With time limited, here is a brief preview of the 2013 Giro d'Italia. Will Sir Bradley Wiggins of Kilburn win his second Grand Tour or will Canada's Ryder Hesjedal defend his title? They're just two of many big name favorites in what is one of many questions in a tour that's sure to be as wide open as they come.
One look at the route for this Tour and you can see why many think this race has more than enough potential to be better than the Tour de France. Indeed, last years Giro was without doubt the most thrilling of the three big Tours and the organisors have done themselves credit by putting together another route that should see racing from the start and drama right to the finish.
And thanks to the Giro being slightly below the Tour in terms of prestige, coverage and thus pressure to deliver, you might well get the racing right from the beginning rather than watching riders watch one another until the third week.
The race starts out flat which will almost certainly result in a Mark Cavendish win, but it doesn't stay flat for long. The team-time-trial will sort things out a little before some rolling stages throughout the first week will either give one of the favorites the opportunity to seize the initiative or see some dramatic break go clear, stay clear and grab hold of the Pink jersey.
Mountain stages appear all throughout the three weeks with a trip up the Galibier at the end of the second week, building into a massive crescendo towards the end with a trip up to Tre Cime di Lavaredo -- made famous by Eddy Merckx in 1968 -- on the second to last day. There's also two individual time-trials, a 54.8 km flat one in which you can all but pen in Wiggins as the winner, and an uphill one which could be wide open and could more than swing the balance of the GC.
This year the Giro finishes in Brescia as opposed to Milan.
Suffice to say, anything flat will have Cavendish's name on it while the rest is anyone's guess. My head says Wiggins and my heart says Hesjedal, though as a duel citizen of Britain and Canada I'd be happy for either to be right.
Three to watch...
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp)] The defending champ has been building his entire season around this race. I had thought that coming into 2013 he might take a run at Le Tour, but last year he clearly fell in love with the event and so here he is. There's a good mix of climbing and time-trials to suit him and with last years win under his belt, he knows exactly what it takes to do it again.
Bradley Wiggins (Sky)] I was surprised, yet delighted, to learn that Wiggins would go for the Giro this year what with Le Tour being his big event, but with squabbles with Chris Froome over Tour de France leadership, it figures that he would try get a win in here before that issue even comes to the fore. No doubt the course suits him and if he can take advantage of the time-trial at the end of the first week he could go into defensive mode the rest of the way. Still, his rivals will attack him throughout because of that time-trial and there's also the risk he'll be riding with one eye still on July.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)] The big hope of the Italian public, Nibali certainly has what it takes to take on and beat Hesjedal and Wiggins. He'll lose time to them both in the time-trials but he can take that back on the climbs as well as on the descents where he is supreme. After Italian wins by Ivan Basso and Michele Scarponi in 2010 and 2011, Nibali will be the most likely to regain Italian control of the race in 2013.
Notable others: Cadel Evans (BMC), Robert Gesink (Blanco), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp), Danilo Di Luca (Vini Fantini), Michele Scarponi (Lampre).
Start list...
Garmin Sharp
1. Ryder Hesjedal (Can)
2. Thomas Danielson (USA)
3. Thomas Dekker (Ned)
4. Nathan Haas (Aus)
5. Robert Hunter (RSA)
6. David Millar (GBr)
7. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu)
8. Peter Stetina (USA)
9. Christian Vande Velde (USA)
AG2R La Mondiale
11. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita)
12. Davide Appollonio (Ita)
13. Manuel Belletti (Ita)
14. Julien Berard (Fra)
15. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col)
16. Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra)
17. Hubert Dupont (Fra)
18. Ben Gastauer (Lux)
19. Sylvain Georges (Fra)
Androni Giocattoli
21. Franco Pellizotti (Ita)
22. Giairo Ermetti (Ita)
23. Fabio Felline (Ita)
24. Mattia Gavazzi (Ita)
25. Tomas Gil Martinez (Ven)
26. Jackson Rodriguez (Ven)
27. Diego Rosa (Ita)
28. Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col)
29. Emanuele Sella (Ita)
Astana Pro Team
31. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
32. Valerio Agnoli (Ita)
33. Fabio Aru (Ita)
34. Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz)
