While the classics are about to come to an end, the cycling world prepares to turn its attention from the one-day races to the Grand Tours. first of those, the Giro d'Italia, starts less than two weeks after the conclusion of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and while the best one-day racers battle it out in Belgium, most of the major GC contenders for the Italian race will use this week's traditional warm-up race, the Giro del Trentino, to finalize their preparations on a very mountainous course to offer the perfect gauge of who's on form for the big one in Italy.

 

The professional cycling season is divided into several phases that suit different kinds of riders. After the many preparation races in January and February, Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico give the stage racers a chance to shine before a special type of classics riders take the spotlight in Milan-Sanremo and the cobbled classics. That part comes to an end with Paris-Roubaix by which time the lighter guys take over in the Ardennes classics before we head into the grand tour season.

 

While the Ardennes classics stars are in the most important part of their season, the Giro contenders are now finalizing their preparations for the next big change on the cucling calendar. For many years most riders regarded the Tour de Romandie with its long history and hard climbs as the perfect preparation for the Giro d'Italia. The finish of the Swiss race just one week prior to the start of the big objective made it the perfect event to fine-tune the condition ahead of the major battles in the Italian mountains. Meanwhile, the mountainous Giro del Trentino held one week earlier was a mostly Italian affair in which the home country's heroes could gauge their form ahead of their big national event.

 

The regional tour in one of the most mountainous areas of Italy was first held in 1962 but after just two editions, the race disappeared. However, the idea of hosting a preparation event for the Italian grand tour was simply too obvious to resist and the race was back on the calendar in 1979 when Knut Knudsen took a very rare foreign win in Trentino.

 

Since then the race has always offered the first big dress rehearsal for the Giro between the local heroes, giving the Italian fans a chance to see which of their own riders was on form ahead of the three-week race. Francesco Moser and Giuseppe Saronni were both among the early winners and since then Claudio Chiappucci, Gianni Bugno, Paolo Savoldelli, Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso and Michele Scarponi have all won the event before going on to please the home public in the Giro. However, the race was one that mostly attracted Italian teams and riders while the international riders saved their legs for Romandie.

 

In recent years, this trend has changed. While the Swiss race is now mostly the final early-season objective for some of the Tour de France contenders or a perfect occasion for the classics riders to showcase their form one last time before a well-deserved rest, the Italian race has emerged as the preferred preparation not only for the Italian riders but also the biggest international stars.

 

The race has still mostly been won by Italians but Alexandre Vinokourov's victory in the 2010 edition proved that foreign Giro contenders could also be competitive. In 2012 the race saw a further internationalization of its line-up with Astana, Ag2r-La Mondiale and BMC all using the race as a key build-up for their Giro captains Roman Kreuziger, John Gadret and Marco Pinotti respectively and in 2013 the race was a real dress rehearsal between the two pre-race favourites for the Giro, Bradley Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali, with eventual Giro runner-up Cadel Evans giving the event even more international flavour.

 

This year the trend has been made even more evident as Movistar join Ag2r, BMC, Sky and Astana on the start line on the start line. Unfortunately, the race won't be the same kind of Giro dress rehearsal between the biggest favourites as both Nairo Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez will be absent. On the other hand, Cadel Evans, Michele Scarponi, Domenico Pozzovivo, Przemyslaw Niemiec and Ivan Basso will all use the race to finalize their preparations and so there will be no shortage of Giro podium contenders.

 

It is no surprise to see the race emerge as the preferred preparation event for the Italian grand tour. Held in the Dolomites, it offers an important opportunity to test the legs in mountains similar to the ones found in May's big race and with limited kilometres of flat roads in the Trentino region, it is one of the most pronounced mountain races of the year. In fact, it is one of the few big stage races that a pure climber may win without having to be too concerned with TT skills. Furthermore, the race finishes more than two weeks before the start of the Italian grand tour, and these years riders seem to prefer more rest ahead of the start of a three-week race.

 

The race plays the same role for the Tour de France as the Criterium du Dauphine does for the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Burgos for the Vuelta a Espana. All three races are held in some of the mountainous parts of their countries and take place just a few weeks prior to their national grand tour. Hence, it is no surprise to see all three races gaining popularity as preparation races in recent years.

