Giro d’Italia 2024
Stage 7 – Foligno > Perugia TUDOR ITT (40.6km)
Fri 10th May | First rider: 13:00 CET; Last rider: 16:22 CET
Profile
Stage 6 Result
1st Pelayo Sánchez (150/1)
2nd Julian Alaphilippe (12/1)
3rd Luke Plapp (250/1)
4th Andrea Piccolo (66/1)
Stage 6 Bets
Quinten Hermans 1pt each way (4 places) @22/1
Andrea Vendrame 1pt each way (4 places) @33/1
Laurence Pithie 0.5pts each way (4 places) @40/1
Georg Steinhauser 0.5pts each way (4 places) @80/1
Jenthe Biermans 0.5pts each way (4 places) @150/1
A second triple-figure winner in as many days. All the picks tried to make the break along with about a hundred other riders, but those flat starts are a bugger and no-one got a gap for almost 100km. Vendrame bridged to the break that finally went on the climb but by then the stage favoured the climbers. Hermans sprinted for seventh which was no consolation.
Stage 7 Preview
A 40.6km time trial is pretty long by modern Grand Tour standards and it means significant time will be lost and gained between general classification contenders. It’s flat for the first 34km but ends with a 6.6km rise which is toughest at the bottom with a categorised climb of 1.3km at 11.8%, maxing out at 16%.
So time-trial specialists will need to make time on the flat and limit their losses on the climb whilst the GC men will aim to do the opposite, though their battle of course is with each other and not necessarily for the stage.
Stage 7 Contenders
Tadej Pogačar (Evs; 2.0) has history with time trials that end in a climb with his devastating win on La Planche des Belles Filles delivering his first Tour de France title in 2020. His TT performances since have been solid without anything as exceptional as that day. Showing maturity, he kept his boots cool on stage 6 and could extend his GC lead significantly here.
Filippo Ganna (7/4; 2.75) has won six Giro d’Italia time trials, his only defeat coming in last year’s opening stage to Remco Evenepoel. He’s looked in good shape so far this Giro, but will need to be well ahead on the clock before the road goes uphill.
Magnus Sheffield (7/1; 8.0) put in an exceptional time trial at the Volta ao Algarve at the start of the year, beaten only by Evenepoel and putting the likes of Ganna and time trial specialist Stefan Küng behind him. He was then unlucky not to win in the Tour de Romandie last month when stage winner Brandon McNulty got the better of the weather conditions. The American is a genuine contender for this.
Geraint Thomas (7/1; 8.0) lost the pink jersey in last year’s Giro to Primož Roglič on a time trial with a similar profile, albeit with a much shorter flat section. He was still best of the rest though, remains an excellent time triallist and looks to be on top form.
Mikkel Bjerg (28/1; 29.0) won the TT at last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné and has looked strong in support of Pogačar so far this Giro – a podium isn’t out of the question on a parcours that suits.
Luke Plapp (50/1; 51.0) is back doing his favourite discipline after his near miss on stage 6. That brutal day out must have taken something out of him though and a top 5 would be a good result.
Tobias Foss (50/1; 51.0) was a surprise time trial world champion two years ago but hasn’t won in the discipline since and crashed heavily on stage 5.
Antonio Tiberi (80/1; 81.0) was junior world TT champion in Harrogate in 2019 and is a rider on an upward trend. The young Italian could surprise with a top 5 here.
Riders will need to judge their efforts to perfection here as they’ll need plenty in reserve for the final climb and that may play into the hands of the better climbers rather than time trial specialists. Instead of searching for value, sometimes it’s best to just succumb to the obvious - Tadej Pogačar is the outstanding candidate to win stage 7 with a price that’s just about acceptable.
Stage 7 Bets
Tadej Pogačar 3pts win @Evs
Posted 21:16 BST Thu 9th May 2024
Prices to win the stage are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change - find the best prices available on the Giro d’Italia at Oddschecker
[Giro d’Italia stage profiles reproduced by kind permission of Ben Lowe at Veloviewer.com]
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