Chris Froome will start his final preparations for the Giro dŽItalia on Friday, spending the weekend in northern Italy for vital reconnaissance before starting the five-day Tour of the Alps on Monday. With the Grande Partenza of the Giro dŽItalia only 21 days away and UCI president David Lappartient conceding that FroomeŽs salbutamol case will not be concluded before the start on May 4, Froome and Team Sky are now finalising their preparations for the Corsa Rosa. Since riding Tirreno-Adriatico in early March and a trip to northern France to see the pave sections included in this yearŽs Tour de France, Froome has spent a chunk of time training at altitude on Mount Teide with several teammates. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Froome will arrive in Venice on Friday and then spend the weekend studying the testing mountain stage that finishes at the summit of the Zoncolan, the mountain stage to Sappada and then the key 34.5km time trial from Trento to Rovereto. Froome is likely to study the final mountain stages Prato Nevoso, Bardonecchia and Cervinia before travelling to Israel on May 1.ADVERTISEMENT Froome will be joined by directeur sportif Nicolas Portal and perhaps some of the teammates who will ride the Tour of the Alps, and who are candidates for the Giro dŽItalia squad. Team SkyŽs confirmed line-up for the Tour of the Alps includes Philip Deignan, Kenny Elissonde, David de la Cruz, Sebastian Henao, Salvatore Puccio and Diego Rosa. Memories of the Zoncolan La Gazzetta dello Sport recalled that Froome has already climbed the Zoncolan in 2010, when he was still considered little more than a domestique in his first season at Team Sky. Ivan Basso won atop the Zoncolan to set up overall victory. Froome suffered what La Gazzetta dello Sport described as a `scoppolaŽ - a thrashing, finishing 81st, 22:35 down on the Italian. The Giro dŽItalia climbs the Zoncolan from the Ovaro side this year, with an average gradient of 11.9 per cent for the 10.1km climb ...
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