Nails thrown on dirt road of Giro d’Italia stage eight climb Alpe di Poti

Tinkoff rider Daniele Bennati tweets pictures of nails on the main climb of the Giro's stage eight

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If the prospect of a category two climb with dirt and gravel roads wasn’t enough for the riders at the Giro d’Italia to deal with, it appears someone has attempted to sabotage the race by throwing nails on the road.

The Giro takes on a 186km route from Foligno to Arezzo for Saturday’s eighth stage, but it’s the tough ascent of Alpe di Poti that stands out, with it’s dirt roads and tough gradients coming just 20km or so from the finish.

Tinkoff rider Daniele Bennati, who isn’t riding the Giro after suffering an injury at the Milan-San Remo in March, tweeted photos from the climb showing a significant number of nails strewn across the road; potentially extremely dangerous for the 190 riders set to pass through later in the afternoon.

The Italian rider’s images show roadside spectators trying to clear the road of the nails ahead of the race arrival, which will hopefully see the riders pass through without issue.

Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) continues to lead the 2016 Giro d’Italia, and will be looking to hold onto his lead after the trick finale to stage eight, with the prospect of extending his lead in the long Chianti time trial looming on Sunday.