May's Giro D'Italia is one of the three “grand tours” in the cycling calendar along with the Vuelta a Espana in September and, of course, the Tour de France in July.

Cyclosport.org’s Holly Blades caught up with Scott Sunderland, former Team Sky Sports Manager and Giro aficionado. He shares his view on this year’s edition with us, “the Tour de France is the biggest and everybody is there, but I also very much like the Giro. They're two very different races, they're both fantastic, it's pretty hard to split them.”

Whilst the Giro perhaps lacks the pomp and circumstance of the Tour de France, it is often regarded as the more entertaining race for cycling fans. This year's Giro has certainly not been a disappointment for the thrill seekers. The race began in Amsterdam where riders spent three days dodging road furniture and parked cars before the course made its way to Italy for a stage that seemed to take place almost entirely on dirt tracks used by farmers. Add that day's road conditions to the terrible weather that befell Italy, and the riders began to look more like soldiers in trenches than athletes at work.

Though you can never know what is in store for a three-week stage race like the Giro D'Italia (I'm sure American teams Garmin Transitions and BMC didn't expect to lose four riders to various accidents and illness before even the start of the final week), preparation, according to Sunderland, is key. “I think for any team, the preparation time that goes into a three week tour is a lot of work. Team plan, literally months before, their goals for going into a race like this, and what they want to get out of it. It’s essential to look at the stages and the type of race each day, keeping in account the riders competing and what the Team’s best chances are.”

It is this particularly unpredictable Giro that has seen the grand tour debut of the British Team Sky – a baptism of fire if ever there was one. “Going into the Giro, it was obvious to all that Team Sky's first objective was for Brad [Wiggins] to win the prologue.

"The second important date was of course the Team Trial, in which Team Sky did very well and came close to winning. We've since then seen how strong the line-up of the Liquigas team [who won the Team Time Trial at 13 seconds ahead of Sky] is, so it's nothing to be disappointed about.”

Although the treacherous first few stages cut short Bradley Wiggins’ time in the maglia rosa (the leader's pink jersey), the team would still have hope for a stage win, as Sunderland rightly points out - “There's still five days racing to be done”.

Sky's sprinter, Greg Henderson, has been targeting a stage win, and, following sprint favourite Andre Greipel's poor performances in the race, the one remaining sprint friendly stage is now a blank sheet and a chance for Sky and the other sprinters teams to tick another objective off their list.

In a race that has kept fans, commentators and Director Sportifs alike on the edge of their seats, what is it that makes this year's Giro so watchable and the time losses so capricious? Sunderland thinks it all lies in the rider's hands. “[The riders] do make the race, so in those early stages with the crashes, it's no one else's fault except the riders really. It does happen. It's common of all big stage races in the first week -you want to take racing to the people in the big cities and in different areas so it comes along with the territory,”

Photo: Mauro Ventura

Those riders who lost time in the crash strewn first week would realise that all is not lost as "[although] it's not that great when you focus on a big race like this and you lose time in the first few days, on the other hand because it is a big three week race if something happens in the first week then you do have time to make up that time loss, and hopefully it's not going to be that much that it'll cost you the victory.” Cadel Evans remains the perfect example of this, following runs of bad luck that have seen him yo-yoing up and down the General Classification over the past two weeks.

As we enter this, the last week of the Giro, the importance of the third and final week of a Grand Tour is weighing heavily on the riders’ minds. The emphasis appears to be on nutrition and recuperation for a fast recovery from fatigue, Sunderland suggests, an approach that would benefit even the lower placed riders. “The stages are so hard and so long, and with the fatigue you really start to drift so you need to keep concentrated and focussed on what you need to do, including nutrition wise – to eat and drink, and recover – you need to keep focussed on that.”

This is for health reasons only, but offers an advantage during the race as well. “The more alert you are the more opportunities you see, the better you spot the dangers while keeping a close eye on your rivals. That's the main thing, to keep the focus and concentration at 100% and that comes down to having the best recuperation possible. It goes hand in hand that the fitter you are and the stronger you are, the more awareness you have - through being fresher and able to concentrate.”

Unfortunately, it is also in this last week that a lot of riders will begin to realise that sometimes concentration just isn't enough, “I think if you're behind at this point, there's not much else you can do other than continue and take things day by day. This last week of the Giro is super hard. You can't say 'I'm going to take it easy today; there will be more opportunities tomorrow.' You need to know your limits, ride within yourself and if you do have a bad day, you have to try and minimize your losses. When it’s going well, maximize your gains.”

