After two flat stages with clear sprint finishes, things are starting to get serious in this 105th edition of the Giro d’Italia. The runners will face a demanding mid-mountain route, with four scoring ports (two 3rd, one 2nd and one 1st category) spread over the 196 km of the stage.
The 4,500 meters of accumulated difference in altitude They are a good example of the demanding nature of the route, so as not to be a high-mountain day, so we will be able to see both a large breakaway that reaches the finish line and a select group of runners vying for victory in the sprint. The final classic in the town of Potenza, which has not hosted a Giro arrival since 2001 (victory of Danilo Hondo) has a explosive slope of 350 m at 8% average and maximum ramps of 13% in the last meters.
Giro d’Italia 2022: stage 7 profile.
AS Journal
Therefore, this range of possibilities will be a litmus test for the leader, the Spanish Juanpe Lopez, that at least until Sunday’s stage ending in Blockhaus he intends to defend the pink jersey. Due to the demands of the route, runners for whom the arrival suits them like a glove, in the case of Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay, would be ruled out of the fight, while if the men in the general play for victory, Richard Carapaz, Simon Yates, Joao Almeida and the Spaniards Pello Bilbao and Alejandro Valverde (for Mikel Landa it is too explosive an end) they appear in all the pools.