giro d'italia vs tour de france

10% off WHOOP memberships!

Pro Cyclist Alex Howes on Why the Giro d’Italia is the Hardest Race on Earth

We discuss the upcoming Giro d’Italia, why it’s even more challenging than the Tour de France, and what we’ll see in WHOOP data at this year’s race.

https://youtu.be/icD1MhLv-9s   Alex Howes is a professional cyclist racing for the EF Education First - Easypost team. At 34 years old, Alex has raced in the biggest events on the international circuit, including all 3 Grand Tours. WHOOP cycling guru and 4-time national cyclocross champion Jeremy Powers sat down with Alex for a Q&A on the upcoming Giro d’Italia, and what makes it arguably the most difficult race on the planet. Jeremy Powers: For those who don’t follow cycling closely, riders don’t win often. In fact, some racers will never win after they turn pro. The level of competition in professional road cycling is ridiculously high. It’s been said it’s the hardest, most physically demanding sport in the world. Alex, what do you think of that? Alex Howes: I think that's absolutely accurate. The odds in pro cycling are just sort of laughed at. In a soccer match or a football game, you line up and on paper your odds are 50-50. But in cycling, your odds at the start of a race are 1 in 180 maybe. Odds are never in your favor and enduring is just a way of life. I know a lot of riders who have never won anything.  

How Does Giro d’Italia Compare to Tour de France & Vuelta a Espana?

JP: You've been in this sport for a very long time, probably more than two decades, riding and racing at an elite level. You've won races and stages of some really big ones. As we get geared up for the first Grand Tour of the year, the Giro d’Italia, you’ve raced all of these big 3-week events, can you tell us what makes them each different–the Giro, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a Espana?

Alex competing in the 2022 Coppi e Bartali and monitoring his Key physiological Metrics with WHOOP.

AH: As they say, the Tour is the Tour, it's kind of its own big machine, big circus. There's a lot of stress with the media and stuff. You have all eyes from all around the world watching every mistake you make and every good move you hopefully make. You usually have quite a bit of heat at the Tour as well, and same with the Vuelta. The Giro is romanticized with the history around it, but the reality is that it's just hard, and not necessarily in a Watts per kilo sort of way. It's generally cold, it's generally wet, you're racing through the Dolomites in the spring. You’ll see super high WHOOP strain numbers and normally guys still have recoveries in the high yellows and low greens, but it's harder to do that when you're hypothermic for nine hours!  

Giro d'Italia vs. Tour de France & What Makes the Giro So Hard

JP: Yeah, the Giro is insanely hard, with the transfers, the long stages, and the precipitation in the mountains. What else can you add that sets it apart from the Tour de France? AH: The Tour is very commercial, it's kind of a pure racer sort of race and a lot of variables get removed. But the Giro is in many ways what cycling used to be. It has huge stages, big transfers, and there's a lot of chaos–it has the X factor. JP: At the Tour, I've always heard from everyone that it's extremely high stakes. The first week is wild and intense because everyone wants to take the yellow jersey. It's super dangerous, like with what we saw last year and those crazy crashes. How is that different at the Giro? AH: France has a lot of flat roads that they can really take advantage of. They love to throw cross winds in there early and just make it a hectic mess. The counter at the Giro is everybody wants the pink jersey. I mean, it's without a doubt the best looking jersey in the sport. And they always throw in these nasty little climbing stages early on that totally surprise 95% of the peloton. The only people who know what we’re doing out there are the 4 dudes who live in the little village where you finish stages, on these tiny little roads that if you were to spread your arms out you could almost span the entire width of them–and we’re trying to funnel 180 guys through there. At the first week of the Tour, you know what's going to be bad with the wind issues and super high stress. With the Giro, you know something bad is going to happen, but you don't know what. It doesn't matter how much you study the course or how much time you spend on Google maps looking at street viewer. I mean they can't even get the team cars down some of those roads.

Riders on a very narrow road at the 2021 Giro d'Italia.

