2015 » 39th Giro del Trentino-Melinda (2.HC) A very important mini stage-race, with four stages comprising a team time trial, two summit finishes and an exciting lumpy circuit course, this race is seen by many as ideal prep for the Giro d'Italia and will be used as exactly that by two stars who have that race's Pink leader's jersey as one of their main ambitions of the season. Fabio Aru of Astana and Richie Porte of Sky will be among the favourites for the Giro and will both try and add this race to their palmares on the way. Porte will hope to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Cadel Evans, who won this race last year. Aru has two top ten finishes to his name, coming 4th in 2013 and 7th in 2014 and saw his teammate Vincenzo Nibali win this race on the way to taking the Giro in 2013. These two will be taken on by names like 2104 Tour de France runner-up Cristophe Peraud and the exciting young South African rider Louis Mentjes (MTN Qhubeka), who was 5th in this last year.
The 2015 Giro del Trentino is the 39th edition, and it starts as is traditional, with a flat team time trial of 13k. There are then two tough stages for the climbers before a stage that ends in a technical circuit of 14km that concludes with a descent into Cles. Stage 2 contains an HC climb, Monte Velo, which is nearly 15km at 8.6% average before a descent and an uphill finish in Parco Del Baldo. Stage 3 has a very tricky second half, with several steep climbs. The latter two, the Passo del Redebus (1st cat, 1455m) and the finish in Fierozzo (2nd cat 1127m) will again ensure decent gaps. Stage 4 might not have the decisive climbs of Stages 2 and 3 but due to the hilly nature of the parcours, the leader's team will have a tough job to control the race. Time bonuses are normally awarded on the road stages here, and if the GC is still close there could be some nerves.
Stages Tuesday 21 April Stage 1 (TTT) - Riva del Garda › Arco (13.3k) Route Profile
Interesting things on Aru's departure from Trentino. Whether the rights and wrongs of being called out and named on Twitter it tells us that the peloton thinks Aru is not clean.
Big marker for Giro betting.
Interesting things on Aru's departure from Trentino. Whether the rights and wrongs of being called out and named on Twitter it tells us that the peloton thinks Aru is not clean.Big marker for Giro betting.