A whirlwind of racing continues this weekend with the start of the Giro d’Italia, in which Simon Yates and Geraint Thomas both have a point to prove
In the rejigged 2020 cycling season, Grand Tours have become like buses. You wait ages and then two or three turn up, each one right behind the others. On Saturday Simon Yates and Geraint Thomas start as joint favourites to win the Giro d’Italia, continuing a whirlwind two weeks of racing that has seen the Tour de France end in a dramatic victory for Tadej Pogacar, and a sumptuous world championship win for Julian Alaphilippe.
The proximity of the Giro to the Tour and the fact its final five days clash with the Vuelta a España – Spanish lockdowns permitting – mean the Italian race probably has the least daunting field of the three great Tours. Together with Yates and Thomas, winners of the 2018 Vuelta and Tour respectively, only one other competitor in the Giro field has won one of the big three, but that rider is a name to be reckoned with: Vincenzo Nibali, whose palmarès includes the 2014 Tour, the 2010 Vuelta and the Giro in 2013 and 2016.
Written by William Fotheringham
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/02/simon-yates-geraint-thomas-giro-d-italia-tour-de-france-cycling under the title “Yates and Thomas the favourites as Giro follows fast on heels of the Tour | William Fotheringham”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
