The stage 2 GPM is 30km from the end; with the sprinters' teams chasing, it's possible they could bring the break back; CSF contributed to such things happening in order that Emanuele Sella could sprint to the top of the mountains in the early days of the '08 Giro. I definitely see him taking the Madonna delle Grazie climb in stage 3, just 9km out, perfect for the kind of rider he is. I see him fighting for Montenero in stage 4 too, 8.8km from home. He may even get into the break in stage 5 - unlikely as it seems, but then Sella and Rujano were allowed into week 1 breaks in '08 and '05 too. Three sets of climbs there, his kind of profile looking back on Settimana Lombarda, Coppi e Bartali and Trentino. Montevergine in stage 7 is usually a sprint from the select group, and Niemiec should be able to make that, though only 5 will score and he'll probably have to lead Scarponi out. If he loses time in stage 9 (which he probably will do, soft-pedalling in after doing his job for Scarponi) he may well attack in stage 11, with several climbs. This is the kind of stage where a big break of 15-20 or more gets away, and so he won't have to sacrifice himself too much to participate, especially if Scarponi is leading. He can pick up a few cat2 and 3 climbs there. He could well be sent up the road in order to potentially drop back for Scarponi in the Zonc stage, which would give him three early lower category climbs to compete for before the big events of Monte Crostis and Monte Zoncolan. I expect things to have thinned out a lot before the latter climbs on stage 15 too, which means there may be points available at some of the later climbs.
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