@RCS
Organizers of the Giro d’Italia, RCS Sport, unveiled the route of next years’s Italian Grand Tour at the Il Festival dello Sport in Trento on Friday, which will start on May 4, with a hilly stage from Venaria Reale to Torino that will end three weeks later on May 26, with a flat stage in Rome.
The first three stages of the 2024 Giro had been announced before Friday in a special presentation. The opening stage will start in Veneria Reale, after which it will finish in Turin. Central to that stage is the Superga, a climb that we know from Milan-Turin. On day two there is the uphill finish of Oropa, a climb of more than 10 kilometers. Day three is the first opportunity for the sprinters.
The fourth and fifth stages are also fairly flat. On day six there is a special stage. The start is in Viareggio, and the finish is in Rapolano Terme, with a few sections of gravel, a Strade Bianche course. It will be a tough day, because the last kilometers are not flat.
The first time trial is on day seven. The riders will have to cover 37.3 kilometers against the clock from Foligno to Perugia. The first part of the time trial is flat and very fast, but in the last kilometres go uphill. Anyone who goes too much into the red in the TT, they will struggle the next day on the long climb to Prati di Tivo. The tough first week ends with a long but flat stage to NapoliI.
In the second week, the riders are immediately be presented with another tough stage. After 141 kilometers they will hit the Bocca della Selva, a long final climb. A day later, in stage eleven, they get relative rest with a flat stage. Stage twelve is a typical transition stage, which can also provide a spectacle for the GC riders. There are ten categorized climbs on the menu.
Stage thirteen is another opportunity for the sprinters. The final weekend of the second week is very difficult. On Saturday a 31 kilometer time trial from Castiglione delle Stiviere to Desenzano del Garda, near Lake Garda is flat and fast. Stage fifteen is a monster of 220 kilometers. It is the longest stage, which finishes at Mottolino in Livigno.
The third and final week kicks off with a new tough stage. The legendary Stelvio has to be climbed early in the stage, but the final of stage sixteen is very hard. At the end there is the Monte Pana. On stage seventeen the finish is on Passo Brocon, The first time this climb has appearing in the Giro. The last two kilometers in particular are difficult with an average gradient of above 10%.
After a day for the sprinters and a day for the attackers on stages eighteen and nineteen, comes the penultimate stage, another day of climbing. The 175 kilometer stage starts from Alpago and finishes in Bassano del Grappa. Monte Grappa be climbed twice. The finish is not on the summit, but after a long descent. Finally, stage 21 is for the sprinters and will bring down the curtain on the 2024 Giro d’Italia in Rome.
What past and present riders say:
Primož Roglič, Giro d’Italia 2023 winner: “Winning on Monte Lussari was one of the most emotional days in my career. I rewatched that stage many times. It was crazy to celebrate with my fans. The stage I like the most of the 2024 Giro is stage 20, with the double climb to Monte Grappa. I think it will be the decisive day”.
Filippo Ganna, winner of six stages at the Giro d’Italia: “It will be a very demanding Giro, clearly my focus will be on the two time trials. Of the two, the one in Desenzano is the most suitable for me. Winning stages at the Giro is always special, I want to do it again”.
Jai Hindley, Giro d’Italia 2022 winner: “The second week will be very hard, stage 15 is perhaps the most challenging. The arrival of Roglič will give a lot to my team, it will definitely be an upgrade for the Grand Tours where we will be very competitive”.
Peter Sagan, winner of two stages at the Giro d’Italia and Maglia Ciclamino in 2021: “I have retired from my road career but I still have a dream, the Olympic mountain bike race in Paris. I know it will be difficult to qualify but I want to try and to have fun”.
Vincenzo Nibali, two-time Giro d’Italia winner (2013, 2016): “It’s nice to be inside cycling and follow the races from a different point of view like I did at this year’s Giro. It’s going to be an atypical start, you have to be ready because the first stages are demanding. Oropa on the second day will be an important test, and it will be nice to remember Marco Pantani. The Perugia time trial will be a good test for those aiming for the Maglia Rosa. So many climbs in the second and third week, I am convinced that the race will be open until the end, like last year, and that Monte Grappa could be the decisive mountain”.
