[UCI World Tour] Giro d'Italia 2018

Giro d'Italia 2018

Also running: Spanish Grand Prix 2018

Here we are again; with Tom winning last year, how can I not do another event? :)

How it works

Predict who is going to win each stage of the Giro.

• Leave your predictions on the giveaway for that stage (they all include maps and profiles and a link to the official site).
• Do not edit your predictions if you want to change it; delete the old one and create a new one.
• Below is a table with all stages but you can go the first one and use the "next stage" link on there to go through all of them.
• We're not going to make it too easy so anyone who just spams the same rider for all stages will be disqualified.

Preview

This event is a little more limited than the Tour de France event; no Tour Touristique and the preview is just a direct copy/paste from the official site. I did add some suggestions, more to follow.

Sites
Official Site
Wikipedia (This page could do with a lot more stats.)

Favorites
Here's a quick listing of a few riders for the general qualification victory.

• Gotta start with Chris Froome though not necessarily cause he is the top favorite... It is rumoured he was paid around 1.5 million Euros to start in the Giro this year but now there's the salbutamol case that is hanging over his head. If found guilty he might be stripped of any victories since that test and that would make riding the Giro pointless. There's a very small chance the verdict will come down before the end of the Giro but personally I don't see that happening. Another interesting possibility is that Froome might give up on the Giro at some point when he figures a Tour de France victory this year might be in danger (assuming he values those more than Giro victories; he has zero Giro victories right now, but should he win he'll have a three in a row grand tour victories). Should he quit the Giro it's going to be really interesting to see what all the other Tour de France favorites in the Giro will do; will they quit as well to be just as prepared as Froome?
• Tom Dumoulin won last year and this year there will be a lot more pressure on him and his team. I'm hoping for a repeat performance! There are lot fewer time trial kilometres this year so it's not going to be easy. The good news is that he reportedly has his "toilet stops" under control.
• All Italian hope will be on Fabio Aru now that Vincenzo Nibali isn't here.
• French hopeful Thibaut Pinot was fourth last year.
• Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) and Miguel Ángel López (Astana) are both light climbers that are very well suited for the stages we have in the Giro this year. Their time trials leave a lot to be desired though so they will have to attack hard in the mountains; fortunately that's exactly what they love to do. Chaves will have Simon Yates to help him, or will Simon secretly be the one going for the title?
• Kiwi George Bennett is the man for LottoNL-Jumbo this year. This means that Robert Gesink will have more freedom to go for a stage win like in the Vuelta and Tour last year.

Stages

View attached image.

View attached image.

View attached image.

View attached image.