35. Tanel Kangert (Est)
36. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe)
37. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita)
38. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita)
39. Andrey Zeits (Kaz)
Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox
41. Sacha Modolo (Ita)
42. Enrico Battaglin (Ita)
43. Nicola Boem (Ita)
44. Francesco Bongiorno (Ita)
45. Marco Canola (Ita)
46. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita)
47. Stefano Locatelli (Ita)
48. Stefano Pirazzi (Ita)
49. Edoardo Zardini (Ita)
Team Blanco
51. Robert Gesink (Ned)
52. Jack Bobridge (Aus)
53. Stef Clement (Ned)
54. Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa)
55. Wilco Kelderman (Ned)
56. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned)
57. Paul Martens (Ger)
58. Maarten Tjallingii (Ned)
59. Maarten Wijnants (Bel)
BMC Racing Team
61. Cadel Evans (Aus)
62. Adam Blythe (GBr)
63. Stephen Cummings (GBr)
64. Klaas Lodewyck (Bel)
65. Steve Morabito (Swi)
66. Daniel Oss (Ita)
67. Taylor Phinney (USA)
68. Ivan Santaromita (Ita)
69. Danilo Wyss (Swi)
Cannondale
71. Damiano Caruso (Ita)
72. Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita)
73. Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita)
74. Alan Marangoni (Ita)
75. Fabio Sabatini (Ita)
76. Cristiano Salerno (Ita)
77. Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col)
78. Elia Viviani (Ita)
79. Cameron Wurf (Aus)
Colombia
81. Darwin Atapuma (Col)
82. Edwin Avila Vanegas (Col)
83. Robinson Chalapud (Col)
84. Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col)
85. Leonardo Duque (Col)
86. Wilson Alexander Marentes Torres (Col)
87. Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col)
88. Jarlinson Pantano (Col)
89. Carlos Quintero (Col)
Euskaltel Euskadi
91. Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa)
92. Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa)
93. Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa)
94. Ricardo Mestre (Por)
95. Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa)
96. Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre)
97. Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa)
98. Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa)
99. Robert Vrecer (Slo)
FDJ
100. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra)
101. Sandy Casar (Fra)
102. Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra)
103. Arnold Jeannesson (Fra)
104. Johan Le Bon (Fra)
105. Francis Mourey (Fra)
106. Laurent Pichon (Fra)
107. Dominique Rollin (Can)
109. Anthony Roux (Fra)
Team Katusha
111. Luca Paolini (Ita)
112. Maxim Belkov (Rus)
113. Pavel Brutt (Rus)
114. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita)
115. Vladimir Gusev (Rus)
116. Petr Ignatenko (Rus)
117. Dmitry Kozontchouk (Rus)
118. Yury Trofimov (Rus)
119. Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa)
Lampre-Merida
121. Michele Scarponi (Ita)
122. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita)
123. Kristijan Durasek (Cro)
124. Roberto Ferrari (Ita)
125. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol)
126. Daniele Pietropolli (Ita)
127. Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
128. Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col)
129. Simone Stortoni (Ita)
Lotto Belisol
131. Lars Ytting Bak (Den)
132. Dirk Bellemakers (Ned)
133. Brian Bulgac (Ned)
134. Francis De Greef (Bel)
135. Kenny Dehaes (Bel)
136. Gert Dockx (Bel)
137. Adam Hansen (Aus)
138. Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa)
139. Frederik Willems (Bel)
Movistar Team
141. Eros Capecchi (Ita)
142. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa)
143. Alex Dowsett (GBr)
144. José Herrada Lopez (Spa)
145. Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa)
146. Vladimir Karpets (Rus)
147. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa)
148. Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa)
149. Giovanni Visconti (Ita)
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team
151. Mark Cavendish (GBr)
152. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita)
153. Michal Golas (Pol)
154. Iljo Keisse (Bel)
155. Serge Pauwels (Ned)
156. Jérôme Pineau (Fra)
157. Gert Steegmans (Bel)
158. Matteo Trentin (Ita)
159. Julien Vermote (Bel)
Orica GreenEdge
161. Matthew Harley Goss (Aus)
162. Luke Durbridge (Aus)
163. Leigh Howard (Aus)
164. Jens Keukeleire (Bel)
165. Brett Lancaster (Aus)
166. Christian Meier (Can)
167. Jens Mouris (Ned)
168. Svein Tuft (Can)
169. Pieter Weening (Ned)
RadioShack Leopard
171. George Bennett (NZl)
172. Danilo Hondo (Ger)
173. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro)
174. Tiago Machado (Por)
175. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita)
176. Nelson Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por)
177. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
