Preview - Giro d'Italia 2022 stage 7

Stage 7 of the Giro d' is one of the most tricky ones to predict. A wild day in the race, could be chaotic towards the end of the race, however still this early on it has the potential to blow the race to bits in the opening week.

196 kilometers and 4700 meters of climbing on the menu, well distributed throughout the day with a wide variety of climbs to be raced.

The start of the stage is no pan-flat, however with 30 kilometers of racing, it starts to get very tough with a 9.4Km climb at 4.6%. After a fast descent comes the longest climb of the day – Monte Sirino – which is in total 32 kilometers long at 3.9%. This mountain however is the mix of three different climbs, split by flat/downhill sections. It can be a trap, however at the very least, a place where fatigue will settle in for most.

The main climb of the day summits with 61 kilometers to go. There is already an uncategorized ascent leading up to it, however on the climb itself the averages reach almost 10% for over 6 kilometers. It is a brutal climb, and if it’s attacked it can dictate serious problems for many GC contenders.

With 38 kilometers to go off the descent of Viggiano there is a 5.8Km at 3.9% hilltop, and after another descent there is the ascent to La Sellata which is 8.2 kilometers long at 5.7%. Not the hardest, but after a hard day any climb can be damaging, this one summits with 24 kilometers to go.

The finale in Potenza is also far from easy, as the riders climb into the city’s historic center for an intermediate sprint with only 7 kilometers to go (1.9Km at 5.4%), and after riding through the city they will head into the final meters which also feature double-digit gradients just before the line.

**** Davide Formolo

*** Mathieu van der Poel, Biniam Girmay

** Diego Ulissi, João Almeida, Pello Bilbao

* Lennard Kämna, Romain Bardet, Mauro Schmid, Richard Carapaz