Photo: dirkjankraan.com

Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins, British National Time Trial Champion, must surely be a favourite for the Giro's Individual Time Trial on the final stage in Verona. As well as being the chance for a last minute rise up the General Classification, it's also the perfect Tour de France preparation for the man who was only 6 minutes off the podium in Paris last year, as Sunderland points out. “With the start being in Holland [The Tour de France also starts in Holland this year] and the windy first week, I think Bradley has got a lot out of the Giro for what he needs to do in his build up towards the Tour, along with the other Tour de France contenders and all the TdF teams really.

"I think training wise and preparation wise Brad's been up there, knocking on the door on a few of the stages, he's picked his days, and most likely he’ll just want to get through to Verona to the finish.”

Having seen the form of some of the riders, the opinions of many viewers and experts all reach the same conclusion when it comes down to who to watch in this last week in Italy. “I think we saw on the Zoncolan [the mountainous stage 15] who's got the good form. To me, it wasn't a big surprise to see Nibali dropped on the Zoncolan. As he’s still young, he doesn’t have the resistance the more experienced riders have; but he may bounce back in the coming days. I think Evans and Basso are the two riders who were always going to be up for GC contention. They will need to pull back the deficit to the current wearer of the Pink Jersey, Arroyo first”

It's not just sportive riders who have bad days, Carlos Sastre (2008 Tour winner) had a rough time in the early days of the race before a breakaway gave him a second chance. “Carlos was coming into the Giro with a lack of race days so every day that goes by, he's getting better and better. Sastre still has a slight chance of having a really good day particularly if Evans and Basso aren't really on it, he can keep himself in podium contention.

“Going into the third week, the podium looks like it's going to be shared between Evans, Basso, Arroyo, but we can't underestimate people like Sastre, Scarponi, Nibali and Vinokourov. They're four guys who might challenge for a podium place.

“The rider I’m most impressed with in this year’s Giro is definitely Aussie Richie Porte. He’s an interesting rider to follow.”

Scott's Predictions

27/05 Stage 18: Levico Terme – Brescia (151km)
With only four stages to go, it's the last chance for the sprinters today. The team with the pink jersey will not have to spend too much time on the front as the remnants of the sprinters' teams will try to keep things together for a mass sprint. There could be some guys spoiling their party though and working hard for a breakaway to succeed. The classement riders will welcome this day to do as little as possible and keep their nose out of the wind; there's three big stages to come.
 
Chance winner: Pozatto
Possible mover: Pinotto

28/05 Stage 19: Brescia – Aprica (195km)
This is a relatively long stage at 195 km. The riders have 90km of relatively flat roads to start with, before climbing to the finish line in Aprica for the first time. What follows then is a lap over two climbs, the Trivigno and the Passo del Mortirolo, before ascending the Aprica a second and last time. A day for the die hard climbers, the GC riders. Arroyo will be in pink still and Evans and Basso will have to dig as deep as possible to challenge him for the top step on the podium. It will be a nice day to watch for sure, suspense guaranteed.
 
Chance winner: Nibali
Likely loser: Possibly Porte, due to lack of experience and resistance in his first Grand Tour
Possible mover: Sastre
 
29/05 Stage 20: Bormio – Ponte di Legno (178km)
The Queen Stage. 18 km climb up to Livigno, altitude 2316, next climb at 2300 metres, drop down to start the climb of Passo di Gavia at 2600 metres. Then there's a long decent and a climb to the finish. This is a stage of all or nothing, win or lose.
 
Chance winner: Evans
Likely loser: Vinokourov
Possible mover: Maybe Nibali, if Basso rides defensive 

30/05 Stage 21: Verona (15.3km individual time trial)
The route includes the 5km climb of the Verona World Championships; then 5 km down. I think it's going to be won by either Evans or Pinotti.

Likely loser: The one who loses his GC spot!
Possible mover: Pinotti

About Scott Sunderland
Scott Sunderland is a former professional racing cyclist, now a sports manager and consultant. In 2006 and 2007, Sunderland’s management led Team CSC to two consecutive Paris-Roubaix wins. Also in 2007, he took Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre to victory in the Tour de France. This year, Sunderland was appointed Senior Sports Manager, but he has now parted company in order to spend more time with his family. In 2009, Sunderland rode The London-Paris sportive event.

You can follow Scott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/triplesmc
You can view his website: http://www.scottsunderland.com