The Giro returns to Italy’s most beguiling city for a second successive year with another stage starting in the heart of the Naples and finishing on that sparkling waterfront.
Twelve months ago, the gruppo set out from Piazza del Plebiscito and headed west for four laps of a tough circuit around the volcanic hollows of the Phlegraean Fields, with Thomas De Gendt returning into town as the winner despite Mathieu van der Poel’s day-long onslaught.
This time out, the race heads east out of the city and towards more volcanic terrain, skirting the base of Mount Vesuvius ahead of the climb to Valico di Chiunzi. From there, the route drops to the haunting Amalfi coast, with the race tripping along the hills and headlands before veering back towards Naples via Sorrento.
From there, the flat and fast run-in in the shadow of the brooding Vesuvius presents the sprinters’ teams with a clear opportunity to stitch the race back together, but just about anything is possible when the Giro comes to this city.
Mark Cavendish won on the Via Caracciolo on the opening day in 2013 and he will look to repeat that triumph a decade later.
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