 

Last year the race attracted more attention than ever before. In the public, the Giro was widely written down to a two-horse race between reigning Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins and local hero Vincenzo Nibali and with both riders on the start line, it was no wonder that the race had a prominent place in the spotlight. After Sky had taken an early win in the team time trial and delivered a surprise win with domestique Kanstantsin Siutsou in the first mountain stage where Wiggins and Nibali had been equally matched, we were denied the big showdown when a mechanical took out Wiggins in the queen stage on the final day. Nibali went on to win both the stage and the overall while Mauro Santambrogio continued his excellent - but not totally legal - start to his season by taking 2nd. Maxime Bouet had taken a surprise breakaway on the opening flat stage and fought bravely all the way to the finish to take 3rd while Wiggins could only manage 5th. With Nibali focusing on the Tour de France and the Ardennes classics and Santambrogio suspended, only Bouet will return from last year's podium as he continues his comeback from injury sustained at Paris-Nice and his preparation for the Giro. Wiggins was a late inclusion to the start list as the Brit prepares himself to change from classics to GC mode, with the Tour of California being his next big objective.

 

The course

The Giro del Trentino has always been a race for climbers and the four-day race is littered with mountain stages. Unless they want to tune in their climbing legs for the Giro, the sprinters have very little incentive to fight through four hard days of climbing as they have rarely any opportunity to shine. In the past, the race often included a flat stage for the fast finishers but since 2010 no stage has ended in a bunch sprint, with the sprinters missing out when they were given a chance one year ago. This year the trend won't change as their will be no sprint stages in the 2014 edition either.

 

In the past few years, the race has mostly been made up of three mountain stages and a timed event which often used to be an individual time trial but has changed to a team time trial recently. In 2012, the organizers put together a simply brutal course that consisted of an opening team event and then three consecutive mountain stages, with the penultimate stage including the brutally steep Punta Veleno climb. Last year the organizers presented a more balanced course that offered a flatter stage, two summit finishes, a team time trial and a lumpy breakaway stage.

 

This year the race is back to a very hard format that is very similar to the 2012 edition, albeit without the excessively steep Punta Veleno. The race opens with a flat team time trial and after the opening stage, there will only be mountain stages on the menu, with all of them even including a summit finish. Of course the opening stage will create time differences but the race will be won and lost in the mountains.

 

Stage 1:

Starting in the Austrian city of Lienz with an opening day consisting of two half-stages, last year's race was an exception from a general rule introduced in 2008. Since that year the race has always started with a pancake fat timed event near the Lake Garda and in 2014 the race will be back to that format.

 

Until 2011 the opening stage was an individual time trial but for the past two years, the timed stage has been a team event. This year it will again be a team time trial that opens the race, with the riders covering 13.4 entirely flat kilometres starting on the shores on the lake in Riva del Garda and finishing in Arco.

 

The race takes place on flat, long, straight, wide roads which are ideal for the teams to test their performances in view of the team time

trial in the upcoming Giro d’Italia. The stage begins in the Fraglia della Vela neighbourhood of Riva del Garda right next to the lake and

runs along the lakefront until Linfano where it turns inland towards Arco. Then it returns towards Riva del Garda before making its final

turn towards the finish line in Arco. Intermediate timekeeping will be done in San Giorgio.

 

It is a fast course where average speeds above 50 km/h are foreseeable. The first part of the stage is non-technical and will leave plenty of room for the big specialists to go at full speed but after the intermediate check at the 6.4km mark, the riders will negotiate 7 sharp turns that will challenge the cohesion. However, it doesn't change the fact that this is a stage for the real tempo specialists that will have plenty of room to excel but in such a short team time trial, time gaps are usually rather small.

 

The team time trial almost has the same length as it has had for the past two years but is slightly shorter. It is held on the exact same course that was used for the opening individual time trial in 2011 when Andreas Klöden beat Adriano Malori by just a single second to take the first leader's jersey in the race. In 2012, BMC beat Astana by 10 seconds to put Taylor Phinney in the overall lead while one year ago, Team Sky were 13 seconds faster than Astana on the flat course in Lienz.

 

 

 

 

Stage 2:

After an opening stage for the time trialists, the Giro del Trentino turns its focus to what the race is all about: tough climbing in the high mountains. From now on all stages are for the climbers, with the riders tackling the first of three consecutive summit finishes. With the stage taking off from the flat area along the Lake Garda and only gradually heading into the mountains, it may be the easiest of the trio but even though the opening part of the 164.5km from Limone sul Garda to the top of the San Giacomo di Brentonico climb is not overly tough, big time gaps can open ups in this hard stage.

