A brief but fairly steep climb in Saturday's prologue sets the tone for the 2006 edition of the Giro d'Italia cycling race which is expected to be dominated by the host nation.
With eight mountain stages out of the 21, the 89th Giro is set to be a contest for pure climbers, leaving just a handful of flat stages for sprinters along the race's 3,526 kilometres until the May 28 finale in Milan.
As it often happened in the past editions, the 198 athletes vying to don the leader's pink jersey take off from outside Italy, with a six-kilometres time trial in Seraing followed by three stages in the southern Wallonia region of Belgium.
Italian star sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, who in the past three years won 19 Giro stages, needs just three more to draw level with Italy's all-time hero Fausto Coppi. He is well aware that this won't be an easy edition for him.
"I don't see more than five stages for sprinters. But getting to Milan is not an imperative," the 32-year-old of Team Milram said.
"If I feel tired I won't insist. The Giro made me grow up, but this year I also want the sprints at the Tour (de France) and at the Vuelta (de Espana)," said Petacchi, whose most serious sprint rival is expected to be Australian Robbie McEwen.
Among the favourites to wear the pink jersey in the third gruelling week of the race is Ivan Basso, winner of two stages in 2005 and again leader of the CSC Team.
"I have been very careful in training for the long climbs and for the (three) time trials. I am motivated and excited about a Giro d'Italia that I really feel like racing," said Basso.
Basso showed a good form also at the 2005 Giro, but will have plenty of competition starting with 2005 Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli, a classy climber and descent specialist racing with Discovery Channel who also won in 2002.
Other fearsome contenders are the young Lampre-Fondital's Damiano Cunego, who won in 2004 and appears to be fit again after a dismal 2005 season, and two-time winner veteran Gilberto Simoni, racing with Saunier Duval-Prodir.
Danilo Di Luca of Liquigas, the 2005 UCI Pro Tour champion, said that the toughest stages will be "the unpaved climb of Plan de Corones (in the 17th stage), which nobody has tried due to bad weather, and (a day earlier) the uphill arrival at Monte Bondone."
Not to be disregarded is the 20th stage, taking the racers from Trento to Aprica along three alpine passes.
After the moderate Passo del Tonale and 16 tough kilometres to the Gavia pass, the Giro peak at 2,618 metres, the shorter but steeper Mortirolo awaits the top climbers in what could be the race's deciding day.
Whether the favourites will then also include German ace Jan Ullrich is doubtful, as the 1997 Tour de France winner only started the season last week after knee problems, with a lack of training kilometres right now hampering his performance.
"That should be no problem for the Tour de France, but it is for the Giro which I will ride as a buildup event," said Ullrich.
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