Giro d’Italia back in Italy after three historic Israel stages
By Zach Bigalke
The Giro d’Italia became the first grand tour to race outside Europe when it opened the 2018 edition in Israel. On Monday, the Giro ventured back to Italy.
None of the three grand tours are entirely unfamiliar with starting their races on foreign soil. The Tour de France leads the pack in that regard, beginning outside France in 22 of 104 editions. In contrast, the Vuelta a España has kicked off its race outside Spain on just three of its 67 occasions.
The Giro d’Italia falls in between the two. Thirteen of its 101 editions started outside Italy, including this year’s race.
Two of the baker’s dozen took place on foreign soil — yet still inside Italian borders. The first time the Giro started in another country was back in 1965, when it started in the mountainous microstate of San Marino tucked in the Apennine Mountains and locked in by Italy on all borders. Nine years later, the Giro started in the sovereign Vatican City situated within the borders of Rome.
The current edition traveled further afield than any grand tour has before, starting outside Europe with three stages in Israel. Defending champion Tom Dumoulin opened the 2018 edition of the Giro d’Italia with a two-second victory in the Jerusalem time trial.
It was a salvo fired at his key opponents in the general classification, especially pre-race favorite Chris Froome. On the 9.7-kilometer time trial course, the defending Tour de France and Vuelta a España champion lost 37 seconds to the defending Giro winner.
Though it was hardly a decisive gap, it put everyone else on notice that the world time trial champion was not about to be beat in a test against the clock. Over the next few stages in Israel, though, the race shifted toward some of the other jersey competitions.
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Dumoulin ceded the maglia rosa to opening-stage runner-up Rohan Dennis. The Australian took over the pink jersey in an intermediate sprint on the second stage between Haifa and Tel Aviv. But the real competition heated up for the maglia ciclamino of the points classification.
A massive points lead for Viviani
Three years ago, Elia Viviani held the points jersey for more than half of the 2015 Giro d’Italia across three stretches. But he could not hold on to the jersey for the last five stages. Since that race, Viviani’s career has seemed to plateau.
No more Giro victories manifested for Viviani. The Italian gained experience but failed to realize any major results over the next few years. Then the 2018 Giro d’Italia came along, and Viviani is now experiencing a resurgence in his first year with Patrick Lefevere at sprint-mad Quick Step.
At the Giro d’Italia this year, Viviani has quickly asserted his position as the sprinter to beat. He took advantage of both sprinting opportunities in Israel, winning both of the stages after the time trial. Though the pink jersey was nowhere within reach, he instead wore the mauve version after building a 75-point lead in points.
The field of sprinters lacks the star power that will feature at the Tour de France later this year. Eight mountain finishes dissuaded many from even attempting to start the race. But it opened the door for Viviani to beat out Jakub Mareczko, Sam Bennett, Niccolo Bonifazio, and Sacha Modolo on the race to the line in Tel Aviv.
On Sunday, the field looked much the same. Viviani beat out Modolo, Bennett, Mareczko, and Danny van Poppel to win a second straight stage.
Back in Italy
A hilly ride along the eastern Sicilian coast awaited riders when the 2018 Giro d’Italia resumed on the Tuesday after its first rest day. The ride between Catania and Caltagirone took the 175-strong peloton over undulating terrain and opened the door for a different type of race. A bunch sprint was still possible, but so too was a breakaway.
A group of five riders took advantage of the stage profile to move off the front. The quintet gained an advantage of over two minutes on the main field, sweeping up the intermediate sprint points and the mountain points along the way.
But the breakaway could not stay away until the finish. Instead, the peloton regrouped heading into the uphill finish in Caltagirone. It was not a day for the pure sprinters, but there was a bunch sprint at the finish nonetheless. Tim Wellens got the jump and held off Michael Woods and Enrico Battaglin for the victory.
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Another undulating course takes the slowly-dwindling field from Agrigento to Santa Ninfa over 153 kilometers. We could see another breakaway attempt try to succeed in staying away to the finish. There will also be incentive for the GC riders to reduce the time gaps as much as possible.
This represents the second of three stages on the island of Sicily. Things could continue to shake up in the general classification before the Giro d’Italia heads to the mainland.