 

The stage starts in Limone del Garda on the border between Lombardia and Trentino where the start of a Giro stage was hosted in 2012 (won by Ion Izagirre from a breakaway), and ends in San Giacomo di Brentonico, after a 14.4 km. climb in the Monte Baldo natural park.

 

Initially it coasts the lake until Riva del Garda then goes through Arco, Nago and Mori and descends into the Vallagarina until Ala. It climbs towards Rovereto where there is an intermediate sprint. Once it reaches Mattarello in the Adige Valley there is the climb to Vigolo Vattaro where there is the first KOM (category 2, 8.8km, 6.15%) The race then descends to Calceranica where there is the feed zone and it passes next to the lakes of Caldonazzo and Levico to then climb in the opposite direction once again to Vigolo Vattaro to reach the second KOM (category 2, 5km, 5.32%). Then it descends towards Mattarello and Aldeno and runs among vineyards and apple trees along the right side of the Adige river on a wide flat road until Mori where there is the start of the climb to San Giacomo in Brentonico where the final KOM (category 1, 14.4km, 6.9%) and the finish line are located

 

The first 8.5 km. of the climb until Brentonico are on the same course as the time trial of the 2013 Giro d’Italia (Mori – Polsa) (won by Vincenzo Nibali) and of the remaining 6 km. to the finish line the first 2 km. are flat and slightly downhill and the last 4 km. are the hardest with inclines over 10% and up to 16% in the first 900 m. where the road then widens once again before reaching the finish line. The first part is the easiest with gradients of 6-8% while the second half is tougher. After the short descent and the very steep section, the gradient is constant at 8-9% for 3.5km which precede an easier final 1.5km. The gradient is 6-7% until the final 500m where things again get slightly easier, with the gradient dropping to just 4.2%. The finish line is in front of the San Giacomo Hotel on a straight 100 m. stretch after the final couple of curves.

 

The opening part of the stage may not be very difficult but the final climb is a really tough affair and especially the second half has the potential to produce some real damage. With the easy first section, the stage should be controllable for the teams of the favourites and we can expect the best climbers to battle it out for the stage win on the final climb. With two tough climbing stages still to come, there will still be a lot to play for but at the end of this hard stage, the number of potential winners will be boiled down to just a handful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stage 3:

While the first mountain stage ended with a long, gradual climb that suited the real climbers, the third stage will more about punchy and explosive skills. For the second day in a row, the riders will be challenged by a summit finish and the 184.4km from Mori to Roncone are a really tough affair. While the first part of the opening mountain stage was rather easy, this will be hard riding all day on a route that may not contain many big climbs but will be up or down almost all day. Unlike the previous day, the stage doesn't end on top of a major mountain as the stage win will be decided on a short, very steep climb.

 

The third stage starts in Mori, which was the starting place for the Mori – Polsa time trial stage of the Giro d’Italia, and consists of a challenging

series of climbs and descents. The first part of the race goes through Arco, Dro and Sarche and climbs towards Comano Terme and Fiavé to then continue up to the Passo del Ballino which is an uncategorized climb.

 

Then there is a 15 km. descent until Riva del Garda where the race then climbs towards the Ledro Valley, again on an uncategorized climn, passing through a 6-km. well-lit tunnel until Pieve di Ledro where there is the feed zone. It then descends towards Storo to enter the Chiese Valley and reach Condino, where one of last year’s stages ended whereas this year there is an intermediate sprint and then there is a 4.3km, 5.7% climb on a narrow and winding road to the first KOM in Daone (altitude 776 m.).

 

The race then goes through Roncone, Breguzzo, Tione and Zuclo where it will climb on the hardest side to the Passo del Durone to reach the KOM (7km, 7.3%, altitude1039 m.). In the last 40 km. of the stage, the race goes through Ponte Arche, Tione and Roncone where there is the last climb to Pozza consisting of 2.4 km. with 11.7% average inclines peaking at 17% in some points during the last 1500 m. before reaching the KOM and the finish line (altitude 1054 m.) on a well paved road. The first kilometre of the final climb is the easiest as it only has an average gradient of 8%. The next 500m are the toughest at 15% before it levels a bit out with a 10.5% section. The final 400m have a tough gradient of 13.5%.The final climb is mostly on a straight road but the riders will go through a sharp hairpin bend 600m from the line.

