Stage 8: Spoleto to Prati di Tivo – 152 km
Where to watch: 🇺🇸 Max, 🇨🇦 FloBikes, 🇬🇧 Discovery+, 🇪🇺 Eurosport, 🇦🇺 SBS On Demand
Coverage start time: 🇺🇸 6:00 am EDT, 🇨🇦 6:20 am EDT, 🇬🇧 11:00 am BST, 🇪🇺 12:00 pm CEST, 🇦🇺 8:20 pm AEST
Estimated finish time: 🇺🇸🇨🇦 11:14 am EDT/🇬🇧 4:14 pm BST/🇪🇺 5:14 pm CEST/🇦🇺 1:14 am AEST
Stage type: Mountains
What to expect: Immediately after the TT is the first five-star difficulty (according to the organizers) stage of the Giro. It should also be a fun one. A short day at 152 km, stage 8 finishes with the first-category slog to Prati di Tivo, 14.6 km in length and at a relatively steady 7 percent grade. Anyone who went too deep in the time trial could lose chunks of time.
Fantasy favorites: Surprising no one, Tadej Pogačar has the shortest odds for stage 8, but the breakaway will have a shot on this profile, and it's also at least possible that the GC leader lets someone else have their fun either from the early break or with a late attack while he recovers from his TT effort. At this point in the race, picking a breakaway winner feels like even more of a dartboard throw than usual, but Einer Rubio, Romain Bardet, and both Aurelien and his brother Valentin Paret-Peintre are options to go long, while Cian Uijtdebroeks and Ben O'Connor are worth keeping an eye on out of the GC group.
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