage victory.  

The status quo, the time gaps and Pogačar in pink remained for another day. But everything is about to change, one way or another in the next 48 hours.

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