 

Being constantly up and down, the stage is certainly a tough one but with a long flat stretch preceding the final climb, the favourites are likely to save all their energy for one final brutal effort on the steep slopes. The final climb is hard but as it is not very long, time differences between the best riders won't be too big. While the second and fourth stage suit the pure climbers, this is a stage more for the punchy riders who excel in the very special discipline of sprinting up a short, steep ramp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stage 4:

The first three stages will have opened some time differences but all is still to play for on the final day of the race and everything can change until the very last metres in the race. The organizers have saved the queen stage to the last day of the race and the hardest climb of the entire race will be tackled at the very end of four-day event. The final stage not only ends on the race's toughest climb, the riders will already have done a massive amount of climbing by the time they reach the lower slopes of the ascent. This is a real mountain stage that serves at the perfect preparation for the Giro.

 

The last stage of the Giro del Trentino ends on the legendary Monte Bondone. It will be a grand finale on the roads that witnessed what

was to be the turning point in the career of the famous climber Charly Gaul from Luxembourg who was the protagonist of an endeavour

in the snowstorm of 1956. This is also the occasion to celebrate Aldo Moser’s 80th birthday, who came in 10th at that same stage.

 

The stage starts in Val Daone with a 7 km. transfer. After passing through Roncone, Tione, Vigo Rendena and Pinzolo it climbs towards

Madonna di Campiglio to reach the KOM of Passo Campo Carlo Magno (15km, 5.9%, altitude 1682 m.) which is the highest summit of the 2014 edition of the race.

 

It then descends towards Dimaro in the Val di Sole and the Val di Non, the typical area of Melinda apples, to reach the intermediate sprint in Cloz and then Fondo where there is the feed zone. Then there is the descent into the Rotaliana Plain, home to the Teroldego wine, until San Michele all’Adige to then climb towards the KOM (6.5km, 7.1%) of Palù di Giovo (hometown to the Moser and Simoni dynasties).

 

From the Cembra Valley the race reaches Lavis and enters the town of Trento by crossing the San Lorenzo bridge with a view of the Muse where there is the climb that leads to the HC KOM of the Monte Bondone (altitude 1653 m.). This legendary climb is 21.5 km long with 38 hairpin turns and has a 1463-meter altitude gap with inclines averaging 6.3% and up to 9% in certain places and the road surface at the finish line is in very good condition. After an easier start, the climb is a rather constant affair, with the gradient hovering around 7-8% for most of the time. That's also the case for most of the final 5km but it gets a bit steeper towards the end. From 1500 to 500m from the line, the average gradient is 8.6% and then it ramps up with a 9.6% gradient for the final 500m. There will be hairpin bends all the way up the climb, with the final one coming just 300m from the line.

 

Due to the difficulty of the Mont Bondone, we can expect the favourites to save all their energy for the  final climb where the final battle for the overall Giro del Trentino win will take place. The ascent is not overly steep but certainly has the gradients to create a big difference. The length will create a massive difference and we can expect some  rather big time gaps at the end. Like last year the Giro del Trentino keeps the tradition of saving the best to the very end of the race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather

It's risky business to send the riders into the high mountains at this time of the year and so the weather plays a huge role in a race like the Giro del Trentino as mountain stages may be altered or cancelled in case of bad weather. At the same time, the riders clearly prefer to have nice conditions for a preparation event as illness at this time of the year would be disastrous.

 

At the moment, the weather in Trentino is not too good and in fact it has been raining all day at the Lake Garda. When the race kicks off, however, things should have improved and the riders can expect dry conditions for the TTT. It will be a cloudy day though and the temperatures will only reach 11 degrees. There will only be a very light wind from a southerly direction.

 

Things should be better for Wednesday's stage where the rider can expect sunshine, 16-degree temperatures and only a very light wind from a northeasterly direction. With a maximum temperature of 11 degrees near the finish, Thursday should be a bit colder and a bit more cloudy but there will still only be a very light wind, now from a southerly direction.

 

Unfortunately, Friday's queen stage may come under threat as rain is forecasted for the day when the riders enter the really high mountains. At the bottom of the final climb, the temperatures will be 14 degrees and so there is a risk that it will be snowing at the top. Again there will only be a light wind, now from a southwesterly direction.

 

The favourites

Like most other preparation races, the Giro del Trentino is always a strange affair that can be a bit difficult to predict. Some riders are usually very strong in their build-up events while others take it a bit easier before coming out with all guns blazing at their biggest races. Even though everybody is looking for positive signs and would love to achieve a notable result, the Giro contenders head into the race with very different expectations.