What the organizers say:
Urbano Cairo, President of RCS MediaGroup: “It will be a highly spectacular Giro d’Italia with climbs, sprints, time trials, and Strade Bianche. All the beauty of our country will be concentrated in these 21 stages that will give many moments of joy to the fans. The homage to the Grande Torino in the first stage will be something special, as will the conclusion in Rome, which in May 2023 attracted the presence of the institutions led by President Mattarella. The Giro d’Italia is not just a sporting event, it is the history of our country”.
Paolo Bellino, Managing Director at RCS Sport: “Year after year, the Giro d’Italia is becoming a more global event. This is demonstrated by the growing data not only in terms of television and social media, where the Corsa Rosa is followed worldwide, but also in terms of impact on the territory. RCS Sport’s commitment is increasing and this is also demonstrated by the organisation of the Giro d’Italia Women, which comes one year after the first Giro Next Gen. Our cycling horizon is expanding more and more and the organisational machine is preparing for 2024”.
Mauro Vegni, Director of the Giro d’Italia: “The design of the Giro d’Italia 2024 can’t be compared to past editions. It starts uphill, and it’s not a figure of speech, since already on the second day the peloton will face the first uphill finish in Oropa, where we will pay homage to one of the most heroic days in the history of the Corsa Rosa. It is an evolving route, which has many medium and high mountain fractions that will test the riders not only in the third week, whose hardness in recent years has somewhat blocked the race, but throughout the Giro. The almost 70 km time trial should not be underestimated either. The riders who want to win it will have to be ready from the start and I expect a lot of spectacle”.
Stefano Barigelli, director of La Gazzetta dello Sport: “The Giro d’Italia is the popular novel of this country told by the most popular newspaper of this country. It was born by a journalist from La Gazzetta and we as Gazzetta have the responsibility to preserve all the characters. Once again this year it will be a beautiful Giro and that Pink thread that unites La Gazzetta dello Sport and the Giro d’Italia will not be cut by anyone”.
Giro d’Italia 2024 Stages:
04/05 – Stage 1: Venaria Reale – Torino (136km) 05/05 – Stage 2: San Fransesco al Campo – Santuario di Oropa (150km) 06/05 – Stage 3: Novaro – Fossano (165km) 07/05 – Stage 4: Acqui Terme – Andora (187km) 08/05 – Stage 5: Genova – Lucca (176km) 09/05 – Stage 6: Viareggio – Rapolano Terme (177km) 10/05 – Stage 7: Foligno – Perugia (37.3km, ITT) 11/05 – Stage 8: Spoletto – Prati di Tivo (153km) 12/05 – Stage 9: Avezzano – Napoli (206km) 13/05 – Rest day 14/05 – Stage 10: Pompei – Cusano Mutri, Bocca della Selva (141km) 15/05 – Stage 11: Foiano di Val Fortore – Francavilla al Mare (203km) 16/05 – Stage 12: Martinsicuro – Fano (183km) 17/05 – Stage 13: Riccione – Cento (179km) 18/05 – Stage 14: Castiglione delle Stiviere – Desenzano del Garda (31km, ITT) 19/05 – Stage 15: Manerba del Garda – Livigno, Mottolino (220km) 20/05 – Rest day 21/05 – Stage 16: Livigno – Santa Cristina Valgardena, St. Christina in Gröden, Monte Pana (202km) 22/05 – Stage 17: Selva di val Gardena Wolkenstein in Gröden – Passo Brocon (154km) 23/05 – Stage 18: Fiera di Primiero – Padova (166km) 24/05 – Stage 19: Mortegliano – Sappada (154km) 25/05 – Stage 20: Alpago – Bassano del Grappa (175km) 26/05 – Stage 21: Roma – Roma (126km).
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