JP: This year's Giro actually has 3 rest days because of the crazy transfers. The race is going to start at Budapest, Hungary, for 3 stages then everyone will get on a plane and fly to Sicily in the south of Italy. What does that feel like in the race? AH: Yeah, the year I did the Giro we had 3 transfers in that as well. I think we flew or we went on a boat, we might've done both actually. You're sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off and it's like 115 degrees in the air. Everybody's sweating and the guys who are going to be good the next day are ones who brought 4 bottles of water instead of 2.  

Riding for 3 Weeks Straight

JP: What is the last week of a Grand Tour like? You’ve been racing for 14 days and there’s 7 to go, what mentally do you have to switch to get across the finish line? AH: It's weird because it kind of goes in both directions. In one sense the human organism can just adjust to almost anything. When you're in a Grand Tour there's a point where you feel like, ‘Oh, I'll just do this forever, this is my life now.’ And it doesn't matter, it's fine. But then other times you think ‘I have a fever right now. I'm actually ill,’ and every day you make a new deal with yourself to be able to get to the finish. JP: How do you feel afterwards? Do you go home and like roll up into a ball, or do you feel like you’ve grown from the race and maybe you're supercharged? AH: For the first couple of days after you might wake up at the same time you normally would and think ‘OK, let's get moving here,’ but then you make some coffee and sit down and just melt into the couch. And not just from the physical exertion, but mentally too, you have no time to switch off during the race. But yeah, it is strange with the level of fitness that you have from it. In the weeks and months after you have this deep fatigue, where everything sorta hurts and you're tired all the time. On the other hand, then you get on the bike and you’ll do the best numbers you've ever done. It’s a weird balance.  

Strain, Heart Rate & Other WHOOP Data at the Giro

JP: Last question, what should we expect to see in WHOOP data from riders at the Giro this year? AH: I think it's going to blow a lot of minds seeing guys go out and put up 20.7 strains for 15 days in a row or something. But I think the thing that's going to be really interesting is seeing the recovery scores, because generally these riders are in such good shape that they can still bounce back. And then by the end of the race pretty much everybody's max heart rate drops about by 10 beats per minute, you just can't get it up there anymore. And the discrepancy between certain riders will be interesting too, some will have 190 heart rates all day, and then others will be around 140–not related to their fitness, it's just their physiology.   READ MORE: Cycling Data from Tour de France - Strain, Resting Heart Rate & HRV   Photo credits: Jordan Clark Haggard, Getty Images

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar adds the Giro d’Italia to his 2024 program

FILE - Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the best young rider’s white jersey, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the twentieth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 133.5 kilometers (83 miles) with start in Belfort and finish in Le Markstein Fellering, France, Saturday, July 22, 2023. Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar announced Sunday, Dec, 17, 2023 that he has added the Giro d’Italia to his program for the upcoming season. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

• Copy Link copied

MILAN (AP) — Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar announced Sunday that he has added the Giro d’Italia to his program for the upcoming season.

The Slovenian cyclist made the announcement together with Giro organizers, who said that Pogacar still plans to ride the Tour in 2024.

“Andiamo (Let’s go),” Pogacar said in a brief video posted on social media.

Pogacar won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 and finished runner-up to Jonas Vingegaard in the last two editions. He has never competed in the Giro.

No rider has won the Giro and Tour in the same year since Marco Pantani accomplished the double in 1998.

Next year’s Giro starts near Turin on May 4 and ends in Rome next to the Colosseum on May 26.

AP sports coverage from Europe: https://apnews.com/hub/sports-europe

Tadej Pogačar opts for rest and recovery during countdown to 2024 Giro d’Italia

'I think I can still be a little better but not a lot’ says UAE Team Emirates leader

Tadej Pogačar returned home from his victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège to spend his countdown to the start of the Giro d’Italia in Monte Carlo rather than at altitude, convinced that he has done the training and reconnaissance needed to successfully target the maglia rosa in May. 