 

Things become even more complicated by the fact that many arrive at the race straight from a high-altitude training camp. The riders may not have fully recovered from their hard training and even though they are far off the pace, it is not always a pure reflection of their form. A poor showing in Trentino cannot be used to rule out a strong performance in the Giro.

 

Compared to the other big grand tour preparation event, Criterium du Dauphiné, Tour de Suisse and Vuelta a Burgos, the Giro del Trentino is a bit different in the sense that almost all contenders are using it as build-up for the Giro. The Tour and Vuelta build-up races can both be targets for riders that come out of a grand tour with a solid level of form but in Trentino it would be a big surprise if the winner will not be at the start line in Belfast in a few weeks time.

 

Last year the race had a fantastic start list that included both the big favourites for the Giro but this year the race has not been able attract the biggest names for the grand tour. Nairo Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez won't be on the start line and instead it is a chance to gauge the form of some of the riders that are a little further down the hierarchy.

 

Of course the opening team time trial will play a role but with three big mountain stages coming up, it's impact on the final GC will be minimal and the winner is likely to be the strongest climber in the race. There are bonus seconds on offer in all stages and they may come into play but due to the hard nature of the course, the win will most probably be decided on real time.

 

With the race set to be decided on the climbs, Domenico Pozzovico has a great chance to win a big stage race. Despite possessing solid TT skills, the Giro del Trentino is probably the race on the entire cycling calendar that suits the tiny climber the best. Hence, it is no surprise that he has already won the race once, taking the win in 2012 after demolishing the opposition on the brutally steep Punta Veleno climb.

 

For several years, Pozzovivo failed to live up to his lofty promises and he always seemed to disappoint in the Giro while he rode as Bardiani captain. That trend changed in 2012 when he not only won in Trentino but also took a stage and cracked the overall in the Italian grand tour.

 

Since joining Ag2r, he has continued his upwards trajectory and last year he was on track for a great Giro when he seemed to be the only one that could match Wiggins, Nibali and Santambrogio on the Trentino climbs. Unfortunately, he broke a rib on the penultimate stage which severely hampered his preparation and as he also suffered a crash in the three-week race itself, he had to settle for 10th.

 

He bounced back with a very strong showing in the Vuelta where he finished 6th overall and this year he seems to have taken another step up. He was riding excellently at Roma Maxima where he even briefly dropped the in-form Alejandro Valverde on the steepest climb and went on to take a solid 6th at Tirreno-Adriatico despite losing a lot of time in the opening team time trial.

 

He last raced in Catalonia where he finished 8th overall in a race whose long, gradual climbs don't suit Pozzovivo too well. He will find the climbs in Trentino much more to his liking and based on his history, he seems to be the man to beat.

 

While many riders struggle a bit in their preparation races, Pozzovivo has always been riding really well in Trentino and it would be a surprise if this year is any different. In fact he has finished in the top 5 every year since 2008, with last year of course being an unfortunate exception. Again he arrives straight from a hard block of training but the tiny Italian seems to be able to handle the burden.

 

Pozzovivo excels on very steep climbs that are not too long and so the very long climb on the final day may not suit him too well. Even though he is not a very explosive rider, he usually performs well on short, steep ascents and he will find the third stage to his liking. He will lose some time in the opening TTT but should be able to make up for it in the mountains. As the best climber in a race for climbers, Pozzovivo is the favourite to win the race.

 

Michele Scarponi is another rider who uses the race to prepare for the Giro but while some follow a very consistent pattern in their preparation races, things are different for the veteran Italian. In 2010 and 2011 he finished on the podium in Trentino - in the latter edition he even took the overall win - before going on to finish in the top 4 at the Giro. In 2012 and 2013, however, he was far off the pace in Trentino but still managed to again finish in the top 4 in the Italian grand tour.

 

The reason for Scarponi's mixed results in Trentino is that he usually arrives at the race straight from a hard block of high-altitude training. This year it is no different and so there is little doubt that he is in excellent form. The main question is whether he has recovered from his hard work and he will either be flying in the Trentino mountains or finishing far down the rankings.

 

Scarponi is not at the exceptional level he had in 2011 when he won the Giro d'Italia overall but he is still a very capable bike rider. Last he finished in the top 4 in the Giro despite suffering a lot in the cold conditions and he would have taken a lot of top 10 finishes in WorldTour stage races if it hadn't been for an unbelievable amount of bad luck. At the world championships, he played a key role for Vincenzo Nibali and this year he was riding solidly at the Tirreno-Adriatico.