178. Hayden Roulston (NZl)
179. Jesse Sergent (NZl)
Sky Procycling
181. Bradley Wiggins (GBr)
182. Dario Cataldo (Ita)
183. Sergio Henao Montoya (Col)
184. Christian Knees (Ger)
185. Danny Pate (USA)
186. Salvatore Puccio (Ita)
187. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr)
188. Rigoberto Uran (Col)
189. Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa)
Team Argos-Shimano
191. John Degenkolb (Ger)
192. Thomas Damuseau (Fra)
193. Bert De Backer (Bel)
194. Koen de Kort (Ned)
195. Patrick Gretsch (Ger)
196. Ji Cheng (Chn)
197. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe)
198. Luka Mezgec (Slo)
199. Albert Timmer (Ned)
Team Saxo-Tinkoff
201. Rafal Majka (Pol)
202. Daniele Bennati (Ita)
203. Manuele Boaro (Ita)
204. Matti Breschel (Den)
205. Mads Christensen (Den)
206. Karsten Kroon (Ned)
207. Evgeni Petrov (Rus)
208. Bruno Pires (Por)
209. Rory Sutherland (Aus)
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
211. Marco Marcato (Ita)
212. Grega Bole (Slo)
213. Martijn Keizer (Ned)
214. Maurits Lammertink (Ned)
215. Pim Ligthart (Ned)
216. Rob Ruijgh (Ned)
217. Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa)
218. Frederik Veuchelen (Bel)
219. Willem Wauters (Bel)
Vini Fantini
221. Stefano Garzelli (Ita)
222. Rafael Andriato (Bra)
223. Francesco Chicchi (Ita)
224. Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
225. Oscar Gatto (Ita)
226. Alessandro Proni (Ita)
227. Matteo Rabottini (Ita)
228. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita)
229. Fabio Taborre (Ita)
Past winners
1909 Luigi Gannaala
1910 Carlo Galettiala
1911 Carlo Galetti, Bianchi
1913 Carlo Oriani, Maino
1914 Alfonso Calzolari, Stucchi
1915 Race not held
1916 Race not held
1917 Race not held
1918 Race not held
1919 Costante Girardengo, Stucchi
1920 Gaetano Belloni, Bianchi
1921 Giovanni Brunero, Legnano
1922 Giovanni Brunero, Legnano
1923 Costante Girardengo, Maino
1924 Giuseppe Enrici,
1925 Alfredo Binda, Legnano
1926 Giovanni Brunero, Legnano
1927 Alfredo Binda, Legnano
1928 Alfredo Binda, Wolsit
1929 Alfredo Binda, Legnano
1930 Luigi Marchisio, Legnano
1931 Francesco Camusso, Gloria
1932 Antonio Pesenti, Wolsit
1933 Alfredo Binda, Legnano
1934 Learco Guerra, Maino
1935 Vasco Bergamaschi, Maino
1936 Gino Bartali, Legnano
1937 Gino Bartali, Legnano
1938 Giovanni Valetti, Frejus
1939 Giovanni Valetti, Frejus
1940 Fausto Coppi, Legnano
1941 Race not held
1942 Race not held
1943 Race not held
1944 Race not held
1945 Race not held
1946 Gino Bartali, Legnano
1947 Fausto Coppi, Bianchi
1948 Fiorenzo Magni, Willier Triestina
1949 Fausto Coppi, Bianchi
1950 Hugo Koblet, Guerra–svizzera
1951 Fiorenzo Magni, Ganna
1952 Fausto Coppi, Bianchi
1953 Fausto Coppi, Bianchi
1954 Carlo Clerici, Guerra–svizzera
1955 Fiorenzo Magni, Nivea–fuchs
1956 Charly Gaul, Guerra
1957 Gastone Nencini, Chlorodont
1958 Ercole Baldini, Legnano
1959 Charly Gaul, Emi–guerra
1960 Jacques Anquetil, Fynsec
1961 Arnaldo Pambianco, Fides
1962 Franco Balmamion, Carpano
1963 Franco Balmamion, Carpano
1964 Jacques Anquetil, St Raphael
1965 Vittorio Adorni, Salvarani
1966 Gianni Motta, Molteni
1967 Felice Gimondi, Salvarani
1968 Eddy Merckx, Faema
1969 Felice Gimondi, Salvarani
1970 Eddy Merckx, Faemino
1971 Gösta Pettersson, Ferretti
1972 Eddy Merckx, Molteni
1973 Eddy Merckx, Molteni
1974 Eddy Merckx, Molteni
1975 Fausto Bertoglio, Jollyceramica
1976 Felice Gimondi, Bianchi–campagnolo
1977 Michel Pollentier, Flandria
1978 Johan De Muynck, Bianchi–faema
1979 Giuseppe Saronni, Scic–bottecchia
1980 Bernard Hinault, Renault–gitane
1981 Giovanni Battaglin, Inoxpran
1982 Bernard Hinault, Renault-Elf-Gitane
1983 Giuseppe Saronni, Del Tongo–colnago
1984 Francesco Moser, Gis–tuc Lu
1985 Bernard Hinault, La Vie Claire–look
1986 Roberto Visentini, Carrera-Inoxpran
1987 Stephen Roche, Carrera Jeans-Vagabond
1988 Andy Hampsten, 7–Eleven Hoonved
1989 Laurent Fignon, Système U
1990 Gianni Bugno, Château D’ax
1991 Franco Chioccioli, Del Tongo Mg
1992 Miguel Indurain, Banesto
1993 Miguel Indurain, Banesto
1994 Evgeni Berzin#, Gewiss-Ballan
1995 Tony Rominger, Mapei–gb
1996 Pavel Tonkov, Panaria–vinavil
1997 Ivan Gotti, Saeco
1998 Marco Pantani, Mercatone Uno-Bianchi
1999 Ivan Gotti, Team Polti
2000 Stefano Garzelli, Mercatone Uno-Albacom
2001 Gilberto Simoni, Lampre-Daikin
2002 Paolo Savoldelli, Index–alexia
2003 Gilberto Simoni, Saeco Macchine Per Caffè
2004 Damiano Cunego, Saeco Macchine Per Caffè
2005 Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel
2006 Ivan Basso, Team CSC
2007 Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas
2008 Alberto Contador, Astana
2009 Denis Menchov, Rabobank
2010 Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Doimo
2011 Michele Scarponi, Lampre-ISD
2012 Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Barracuda
