Ahead of the Giro d'Italia, stage seven was one that many would be circling in red - or pink - on their calendars, certain that there would be fireworks on the road up to Gran Sasso d'Italia.
Why wouldn't there be? The day ended with a 26.5km-long climb, with over 4,000m of climbing throughout the day. It's near the end of the first week, and there are tired and bruised bodies throughout the peloton. With the second individual time trial looming, surely there would be riders and teams trying to build up a bit of a buffer, to take some time on their general classification rivals?