 

He fell ill after the Italian race which left him with no strength at the Criterium International but he should now be fully recovered from his health issues. The course suits him perfectly and even though he can expect to lose a bit of time to BMC, Movistar and Sky in the TTT, he should be able to take it back in the mountains. The main question is whether it is one of those years when he has not recovered from his training. If he has, he could very well take a second win in the race.

 

Especially in Australia, this year's race was billed as a big pre-Giro showdown between the country's two contenders for the Italian grand tour, Cadel Evans and Richie Porte. In fact, the Australian media were looking forward to a battle between their two best grand tour riders in three different races: the Tour Down Under, the Giro del Trentino and the Giro d'Italia. With Porte now out of both Trentino and the Giro, Evans is the only rider left to defend the Australian colours in this week's race.

 

In the past, Evans was probably the most consistent rider of the entire peloton and he seemed to finish in the top 10 in all his races from January to October. Since his 2011 Tour de France victory, that trend has changed and now he is very hard to predict. Health issues are part of the explanation but it has been a bit of a mystery how Evans has been flying in some races and struggling in others.

 

This year it has been no different. Evans performed excellently in the Tour Down Under, taking 2nd overall and winning a hard stage, and seemed to be riding well when he returned to Europe. Good performances in Haut-Var and Strade Bianche set him up for a great Tirreno but in the Italian race he was far off the pace. He returned to form in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco where he was clearly one of the strongest climbers and finished 7th overall.

 

The Basque race ended just a week ago and so we would be pretty surprised if Evans is not at a decent level. In fact, history proves that he is always riding well in his preparation events. Last year he used Trentino to gear up for his Giro campaign which was planned at the last minute and despite doing the race at short notice, he took 8th overall.

 

This year he seems to have fully recovered from his health issues and is at a much higher level than he was at this time 12 months ago. He has a solid team for the team time trial and should be able to take a bit of time over some key rivals right from the beginning of the race. The nature of the long climbs suit him well and he excels on short, steep ramps like the one that comes at the end of stage 3. If Evans is at the same level as he was in Pais Vasco, he could very well end up winning the race.

 

After Chris Horner's crash, Lampre-Merida will line up at the Giro d'Italia with a two-pronged GC attack consisting of Przemyslaw Niemiec and Damiano Cunego. While Cunego is following his traditional racing schedule and so is racing in the Ardennes, Niemiec will also follow his usual plans by preparing himself in Trentino.

 

After finally getting the chance at the highest level in 2011, Niemiec seemed to struggle a bit in his first year on the WorldTour but in 2013 he took a massive step forward. The Pole had an excellent first part of the season and finished in the top 10 in Tirreno, Catalunya and Trentino before going on to take 6th at the Giro. Those results have earned him a leadership role for this year's edition of the Italian grand tour and he seems to be on track for big things.

 

After working for Rui Costa at Paris-Nice, he rode really well in Catalunya before abandoning the race with stomach problems. Since then he has been training for the Giro and should be in great condition. He doesn't have a long history as a grand tour contender and so it is a bit unknown how he performs in his preparation events. Last year, however, he rode strongly in Trentino and we would be surprised if it is any different this year. At his best he is able to match the likes of Pozzovivo, Scarponi and Evans in the mountains and he could take his first big stage race win since the 2009 Route du Sud in Trentino.

 

Scarponi is not the only weapon in the Astana arsenal. In the Giro, he will share the captaincy role with young Fabio Aru who will also join him in Trentino. After his excellent performance in his first full season as a professional, it is no wonder that Aru has earned himself a captaincy role for the Italian grand tour. Last year he finished 4th in Trentino and after falling ill midway through the Giro, he bounced back by taking 5th in the final big mountain stage.

 

Since then he has failed to reach similar heights but no one can doubt his talent. To stay fresh for the Giro, he has done very little racing so far but showed solid signs in Catalunya where he was 20th. Since then he has prepared his big objective and he should be ready to strike in Trentino. With the race set to be decided in the mountains and a solid team for the TTT, Aru could not find a better course and it would be no surprise if he ends up as the best Astana rider in this race.

 

Ivan Basso is surely not the rider he once was but at the end of 2013 he proved that it is still too early to write him off. In fact he could very well have finished on the podium in the Vuelta if he had not been a victim of the Andorran cold. If he can find back to that level, he will again be a podium contender in the Giro.

