“There are opportunities for the sprinters, there are many time trial kilometres and heavy, exhausting mountain stages. It is a nice course for our classification riders, but also for a top sprinter like Dylan Groenewegen. This does not make the choices easier. We have about five weeks to complete the puzzle.”

For the 2020 Giro d’Italia, 58.8 time trial kilometres have been scheduled, spread over three individual time trials. The Italian grand tour starts with a 9.5 kilometre prologue in Budapest, Hungary. The prologue ends with a climb of one and a half kilometres at a four percent gradient. The last stage is also a time trial. This one is 16.5 kilometres long and will finish in Milan. The third week is likely to prove decisive. Then three long mountain stages are on the program.

During this year’s edition, Primoz Roglic clinched the pink jersey in the opening time trial in Bologna. The other individual time trial, to San Marino, was also won by the Slovenian. These victories helped to ensure that Roglic finished third in the general classification.