‘It’s a bloody hard climb’ – Pogačar and Thomas face key battle in Giro d’Italia’s two-part time trial – stage 7 preview

Few places on Earth have maintained the urban topography of the Middle Ages as diligently as Umbria, where hilltop towns and towers abound. In the regional capital of Perugia, walls that were built centuries ago to keep invaders out now serve to draw tourists in.

Still, Perugia will retain something of its Medieval guise when the Giro d’Italia visits on Friday for the stage 7 time trial. These days, visitors can make the final ascent into the heart of the walled city by way of a series of public escalators, but it will remain a forbidding sort of place for the riders, who face a daunting 8km climb to the finish line on Corso Vannucci.