The first Grand Tour of the year starts on Friday, with 3 days in Bulgaria.
General info
On each stage, there will be only 1 Intermediate Stage (Traguardo Volante) that give points (to the first 5 riders) that counts both for the Cyclamen jersey, and the dedicated I.S. classification; and 1 Bonus Sprint (Red Bull) that gives Time Bonuses (6โณ-4โณ-2โณ) and makes up a dedicated RB classification.
So the Cyclamen jersey will be determined more by points at stages finishes than last year, when there were 2 I.S. in each stage.
As for climbing (Blue jersey), there are 4 categories plus the Cima Coppi which is located on stage 19. 4^th^ category climbs gives points to the first 3 riders, 3^rd^ cat. to the first 4, 2^nd^ to the first 6, 1^st^ to the first 8, and the Cima Coppi to the first 9.
Teams and riders
All World Teams will be present, as well as the following Pro Teams: Bardiani๐ฎ๐น, Polti๐ฎ๐น, Tudor๐จ๐ญ, Q36.5๐จ๐ญ and Unibet๐ซ๐ท (without a single bit of ๐ซ๐ท in it).
The ultra-favorite is Jonas Vingegaard (๐ฉ๐ฐ Visma), as there are not many competitors for GC. Actually there are many contenders for podium, but not for victory: Pellizzari (๐ฎ๐น Bora), Bernal (๐จ๐ด Ineos), A. Yates (๐ฌ๐ง UAE), Gall (๐ฆ๐น Decathlon), Storer (๐ฆ๐บ Tudor) and perhaps Vine (๐ฆ๐บ UAE) if he doesn't get attacked by a kangaroo this time.
Stages
It looks like it was an exercise in avoiding most the mountainous and hilly regions which represent more than half of Bulgaria.
Stage 1, Friday 8
147 km, no difficulty (50 pts), 5 km sprint zone and 3โณ splits
This is a short sprinters stage, on the seaside (Black Sea).
Stage 2, Saturday 9
221 km, medium difficulty (25 pts), no sprint zone, 1โณ splits
This is more a stage for punchers and sprinters-punchers. The crossing of the lowest part of the Balkan Mountains around mid-race shouldn't impact the scenario, which should be a partial decision in the last little climb of Lyaskovets 10 km before the finish, and a final decision in the last hump at the last mile.
Stage 3, Sunday 10
175 km, low difficulty (50 pts), 3 km sprint zone, 3โณ splits
Despite a visit to the northern part of the Rila, passing through the smooth slopes of the ski ressort of Borovets, this should again be a sprinters finish in the long, straight avenues of the capital Sofia.
If I trust the map, the last hundred metres should be on the yellow brick pavement of the Tsar Osvoboditel bvd (Streetview link). However, the cobbles do not appear on the map or profile, so perhaps the line is placed just before them.
Monday is the transfer to the South of Italy.