“I hope that I’m in good shape but I think I can still be a little better but not a lot,” Pogačar said before returning home, again car sharing the drive home with his partner Urška Žigart and Montecarlo neighbours Michael Matthews and Davide Formolo, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport .  

Pogačar is making his Giro d’Italia debut and racing hard in May for the first time in his career. It is also the first time he will ride two Grand Tours in the same season as he targets the Giro-Tour double. 

The 25-year-old Slovenian has only raced for ten days so far in 2024, but won seven times including Strade Bianche , Liège-Bastogne-Liège, four stages at the Volta a Catalunya and the overall classification. Pogačar has ridden five Grand Tours, finishing third on his debut at the 2019 Vuelta a España . He then won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021 and finished second to Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023.

Tadej Pogačar's Liège-Bastogne-Liège exhibition ran exactly to plan - Philippa York analysis

Giro d'Italia 2024

Giro d'Italia 2024 route How to Watch the Giro d'Italia

By winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège , Pogačar has 70 victories on his palmares and has already won six monument Classics, with only a certain Eddy Merckx doing the same at a younger age.    

“When you are the number one ranked rider in the world, it’s not easy to improve on that but I think we’re seeing the best-ever Tadej Pogačar in every possible way,” UAE Team Emirates sport manager Joxean Fernandez Matxin told La Gazzetta dello Sport . 

Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates teammates are expected to arrive in Turin for the Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza next Wednesday, giving the riders two days for any final training and renaissance. The official team presentation will be held on Thursday evening at the Castello del Valentino on the banks of the river Po. 

Get The Leadout Newsletter

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

UAE Team Emirates have still to name their final eight-rider Giro d’Italia team but Rafal Majka , Felix Grossschartner , Mikkel Bjerg, Juan Sebastian Molano, Rui Oliveira and Domen Novak are likely to be selected. Vegard Stake Laengen is expected to replace Jan Vine in the team after the Australian’s crash at Itzulia Basque Country.   

Pogačar, like many of his overall rivals, has already studied a number of key stages, including stage 6 to Rapolano Terme which includes several gravel sectors on the Tuscany roads, the key time trials, the mountain stage to Livigno high in the Alps. He saw the Prati di Tivo mountain finish while winning a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021. 

The 107th Giro d’Italia begins on Saturday May 4 with a 140 km road race stage that starts at the Venaria Reale palace outside the city and ends in central Turin after climbing the Superga and the Colle Maddalena before a fast descent to the finish on the banks of the Po.

Stage 2 finishes at the Oropa Sanctuary and will be the earliest major mountain finish at the Giro d'Italia since the race began in Sicily in 1989 and climbed Mount Etna.

The Oropa finish marks the 25th anniversary of Marco Pantani's famous victory on the climb to the sanctuary in 1999, when he dropped his chain at the foot of the climb but blasted past all his rivals. The Oropa climb is not long or steep at 11.8km and 6.2% but Tom Dumoulin distanced his rivals back in 2017 and Pogačar could try to win the stage and take the race leader’s maglia rosa.  

“You can’t hold back that day, a stage like that designs the GC standings and so the overall contenders can’t hide,” UAE Team Emirates team manager Mauro Gianetti told La Gazzetta dello Sport .   

If Pogačar takes the maglia rosa on stage 2, it could create the narrative for the rest of the Giro d’Italia, with the Slovenian dominating the race all the way to Rome. 

“The maglia rosa is the maglia rosa, if you let it go, you then have to get it back,” Gianetti said, hinting at UAE Team Emirates’ race strategy.  

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters , Shift Active Media , and CyclingWeekly , among other publications.

'This course was almost perfect' - Late call-up for Cameron Scott leads to Tour de Romandie prologue podium

Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates top UCI rankings, Astana losing fight against relegation

Stages Cycling ceases operations and lays off entire staff, report suggests

Most Popular

Pogacar on good path ahead of Tour de France, Giro d'Italia

• Medium Text

Sign up here.

Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. New Tab , opens new tab

The Tour of Britain Women will return in June after last year's edition was called off due to a lack of funding, organisers British Cycling said.

Sports Chevron

Doncaster close on League Two playoffs after remarkable 10-game winning run

Doncaster Rovers have managed to successfully flip the script of their season and put themselves in contention for a spot in the League Two playoffs after securing their 10th successive league win on Tuesday.

Amid their stellar start to the season, the Cleveland Guardians have taken advantage of the injury-plagued Boston Red Sox.

If the Los Angeles Angels hope to make up lost ground, they will need more contributions from the bottom of their lineup.

2-FOR-1 GA TICKETS WITH OUTSIDE+

Don’t miss Thundercat, Fleet Foxes, and more at the Outside Festival.

GET TICKETS

BEST WEEK EVER

Try out unlimited access with 7 days of Outside+ for free.

Start Your Free Trial

Powered by Outside

Face-off: The Giro d’Italia vs. the Tour de France

The battle for grand-tour supremacy rages on between the giro d’italia and tour de france. so we let fred dreier and chris case duke it out..

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

The battle for grand-tour supremacy rages on between the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. So we let VeloNews editor in chief Fred Dreier duke it out with managing editor Chris Case. Which race do you love best?

This year’s Giro d’Italia features a murderer’s row of GC strongmen: Nairo Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali, Steven Kruijswijk, Geraint Thomas, Bauke Mollema, and even Tejay van Garderen.

But you know who isn’t there? Chris Froome.

[related title=”More Tour de France stories” align=”right” tag=”Tour-de-France”]

That’s right, the best stage racer of this generation has once again chosen France over Italy. As such, I’m inclined to grudgingly elevate the Tour de France ahead of the Giro d’Italia yet again.

I agree with many of your sentiments, Chris. The climb up Passo dello Stelvio always turns into a massive battle amongst the snowdrifts. The race up Mt. Etna forever erupts into a volatile explosion. The Giro is seemingly impossible to predict. The only formula at the Giro is pandemonium.

Yet the strongest of the strong will not be in attendance. And not all of the Giro’s lineup will be there on top form. Every year, some riders use the Giro as a strength-building slingshot for their ambitions later in the season, most notably the Tour. They arrive in Italy with chubbier midsections and weaker legs, hoping that three weeks of racing hammers them into Tour condition.

Nobody has ever used the Tour de France as a training ride. At Le Tour, every single rider arrives at the absolute peak of his physical form. As such, winning the Tour requires a painstaking plan that must be executed to precision.

The Tour is strategy and execution. It is chess. The Giro? It’s chaos. It’s Hungry Hungry Hippos.

— Fred Dreier

So what if the Tour de France will feature Chris Froome bludgeoning everyone, including a past-his-prime Alberto Contador, into submission? That’s supremely boring. In fact, I’m bored just writing that sentence.

[related title=”More Giro d’Italia stories” align=”right” tag=”Giro-dItalia”]

If you want to witness history in the making, with no less than 12 legitimate contenders battling to make it onto the final podium of the 100th edition of Italy’s grand tour, check out the Giro. If you want to wallow through endless hot, boring, monotonous stages across great fields of sunflowers and wheat, check out that race in July.

If you want a real race, with tasty tactics and savory surprises, the Giro is the race to watch. If you’d rather watch Team Sky and all its mystery potions and “negligible advantages” slowly degrade cycling into a robot tea party, tune in for the Tour.

If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of a snow-lined Stelvio — twice! — and look forward to the chaos that will ensue on the 237 switchbacks the riders will traverse that day, make a date with May. If you’re more of a fan of the Izoard and Galibier, well then, cool, those are great climbs too. But there ain’t no snow!

If you’re the type of person who loves linguine, who relishes in all forms of gluten, go Giro. Prefer escargot and pâté (heaves)? Tour.

Passion — Giro. Badger — Tour.

The Giro is harder, prettier, it has wilder weather and wilder roads. More danger? Check. Less hype? Check. Better racing every day? Check!

