Stage 14: Cervere to Bardonecchia, 168km, high mountains

It’s the first of the Giro’s Alpine stages. We have the cat 2 Sestriere about 125km into the stage before a descent and summit finish on cat 1 Jafferau. Sestriere is quite a long climb – ‘pedalable’ as the road book says – so we probably won’t see any spectacular fails from the GC contenders at this stage. After a fast descent, the final climb to the finish at Jafferau is a stinger. The final 7km has gradients of 10% with a maximum of 14%, but the narrow road at Maillaures is gravel so that might just throw a spanner into someone’s works. If any of the GC boys looks less than focused and feisty, the others might sense a chance to break him.

Link: Official website