Cavendish eyes sprint clean sweep in 2010 Giro

By Paul Virgo

ROME, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Mark Cavendish was eyeing a sprint clean sweep at the 2010 Giro d’Italia after organisers revealed there would be seven stages for speedsters during Saturday’s presentation of next May’s race.

“I always want to be a star at the Giro,” the Briton, who bagged three individual stage wins in this year’s race, told Rai television. “There are seven stages for sprinters, why not try winning them all?”

Organisers had already announced that the first three stages would be in the Netherlands, starting in Amsterdam on May 8 with a time trial.

It will be the ninth time the world’s second biggest stage race, which celebrated its centenary this year, kicks off outside Italy.

Many of the gruelling mountain stages have been saved for the second half of the race before the climax in Verona on May 30 with an individual time trial finishing at the city’s Roman arena.

The 15th stage from Mestre to Mt. Zoncolan and the penultimate stage between Bormio and Ponte di Legno Tonale look especially tough.

The Giro will not stop in Milan after a farcical stage in the city this year, when the times did not count for the general classification after the riders cruised for most of it in protest at the safety of the course.

REAL CONTENDERS

After the first three stages, the peloton will fly to Piedmont for a team time trial between Savigliano and Cuneo.

The race then heads southwards with the first uphill finish coming in the eighth stage from Chianciano Terme to Mt. Terminillo in Lazio, which is expected to show who the real contenders are.

Three days later the riders will take on the longest stage, a 256-km slog from Lucera to L’Aquila in Abruzzo, which is still recovering from the earthquake that hit the region in April.

“The race is paying a visit to this city still wounded by the earthquake, something which Italian President Giorgio Napolitano requested,” said Carlo Verdelli, the editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport, whose parent company runs the Giro. Stage One - May 8, Amsterdam, time trial, 8.4 km Stage Two - May 9, Amsterdam-Utrecht, 209 km Stage Three - May 10, Amsterdam-Middelburg, 209 km Stage Four - May 12, Savigliano-Cuneo, team time trial, 32.5 km Stage Five - May 13, Novara-Novi Ligure, 168 km Stage Six - May 14, Fidenza-Carrara, 166 km Stage Seven - May 15, Carrara-Montalcino 215 km Stage Eight - May 16, Chianciano Terme-Mt. Terminillo, 189 km Stage Nine - May 17, Frosinone-Cava De’ Tirreni, 188 km Stage 10 - May 18, Avellino-Bitonto, 220 km Stage 11 - May 19, Lucera-L’Aquila, 256 km Stage 12 - May 20, Citta Sant’Angelo-Porto Recanati, 191 km Stage 13 - May 21, Porto Recanati-Cesenatico, 222 km Stage 14 - May 22, Ferrara-Asolo, 201 km Stage 15 - May 23, Mestre-Mt. Zoncolan, 218 km Stage 16 - May 25, San Vigilio di Marebbe-Plan de Corones, time trial, 12.9 km Stage 17 - May 26, Brunico-Peio Terme, 173 km Stage 18 - May 27, Levico Terme-Brescia, 151 km Stage 19 - May 28, Brescia-Aprica, 195 km Stage 20 - May 29, Bormio-Ponte di Legno Tonale, 178 km Stage 21 - May 30, Verona, time trial, 15.3 km (Editing by Sonia Oxley; To comment on this story: sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)