Giro d’Italia 2018: Favorites in points race for the maglia ciclamino

The cyclamen is the inspiration for the purple jersey awarded to the top points earner at the Giro d’Italia. Here are the top five contenders in 2018.

The most coveted jersey at any stage race is the one awarded to the rider that finishes in the fastest aggregate time. After each stage, every rider’s individual time is added to their times from every other stage. This is the land of the maillot jaune at the Tour de France, and the maglia rosa in the Giro d’Italia.

In every stage race, though, there are competitions within the competition. One of the longest standing traditions is the alternative means of awarding points for the top finishers in each stage. At the Tour de France, the winner of the points classification is given the classic green jersey.

In Italy, the jersey has changed colors over the years. Since the 1960s, the points winner’s jersey has bounced back and forth between mauve and red. When it was first introduced in 1967, the jersey was red for the passion flower. By 1969, it had shifted toward a shade of purple and renamed after the alpine cyclamen flower.

From 1969 to 2009, the maglia ciclamino was as fiercely contested as the pink jersey of the general classification. In 2010, though, race organizer RDS opted to return to the original maglia rosso passione. That lasted for seven years, until RDS switched back to the long-standing cyclamen version in 2017.

Sprinters have owned the jersey in the 21st century. But this year, with so many mountain stages, the speedsters of the bunch sprint are likely to lag behind in the points battle. Beyond the GC contenders, though, there are some sprinters who could make an impact on the points competition in 2018.

Defending champion Fernando Gaviria opted to focus on the Tour de France. In his stead, here are the top five contenders in this year’s competition for the maglia ciclamino.

Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo)

Giacomo Nizzolo is the only one of the five most recent winners of the points classification at the Giro who will leave the starting gate in Jerusalem this year. After failing to finish the race in 2017, he is back gunning for his first maglia ciclamino after winning two red jerseys in 2015 and 2016.

Nizzolo will have a hard time finding points on many of the mountainous stages. He is a pure sprinter, turning on the afterburners on relatively flat finishes. In the absence of riders like defending points champ Fernando Gaviria, the door is wide open for Nizzolo to take advantage and join an exclusive club of three-time points classification winners at the Giro d’Italia.

First, however, Nizzolo will have to break a head-scratching streak. Though he won the 2015 and 2016 points classification, Nizzolo has yet to win a single stage in a grand tour. That must change if the Italian is going to have a shot of claiming three points titles in four years.

Chris Froome (Team Sky)

The general classification favorite at this year’s Giro d’Italia could also become the 11th man in Giro history to claim the general and points classifications in the same year. The contours of the 2018 race profile, with eight summit finishes, will make it likely that whoever wins the maglia rosa is also going to have a shot at the points title.

Chris Froome returns to Italy to race in the Giro for the first time since he was disqualified in 2010. That year, Froome was suffering from a knee injury and dropped from the pack when he was kicked out. He was guilty of grabbing a motorbike to get to the next feed zone to retire.

This year, Froome could make history by becoming the first to hold the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, and Giro d’Italia titles at the same time. But at least parts of the streak could be vacated for doping after Froome tested positive for the asthma drug salbutamol at the 2017 Vuelta. He will be out to prove himself this year after disappointing performances both recent and historical.

Sacha Modolo (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale)

Another sprinter who could pull off a surprise in this race is Sacha Modolo. Over the past few years, Modolo has been one of the most consistent riders in the peloton at the Giro d’Italia. If he can conquer the mountain stages enough to stay in the race, Modolo is an interesting dark-horse candidate.

On several occasions, Modolo has come in third in the points classification at the Giro. Now 30 years old, Modolo probably only has a few more years to really contend for this title.

Modolo has won two stages in past Giros. He will need to come out ahead in at least that many this year if Modolo is going to have a shot at claiming the maglia ciclamino. He certainly knows what it will take to get into contention and what to do if and when he arrives on that scene.

Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida)

In the same vein as Froome, it is possible that a dropped GC contender will shift focus and try to hunt for points to snatch the ciclamino instead. That rider could ostensibly choose to focus on points instead of time.

Maybe the man to execute the scheme at this year’s Giro d’Italia will be Domenico Pozzovivo. He has yet to crack the top five in the general classification at the Giro. This year, however, Pozzovivo will be in the thick of the battle. He could gobble up points on the undulating course provided by the organizers this year.

Next: Giro d'Italia 2018: Everything you need to know about the route

The plethora of summit finishes could favor a rider like Pozzovivo. In almost any other stage race, this would be unthinkable. But Pozzovivo is a climber, and this year’s route fits him perfectly. He could potentially take advantage of the dearth of sprint finish opportunities to swoop the maglia ciclamino for himself.

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