Giro d'Italia 2022 predictions & cycling betting tips: Mikel may land the spoils
Pello Bilbao provides Team Bahrain-Victorious with a strong supporting cast
Free cycling tips, best bets and analysis for the 2022 Giro d'Italia.
Where to watch
Eurosport 1, from 11am Friday
Best bets
Mikel Landa to win Giro d'Italia
1pt each-way 19-2 BoyleSports
Pello Bilbao to win Giro d'Italia
0.5pt 28-1 BoyleSports
Pello Bilbao top-ten finish
3pts Evs general
Giro d'Italia 2022 preview
Cycling fans will be tickled pink for the next three-and-a-bit weeks as Grand Tour season arrives in the shape of the 105th edition of the Giro d'Italia.
A customary stellar field has assembled for the year's first Grand Tour, which begins with three stages in Hungary, host of this year's Grande Partenza.
An Ineos rider has won the maglia rosa in three of the last four years and Olympic road race champion Richard Carapaz, the only man to break the team's stranglehold on the leader's jersey when with Movistar in 2019, is the overwhelming favourite to be adorned in pink in Verona on May 29.
The Ecuadorian undoubtedly has the strongest team in the mountains at his disposal, and crucially he has shown before that in the third week he only gets stronger.
That said, Carapaz's form is a slight unknown. He won his national time-trial championship and finished second in the road race in February but has not finished three of the four stage races he has entered this year. Although, the one he did reach the end of was the recent Volta Catalunya, where he won a stage and finished second overall.
While holding obvious claims he is probably short enough and there are plenty of doubts about the strength of main market rival Simon Yates's supporting cast.
The Brit has unfinished business at the Giro after dominating the 2018 edition until dramatically cracking on stage 19. He has shown some good form this year and is closely matched with Carapaz against the clock, but it is debatable whether BikeExchange can put enough pressure on Carapaz's mountain lieutenants.
Joao Almedia represents the Tour de France-winning UAE Team Emirates but the Portuguese invariably has a bad day and there is no way he should be a fifth the price of Pello Bilbao.
Bahrain-Victorious have a strong mountains squad heading for Italy and Bilbao is more than just a second-in-command to Mikel Landa.
The Spaniard was sixth at the Giro in 2018 and fifth two years later, while ninth place at last year's Tour de France was another strong performance from the 32-year-old.
In an open heat he could be worth an each-way dabble with BoyleSports offering four places and looks a solid top-ten wager.
Many purists would love to see his teammate Landa win and there have been fleeting glimpses of his climbing magic. His third-place finish behind Tadej Pogacar at Tirreno-Adriatico was encouraging, and he looked in decent climbing form at Liege-Bastogne-Liege recently, making a number of digs.
Landa will come into his own in the high mountains and it could well be that the might of Ineos is matched only by the Spanish duo from Bahrain-Victorious.
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