GIRO 2022 – Triple for Démare, VDP on the attack, new leader at the Blockhaus … What we can expect from the weekend

Démare will he offer himself a hat-trick in Naples?

The 8th stage, Saturday, constitutes a new opportunity for the sprinters to explain themselves… and therefore for Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) to sign a 3rd consecutive victorious bunch sprint, after his successes during the 5th and 6th stages, in Messina and Scalea. To do this, you will have to hang on to the various small climbs that mark out the Neapolitan route – the start and finish are located nearby, in the capital of Campania.

This short stage (153 km) never exceeds 200 meters in altitude but is like a real roller coaster. In the middle of the stage, you will have to complete a 19km circuit four times on winding and narrow roads which include the Monte di Procida (1.8km at 6.8%). This will be crossed a fourth and last time 34 km from the goal. After this loop, there will still be a wall of 700m at 9.3% to overcome, then a final non-registered climb (3.3 km at 4.7%) whose summit is located just 6 kilometers from the finish.

The punchers will therefore have enough to make life difficult for the sprinters. But with the form he has displayed since leaving the Giro and the punch we know him in those great days, Arnaud Démare seems armed to resist and offer himself an 8th career victory on the Giro. You don’t win Milan-Sanremo without knowing how to handle the bumps, do you?

What surprise does Van der Poel have in store for us on Saturday?

Frustrated at not having managed to take the breakaway on Friday on the road to Potenza, it is easy to imagine the Dutchman animated by a spirit of revenge on Saturday at the start of Naples. On paper, this 8th stage suits him very well. Perhaps not as much as the 1st stage in Visegrad, where the Alpecin-Fenix ​​leader had raised his arms at the top of a bump hard enough to eliminate pure sprinters but not hard enough to be reserved for climbers.

This time, he can’t just wait for the last 200 meters to make the difference. If Cavendish, Démare and Ewan are still there under the red flame, MVDP will undoubtedly be beaten. He will therefore have to anticipate, go on the attack. And that’s good, the Neapolitan route invites some madness. We can imagine his teammates undermining all day before putting their leader into orbit on the last climb, which will only be followed by three kilometers of descent and then three of flat to reach the finish. One thing is certain. All eyes will be on van der Poel this Saturday. The key to this 8th stage, he holds it.

Who in pink at the Blockhaus?

Leader since the arrival at Etna on Tuesday evening, Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) will of course have to be vigilant on Saturday on the Neapolitan roads which are not very stingy with traps. But it is Sunday, at the Blockhaus (14 km at 8.4%), that everyone expects to see him lose his pink jersey. This 9th stage promises to be terrible – with in particular before the final ascent an 11km climb at 7.2% (Passo Lanciano) – and he is only 1’42 » ahead of Simon Yates, first leaders in general. It seems too thin before such a day, although the Spaniard is an honest climber (11th in the Tour of the Basque Country last April).

The Briton is in pole position to succeed him. But he fell during the Etna stage. His knee injury does not seem very serious, but we will know for sure only on Sunday. They are six behind Yates to stand in 24 seconds or less (Kelderman, Almeida, Bilbao, Porte, Carapaz and Bardet). Six to be able to dream of a seizure of power. However, be careful not to forget Lennard Kamna (2nd) and Rein Taaramae (3rd), Lopez’s breakaway companions on Etna, who are respectively 38 » and 58 » behind the Spaniard. They are known to be capable of great feats. So, on a big day, why wouldn’t they also have the right to dream of the pink jersey?

What to expect from the French?

For a stage victory, clearly, you mainly have to bet on Arnaud Démare during the Neapolitan day. The blue clan has no other sprinters. And there is not really a puncher capable of flying over the last bump, even if this kind of profile can inspire Anthony Perez, with the interesting burst of speed in the event of a sprint in small groups.

Sunday, in the high mountains, unless there is a fantastic breakaway from Nans Peters or Rémy Rochas, we will have to rely on Romain Bardet and Guillaume Martin. More than the stage victory, we expect the first to assert its status as a contender for the final podium, while the hierarchy has yet to be established. For the second, it will be a question of reassuring himself after a first failed test at altitude. Was it a day off or not? He will have the answer on Sunday. Friday, at the end of a very steep 7th stage, he confided in any case to having experienced « much better feelings » than at Etna. A good omen. But to be confirmed during the 9th stage.