The Stage - The deciding last leg of the race, a 10-kilometre time trial that is pan flat and a test of pure power against the clock.
The Route - Flat and straight, heading down and up San Benedetto del Tronto without any real complication. The start is at the Viale Tamerici and then the route heads down the Porto d’Ascoli to the intermediate split which takes in the Piazza Salvo d’Acquisto. Then we have the finish in Viale Buozzi.
The Winner - A powerhouse time trialist. The route is pancake flat and there won’t be any room for anything else.
The Contenders - BMC’s Rohan Dennis took this last year and was part of the winning team in the opening team time trial, and he was once again part of the winning team on the opening day. Stefan Küng was also part of that team and he has been increasingly impressive in dragging back breakaways through the week – his 22nd in Omloop Het Niewsblad and 16th in Strade Bianche were both impressive results and he ought to go very well.
Mitchelton-Scott’s Luke Durbridge has shown up a lot in finales this week and the Austrian, second only to Dennis in the Australian National Championship, should be up to going well and this distance might suit him.
Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski is a major contender here to seal his Magalia Azzura with a win as well as another contender for the stage and the overall in Geraint Thomas. Both of them can do very well here and Jonathan Castroviejo is the Spanish National Champion whilst Gianni Moscon is the Italian equivalent.
After his great stage win earlier Primoz Roglic has a chance to take another one here and he was second to Tom Dumoulin in the World Championships last year for Lotto-Jumbo. Alex Dowsett was second in the British National Time trials last year and has finished 10th in the Abu Dhabi Time Trial; He ought to be a good deal fitter this time around.