 

This year he has not performed well in Tirreno or Catalunya but that is no surprise. Basso has never been a rider for the early season and he needs a lot of racing before his legs start to come around. He rarely achieves any noteworthy results before the month of April and we can expect him to soon start to show signs of life.

 

However, there is no guarantee that Basso will be riding well in Trentino. In fact, he is usually not very strong in his preparation races and he has finished outside the top 15 in the last two editions of the Giro del Trentino. In other years, however, he has been riding much better and won the race in 2009 before taking 5th won year later. Last year he rode excellently in the Vuelta a Burgos in the build-up to the Vuelta and so there is a chance that he will be firing on all cylinders in Trentino. If he is, he still has the skills to win the race on a course that suits him perfectly.

 

Movistar line up at the race without their Giro captain Nairo Quintana and so the race may be chance for some of the domestiques to shine. Igor Anton is expected to play a key role for Quintana in the Italian grand tour but in Trentino he will be riding for himself.

 

If he hadn't crashed in the 2010 Vuelta, Anton would probably have been a grand tour winner but since his magic stage win on the Monte Zoncolan in the 2011 Giro, he has not been at his best level. There are hopes that a change of surroundings may serve him well but so far he has not put the world on fire.

 

However, he has been working as a domestique so far and he has not been expected to reach his best form before the Giro. He hasn't raced for more than two weeks as he has prepared for his big objective, and by now he should be going much stronger. With Alex Dowsett and Adriano Malori on the roster, he could gain some time in the team time trial and then it is all about climbing for a rider who excels in the mountains. If he can find back to his best level, Anton can certainly win this race.

 

12 months ago Francesco Manuel Bongiorno struggled a bit in this race but with his first professional season under his belt, he is now a much stronger rider. In fact he has been one of the best climbers in all the Italian one-day races and he was certainly the best in the Coppi e Bartali stage race where only the two time trials denied him a spot on the podium.

 

Since then he has prepared for the Giro in the mountains and so he should only have become stronger. He returned to competition in the Amstel Gold Race but suffered from stomach problems. Based on his previous performances, he will be one of the best climbers in this race if he has recovered from his health issues and with no time trial, the course suits him perfectly. The Giro del Trentino could be the race that allows him to make a big breakthrough.

 

The third weapon in the Astana arsenal is Mikel Landa who will be riding in support of Scarponi and Aru at the Giro. In this race, however, they will be more on equal footing and things suggest that the Basque is riding strongly. A week ago he was sitting comfortably in the top 10 at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco before a poor time trial relegated him to 14th. Nonetheless, his performance in Spain proved that he has become much stronger since joining Astana.

 

In the past, he showed flashes of promise but he failed to consistently deliver results. He seems to have improved his consistency and this should serve him well in a stage race like Trentino. With no time trial, the course suits him well and he could easily end in the top 5 in the Italian mountains.

 

Finally, we will point to Dario Cataldo. With Porte out of both this race and the Giro, the Sky riders will have much more freedom in both events. Bradley Wiggins will be on the start line in Trentino but he will mostly use the race to find back his climbing legs for the Tour of California. Instead, Cataldo could be the rider to benefit from Porte's absence.

 

Last year Cataldo worked as a domestique all year but in his time with Omega Pharma-Quick Step he proved that he has the skills to excel in stage races. He has finished just outside the top 10 in the Giro twice and he seems to be in solid condition these days. In Coppi e Bartali, he was one of the strongest riders but worked for Peter Kennaugh before winning the final hard time trial and taking second overall. He would have preferred the inclusion of a time trial and may find the amount of climbing a bit too tough but if things go right, he could end in the top 5.

 

***** Domenico Pozzovivo

**** Michele Scarponi, Cadel Evans

***Przemyslaw Niemiec, Fabio Aru, Ivan Basso

** Igor Anton, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno, Mikel Landa, Dario Cataldo

* Stefano Pirazzi, David Arroyo, Matteo Rabottini, Sergio Pardilla, Damiano Caruso, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Marcos Garcia, Bradley Wiggins, Eros Capecchi, Franco Pellizotti, Winner Anacona, Tiago Machado, Angelo Pagani, Edoardo Zardini, Stefano Locatelli, Sergey Firsanov, Hubert Dupont, Fabio Duarte, Diego Rosa, Davide Formolo