The first of two time trial stages in the race and a crucial day to reshape the overall classification. Stage 6 Review: a non-stop stage and self-fulfilling action. This was the “gravel” stage but most of the action happened on the tarmac. The sterrato sections were needed through, just enough to raise the tension and spice up the stage. Anyone tuning in after two hours might have thought nothing had happened since the bunch was all together. Only there was raging battle to get in the breakaway that day and the fight went on so long that it was almost too late because any move would not have ..read more

The “strade bianche” gravel road stage even if there’s only a few kilometres of the dust roads. Today’s stage suits the breakaway. Lucky Lucques: so much for the sprint stage, the course with the finale that suited the sprinters most in the opening week saw a breakaway take the win. Alpecin-Deceuninck drove the pace up the Passo Bracco to sap other sprinters but it reeled in the day’s early breakaway which meant there was open road for fresh attackers. A quartet went clear with 70km to go… and stayed away with the chasing teams coming up short. You could see riders taking a pull on the front ..read more

Day 3 of sprint finishes with a hill before, today’s variety is the climb is longer but it is further from the finish in the walled city of Lucca. Milan without Sanremo: Filippo Ganna rolled across to the day’s breakaway trio and seemingly startling them as they clocked his arrival. Minutes later he, or the team car, thought better of it and he left them to it. Away again for the day Lilian Calmejane collected some mountain points, enough to take the mountains jersey on loan. But not lead the competition because he’s still behind Pogačar on points. Perhaps in this age that’s worth settling fo ..read more

A sprint stage with the finish in Andora, not that one, the one four metres above sea level on the Ligurian coast. Merlier earlier: RAI’s journalists were on strike for the day but the lack of audio commentary on Italian TV wasn’t disastrous given little happened for 98% of the stage. Nobody attacked at the start, even the invited wildcard teams have house sprinters to back. The bunch let the sprinters contest the intermediate sprint in Masio only for 30 or so to get a gap and press on, prompting panic in the peloton. But the move was too big to be cohesive, many top sprinters were up ahead b ..read more

The first of three consecutive sprint stages, each day has a climb towards the finish to derail sprint trains. Oropa Express: there was a fight to get in the doomed breakaway with Ineos and UAE filtering the riders trying to go clear and then leading the chase. After Filippo Fiorelli did enough to defend his ciclamino points jersey. Andrea Piccolo took off solo but was caught at the foot of the Oropa climb. If Ineos pulled for most of the day, UAE had taken over late in the stage but Tadej Pogačar punctured, then crashed and chased to get back. It was all rather reminiscent of Pantani in 1999 ..read more

The first summit finish of the race. Turin Test: a stage rich in sport and information, particularly in the last hour. The early breakaway went clear and the UAE team took up the reins behind. No poker, no mind games, they just got to work. Lilian Calmejane was among the six up the road and held out solo long enough to take the mountains jersey for the day. UAE kept on setting the pace including up the Colle Maddelena. The good news for them was their pace ejected riders like Romain Bardet and Luke Plapp who’d both lose a minute while Thymen Arensman who lost two minutes (his team mate Tobia ..read more

Is the Giro going to be a cakewalk for Tadej Pogačar, a three week passeggiata? We’ll have to wait for Rome but today might tell us plenty about how he and his team want to race and what the others have in store too. The Route: a tough stage for 140km. 1850m of vertical gain is hilly but Vuelta sprint stages can have more, the trouble for the sprinters today is the climbing is concentrated late on. The Superga climb is famous in Italy for its hilltop chapel where the Italian royal family was buried, and for the air disaster in 1949 which saw the entire FC Torino football team perish when thei ..read more

Who is going to win the Giro d’Italia? The answer today feels obvious, almost certain although plenty can happen in the next three weeks. The harder questions are how might Tadej Pogačar win and who else is going to finish on the podium? Route reminder You can see all the stages on one page here. This is not as mountainous as usual and there two time trial stages totalling 70km. If it’s a gentler Giro, it’s relative as there are still three weeks and tough mountain stages, especially in the third week. The Contenders Tadej Pogačar is everyone’s pick. He’s finished no lower than third in a gr ..read more

Here’s the Giro d’Italia guide. You’ll find all the stage profiles together on one page and summary of each stage. There’s also all the rules in case you need to know time cuts and how the points and mountains competitions work. As ever you can read this post but there is a permanent page all May at inrng.com/giro which can also be found via the menu at the top. Route summary In one word: gentler. It’s shorter as the average stage length is 173km, down 20km from last year. It’s flatter, with about 44,000m of vertical gain which means 8,000m (15%) less than 2023, the least amount since 2010. I ..read more

Embed from Getty Images The Tour de Romandie has been and gone and first some notes from the race starting with the winner Carlos Rodriguez. Romandie is often a race where teams give young riders leadership, it’s not quite the purpose of the race but it suits many given the slot on the calendar: post Ardennes, pre Giro. The almost retro course design helps with set-piece strategic points such as two time trials and two summit finishes, a course with no traps or surprises. The paradox is a race that isn’t necessarily gripping to watch but whose outcome can be significant. Embed from Getty Image ..read more