Another opportunist's stage, this short romp into Le Puy-en-Velay offers a hilly parcours, with the main climb being at the 55.5km mark up the Col des Pradeux - 11.4km at 5.6%. Not much considering what they've been through beforehand, but enough to put plenty of hurt in the riders' legs and offer something for the sprinters if they can muster the energy to have a go at the intermediate sprints (of which there are two) and possibly take the stage win. Another great opportunity for someone like Giuseppe Guerini or maybe even Sandy Casar. It could happen. Francaise des Jeux's young Belgian Philippe Gilbert could come into calculations due to his classics pontential, but age may be against him at this late stage of the race.
TOPICS
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Giro d'Italia stage 9 LIVE: Ciccone goes solo on final climb in search of the stage win
The riders head to the ski resort of Corno alle Scale for the Giro's second summit finish -
Rund um Köln: Laurence Pithie outwits Pinarello-Q36.5 pair to win from late break despite being outnumbered
Kiwi rider beats Fred Wright in three-man sprint as leaders hold off peloton in finale -
Itzulia Women: Mischa Bredewold secures overall victory with daredevil descending as Dominika Włodarczyk doubles up to win final stage
Polish rider sprints to the win on stage 3 as Bredewold fights back after being dropped on Mendizorrotz climb -
'Most important we win GC, it's not a goal to dominate' – Emulating Pogačar's all-conquering Giro d'Italia not a focus for Jonas Vingegaard with pink as priority
Ahead of Sunday's summit finish to Corno alle Scale, Visma DS Marc Reef says 'we would like to win maybe one or two more stages' with Dane