The Giro is infinite love.

— Chris Case

Popular on Velo

>", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-gear/8-new-shoes-from-giro-q36-5-shimano-fizik-lake-and-crankbrothers/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "8 new shoes from giro, q36.5, shimano, fizik, lake, and crankbrothers"}}'> 8 new shoes from giro, q36.5, shimano, fizik, lake, and crankbrothers, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/grace-brown-rides-momentum-into-la-vuelta-femenina-after-biggest-win-of-career/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "grace brown rides momentum into la vuelta femenina after ‘biggest win of career’"}}'> grace brown rides momentum into la vuelta femenina after ‘biggest win of career’, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-training/hunger-freshness-faith-how-tadej-pogacar-and-uae-emirates-plan-to-raid-the-grand-tour-history-books/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "hunger, freshness, faith: how tadej pogačar and uae emirates plan to raid the grand tour history books"}}'> hunger, freshness, faith: how tadej pogačar and uae emirates plan to raid the grand tour history books, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/urban/urban-gear/sea-otter-randoms-the-one-about-carrying-cargo-of-all-kinds/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "sea otter randoms: cargo bikes from tern, rad power, omnium, and more"}}'> sea otter randoms: cargo bikes from tern, rad power, omnium, and more.

6 Reasons to Be Psyched About the 2024 Giro d’Italia

With an aggressive opening weekend, the return of Mortirolo, and chances for sprint battles, this year’s Giro will keep fans on the edge of their seats.

The route of the 2024 Giro was revealed last October, but it was quickly overshadowed by the announcement of the route for the 2024 Tour de France . That’s a typical issue for the Italian grand tour, a race that always seems to be fighting to emerge from its French cousin’s shadow.

But it shouldn’t be: the Giro is a fantastic event in its own right, a race that offers stunning scenery and aggressive racing, and often gives us a chance to see other riders steal the limelight. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be getting you ready for the Giro’s 107th edition, starting with six reasons why we’re excited about this year’s race.

1. An Aggressive Opening Weekend

Once upon a time, the opening weekend of a grand tour was more about fanfare than competition, often with a short individual time trial (usually called a “Prologue”) followed by a flat stage ending in a field sprint. In other words: stages that had little bearing on the race overall.

Help us improve Bicycling for everyone! Take a brief survey .

Don’t get us wrong: it can be fun to watch time trial specialists square off against GC contenders in a short ITT to determine the first rider to pull on a grand tour leader’s jersey. And who doesn’t love a good field sprint? But we want to see racing , with stages that don’t allow the overall contenders to hide in the bunch, stages like the two Basque stages at the beginning of last year’s Tour de France.

Well, this year’s Giro seems to have taken a page out of last year’s Tour de France racebook, with a 143-kilometer opening stage from Venaria Reale to Turin that brings the riders over three categorized climbs, including the Category 2 Colle de Maddalena less than 25 km from the finish line—which the riders will hit just a few kilometers after cresting a punchy, uncategorized ascent just outside the city. Expect an exciting race to win the Giro’s first maglia rosa (the “pink jersey” awarded each day to the Giro’s overall leader), but time gaps that won’t kill anyone’s GC hopes on the first day of the race.

The next day could be a different story though, when a 161-kilometer stage from San Francesco al Campo to the Santuario di Oropa ends with the Giro’s first summit finish, an 11.8-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 6.2 percent. The ascent to Oropa is this year’s “Cima Pantani,” an ascent designated to honor Marco Pantani , the deceased Italian superstar who famously won a stage here in 1999.

This isn’t the hardest climb in the Giro by any means, but given that it’s only Stage 2, it will start shuffling the general classification. And given one of the riders expected to be competing this year (more on that later), this could prove to be an especially impactful opening weekend.

2. Reasonable Stage Lengths

In recent years, riders have become increasingly critical of the Giro’s organizers for including too many long stages—and even longer transfers from the finish of one stage to the start of another (which means riders are on buses for sometimes two to three hours before getting to their hotels at the end of the day). That might not seem like a big deal for fans watching the race from the comfort of their couches, but how do you like it when your boss extends your workday without considering you first? What if the length of your commute was suddenly doubled or tripled?

