Favorites stage 1 Giro d'Italia 2023 | Ganna in front of home crowd against Evenepoel and Roglic, or...?

Fossacesia Marina - that's where the participants of the Giro d'Italia 2023 will start their grand tour one by one. Along the coast, with idyllic views, they will have to push hard for 19.6 kilometers towards the finish in Ortona. IDLProCycling examined every meter!

So the start of the Giro d'Italia 2023 is in Fossacesia Marina, a town with a lot of history on the Adriatic coast. However, the riders won't have much time to enjoy the olive oil or bakery skills that the town is known for. For them, it will be a matter of focusing on the 19.6-kilometer course that is waiting for them.

From the starting point, we hit the Via Verde, an old railway that has now been converted into a long bike path. It's a narrow path that you definitely wouldn't send a peloton over, but perfect for an opening time trial like this. It will make for some great pictures. So the riders follow the coastline, which means they'll be on one long slog towards Ortona. In that town, they leave the bike path, and the road immediately starts ascending for the final 2.8 kilometers.

The first kilometer averages five percent, followed by a short plateau that is an ideal launching pad for the final 800 meters, which ascend at 2.3 percent.

Start: 1:50 p.m. (first rider)
Finish: 5:09 p.m. (last rider)

We are on the Italian coast, where we can normally expect nice temperatures. That will be no different on Saturday: weather stations are currently predicting 22 degrees Celsius, while the wind seems to be lightly in favor of the riders.

For this opening time trial, we see roughly two top favorites, one of whom is of Italian origin. Filippo Ganna wants to cheer up the tifosi in Ortona with a resounding victory in this time trial. The course should suit the speed specialist from Verbania - he is a king in powering through on the flat, but ending on an incline also suits the INEOS Grenadiers rider.

Ganna's team certainly has faith in his chances, although they are somewhat wary of big rival Remco Evenepoel. "We have to watch out for him," INEOS leader Geraint Thomas pointed out in his podcast Watts Occurring. "He's lean, can ride aero and has a lot of power." By the way, it is Evenepoel's first time trial in competition since the end of 2022, when he finished third at the World Championships in Wollongong.

But who says it's going to be a two-horse race? Jumbo-Visma may have to do without world champion Tobias Foss, but they still have the current Olympic time trial title holder in their ranks: Primoz Roglic. Additionally, Rohan Dennis, a two-time time trial world champion, was called up at the last minute to participate in this Giro.

This Giro, Stefan Küng is the man to watch for Groupama-FDJ. The Swiss rider is present in the Giro for the first time in seven years, mainly aiming for the time trials. The strong rider has on numerous occasions come very close to winning at the highest level - will it finally happen this time around?

We've covered the big favorites, but there are still riders who could easily finish in the top five. For example, the EF Education-EasyPost trio featuring Magnus Cort, Alberto Bettiol and Ben Healy - or the ever unpredictable Lennard Kämna of BORA-hansgrohe. And how strong will Jumbo-Visma's helpers Jan Tratnik and Edoardo Affini be, as they are normally strong in races against the clock? The same goes for Soudal Quick-Step pawns Josef Cerny, who recently won in Romandie, Mattia Cattaneo and Ilan Van Wilder.

UAE-Team Emirates is bringing Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty and Joao Almeida, three riders we haven't seen in action for weeks - but they are very fast on their bikes. Sprinters Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) will also want to position themselves well for a chance at the pink jersey later on, while the Dutch riders Thymen Arensman (INEOS) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) are usually decently fast in time trials.

Top favorites: Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) 
Shadow favorites: Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Lennard Kämna (BORA-hansgrohe)
Longshots: Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Jan Tratnik (Jumbo-Visma), Joao Almeida (UAE-Team Emirates) Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step), Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers), Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) and Brandon McNulty (UAE-Team Emirates)

Tom van der Salm (Twitter: @TomvanderSalm)

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