Stefan Tabeling, dpa
The 106th Giro d'Italia starts on Saturday with an individual time trial in Abruzzo.
German hopes are pinned on Lennard Kämna, who is tackling the overall classification in a Grand Tour for the first time. However, the top favourites for overall victory are world champion Remco Evenepoel and three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic.
What is the route like this year?
The race starts on 6 May with a 19.6-kilometre individual time trial in Fossacesia Marina in Abruzzo. There are a total of three time trials this year with a total length of 73 kilometres, which should suit German champion Lennard Kämna. The tour ends after 3489.2 kilometres on 28 May in Rome. The overall victory will be decided in the final week, when three mountain finishes in Monte Bondone, Zoldo Alto and Tre Cime di Lavaredo as well as the mountain time trial to Monte Lussari are scheduled. The Giro has a total of 51,400 metres of climbing to conquer.
Who are the favourites for overall victory?
The starting field for the second biggest cycling race in the world is higher-calibre than it has been for a long time. Belgian road world champion Remco Evenepoel and three-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic from Slovenia are the top favourites at the start. Both have already presented themselves in outstanding form this spring. Evenepoel once again won the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Roglic won Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Catalonia, where he finished just ahead of Evenepoel. Former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas and ex-Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart from Great Britain are also in the race. Australian defending champion Jai Hindley from the German Bora-hansgrohe team, on the other hand, will be riding the Tour of France this year, with Russian Tour fifth-placed Alexander Vlasov starting instead.
What can we expect from German hopeful Lennard Kämna?
The talented former junior world champion is riding for the overall classification in a Grand Tour for the first time. The 26-year-old is an excellent time trialist and is also good in the mountains, as he proved with his stage wins in the Tour (2020) and the Giro (2022) in the high mountains. However, it is questionable whether the North German can keep up with the best for three weeks in a row. In any case, his form seems to be good. He finished fourth and sixth overall in the tough Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of the Alps.
What other German drivers should I be aware of?
Pascal Ackermann is the centre of attention in the sprints. The Palatinate rider won two Giro stages and the points classification back in 2019. Since then, however, not much has come together for the sprinter. The 29-year-old has been waiting for a win in the UAE team since the beginning of August 2022. It will also be interesting to see how Anton Palzer performs as a helper in the Bora team. The 30-year-old is a career changer in cycling, having previously won numerous world championship medals in ski mountaineering.
What were the best German finishes at the Giro d'Italia?
Kurt Stöpel (1932) and Didi Thurau (1983) made it to fifth place overall. Last year, Emanuel Buchmann at least managed seventh place. However, no German rider has ever finished on the podium. Former Tour winner Jan Ullrich, who was later banned for doping, only ever rode the Giro as a preparatory race in his career.
Why are superstar Tadej Pogacar and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard not taking part?
The Tour starts just five weeks after the end of the Giro. The time is usually too short to compete for victory in both tours. The last rider to do so was the climbing specialist Marco Pantani in 1998, who died in 2004. Pogacar is also injured after his crash in Liège, and the Slovenian will have to take several weeks off due to a scaphoid fracture.
Where will the tour be shown on TV?
The Giro can be watched free of charge. It will again be broadcast on Eurosport.
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