Italy welcomes the Continental Tour to a tough, hilly classic. It's 171 kilometers long, where the first 100 kilometers are gentle. On the other hand, the last 70 kilometers are extremely hard, the riders will need to climb a mountain, followed by 3 hills, only to finish it off with an uphill sprint. In other words, the race should be hard, giving the puncheurs an edge.
Nicolas Roche is one of the biggest favourites for this race. He's an excellent climber, which he has shown both on the long and short climbs so far this season, meaning the last 70 kilometers should suit him perfect. He's also having a pretty strong team around him for this race. Busche, Iannetti and Cheula are all decent puncheurs, more than capable of helping their captain.
Cesare Di Maggio, the young Italian who only knows how to ride hills, is certainly a big favourite for this race aswell. This season looks to be his breakthrough, he won Tour Meditteraneen early in the season, and he can only hope to continue his success here.
Hassen Ben Nasser is another interesting rider for this race. His team is weak, but he's certainly not. With a great punch, and a strong sprint, this is a man to watch out for, his best shot might be a sprint between few riders, where his acceleration can be shown.
Domenico Pozzovivo is probably not the first puncheur you think of, and that's fair. He's not one of the greatest puncheurs, but he's a world class climber. And the relative long and steep climb suits him perfect, I'm pretty sure we will see an offensive Pozzovivo there, as that climb looks like his best shot at success in this classic, on home soil.
Aleksandr Kolobnev, the russian puncheur is also here. His team has had a bad start to the season, but they're hoping to change that here in Italy. Kolobnev was great last season, but he hasn't shown such quality this year, maybe he will get his first win in Italy?
David de la Fuente and Koldo Gil are an interesting duo. None of them can be counted as a big favourite, but they are both strong, and they can probably take advantage of that, attacking often, which could lead to one of them slipping away.
Jelle Vanendert Chris Froome
also deserves mentioning. Froome had a great start, in the very first race of the season, MTN Cycling Classic, while Vanendert has been solid through the whole season, could one of them give their team a somewhat surprising win here in Italy?
Team Armavia is a wild card team from the C2 Division, they can only hope they can feature in the breakaway and some early attacks, as it's extremely unlikely they will be challenging the favourites for the win.
I hope the team will take control (like usual) of the race and then it's up to Roche to actually make the right move, though the competition is really hard! Would be awesome to see him and Pozzovivo attack on that long steep climb, though it's unlikely.
Hopefully with the tougher profile, Vanendert's mountain stat can come in to play a bit. He really needs a good result soon. My money is on Pozzo, however.
Nice to join the "big boys" for a change. I am very unsure how good (read: bad) my best guys are compared to your level, but the main goal would be to not bring shame and embarrassement upon the team
