PREVIEW | Giro d'Italia 2023 stage 10 - Sprinter day sees tough uphill start threaten breakaway win

Preview. The second week starts here, the Giro d'Italia sees a very treacherous day where the first half barely features a flat meter, but the second half of stage 10 suits the sprinters. It'll be an interesting battle to follow.

The tenth stage of the Giro d'Italia will see a relatively hilly day from Scandiano to Viareggio which will take the riders close to the Tirreno sea, one that will be very tricky to predict as the first half is very rolling whilst the second is almost pan-flat. A difficult day to predict, 3000 meters of climbing make it just a little too complicated to control for some of the sprinter teams, it'll be an interesting one.

Estimated start and finish times for Giro d'Italia stage 10: 12:05-17:15CET

The start of the day sees some uphill drags, however a 2.8 kilometer climb at 8.2% with only 15 kilometers of racing sees a spot where it'll be very hard to prevent a group from going. Depending on it's strength it could be to victory. The first 88 kilometers have tons of small climbs and descents, treacherous terrain where it's impossible to put on a strong chase.

The goal for the sprinter teams is to keep the gap as controlled as possible without losing their main work engines. This is possible. The riders are at this point at over 1500 meters of altitude, they will end the stage at exactly 0. After a long descent the riders find a tough ascent in Monteperpoli, it's 2.6 kilometers at 8% and ends with 75 kilometers to go. However after the small descent the day becomes more simple.

Most of the run-up to the finish is flat, in the last 17 kilometers the riders go down once again. The final 10 are pan-flat and completely straightforward, it will be possible to cut a lot of time here if a breakaway is still to be brought back . The finale will be very fast, it's a slight downhil finale with a tiny left-hander with 300 meters to go, positioning will be crucial as whoever sprints from the front may have enough speed to wrap it off.

The Weather

Chances of some rain, however it may only be seen when the time comes. There are good chances of some wet roads and strong northern wind. Most of the race will be covered in the mountains, however this is another obstacle for the teams looking to control everything into a sprint and there's a general tailwind throughout the afternoon.

The Favourites

A difficult day to control, but also one that suits Mads Pedersen and Michael Matthews quite well. Always tough to balance out interests in such a stage, but with the points classification in mind and tough rivalry in the race they could try to distance the competition and try to bring it back to a sprint. Kaden Groves and Alpecin could be allies. Andrea Vendrame, Vincenzo Albanese and Filippo Fiorelli could benefit from such scenario.

Stage 5 was a good indicator, where a modest breakaway was let off, no-one pushed the pace into the climbs and a bunch sprint took place. This isn't impossible. Jonathan Milan would love this as the current leader of the points classification. Fernando Gaviria, Pascal Ackermann, Mark Cavendish, Simone Consonni, Jake Stewart, Niccolò Bonifazio, Arne Marit and Jake Stewart will also hope for this scenario.

What about the breakaways? They have finally started to succeed at this Giro, there is no reason why they can't continue to happen. This is a hard day to control, however stage 5 was similar and the whole field took it easy. Later in the race however there are less opportunities, and the weather conditions are favourable. I think a lot of riders will go all-out and the tough ascent early on will make it very hard to prevent a strong group from going up the road.

Out of those who can have a strong finish if it would come down to a small sprint riders such as Magnus Cort Nielsen, Simon Clarke, Patrick Konrad and Diego Ulissi will be interesting. However it is very hard to predict that. Some riders can actually make the difference in the flat roads such as Bruno Armirail, and also Ben Healy although I don't necessarily he'll try to attack this day just after a win.

Samuele Battistella, Christian Scaroni, Lorenzo Rota, Stevie Williams and Warren Barguil will also be riders to watch. In case they are given freedom from their team Alessandro De Marchi, Bauke Mollema and Toms Skujins could also be towards the front.

Prediction Giro d'Italia 2023 stage 10:

*** Mads Pedersen, Kaden Groves
** Magnus Cort Nielsen, Simon Clarke
* Michael Matthews, Jonathan Milan, Fernando Gaviria, Vincenzo Albanese, Bruno Armirail, Samuele Battistella, Alessandro De Marchi

Pick: Kaden Groves