Well, the organizers listened, and this is the shortest Giro in years, with an average stage length that’s 12.5 km shorter than it was five years ago. Even better, there are fewer super-long stages. For example, in 2019, there were eleven stages over 190 km, and eight of them went over 200 km. This year’s race has just four stages over 190 km and only one of them comes during the Giro’s final week, which is traditionally the hardest of the race.

That’s great for the riders, but it’s also a boon for fans, who have annually been “treated” to at least one or two Giro stages in which a large breakaway gets a huge lead on an otherwise disinterested peloton—or worse, stages in which the entire peloton decides to ride piano until the final hour, at which point they wind things up for an eventual field sprint. Stages like these are the cycling equivalent of watching paint dry.

Shorter stages produce more aggressive racing, and shorter transfers mean happier, better-recovered riders—which also means better racing. With shorter stages and more reasonable transfers, we’re expecting this to be one of the most exciting Giros–from start to finish–in years.

3. A Surprising Feast for Sprinters

A race known more for its mountains, the Giro rarely attracts large numbers of sprinters—at least not as many as the Tour de France usually does. But with eight stages expected to end in field sprints this year—and a particularly mountainous route at the Tour de France—the 2024 Giro d’Italia is shaping up to be one of the more sprint- and sprinter-heavy grand tours in the past few years.

Here’s an early look at the list of sprinters expected to take the start in Torino: Italy’s Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek); Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal–Quick Step) and Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty); Dutch sprinters Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and Australia’s Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). That’s a deep line-up, and it should produce some of the most exciting field sprints of the season.

The Giro d’Italia has always embraced gravel roads. In 2005, the organizers took the race up and over the Colle delle Finistre, a climb in the Italian Alps that’s famous for an eight-kilometer section of gravel approaching the summit of the pass. The Giro has included the climb four three since 2005, most famously during Stage 19 in 2018 when Great Britain’s Chris Froome went on an 86K solo raid, overcoming a 3:22 deficit to take the maglia rosa . He won his first and only Giro in Rome two days later.

In 2010, the Giro was one of the first grand tours in the modern era to introduce gravel roads on a non-mountain stage when the organizers took a page out of the Strade Bianche road race and included several sections of white gravel roads near the end of Stage 7, a 220-kilometer ride from Carrara to Montalcino. Australia’s Cadel Evans won the stage; the former mountain biker seemed at home on the white gravel roads, which had turned brown due to heavy rain.

This year’s race won’t go over the Finistere (yeah, we’re bummed too), but it will bring the riders over about 12 km of punchy, gravel roads during the second half of Stage 6. The 177-kilometer stage from Viareggio to Rapolano Terme comes just before the Giro’s first time trial, and should present a perfect opportunity for an ambush, possibly by a rider who doesn’t fancy his chances in the next day’s race against the clock.

5. Lots of Mountains

It’s the mountains that keep everyone coming back to the Giro d’Italia (or, in the case of a few of the riders, staying away). This year’s race is no different, with 42,900 meters of elevation gain over the course of the Giro’s 21 stages and seven uphill finishes (including the climb at the end of Stage 7’s ITT). That’s a lot of climbing, and the organizers, as always, have included some of the most famous ascents in Giro’s history.

We’ve already mentioned the Oropa—this year’s Cima Pantani—at the end of the Stage 2, but that’s not the only summit finish of the first week. After Stage 7’s uphill ITT finish there’s another summit finish on Stage 8, on the Category 1 climb to Prati di Tivo, a 14-kilometer ascent with an average gradient of 7 percent. Expect these two stages to determine which rider will wear the maglia rosa heading into the Giro’s first rest day.

The second week begins with a new summit finish on Stage 10, the Category 1 Bocca della Selva, a 20.9K climb with an average gradient of just 4.6 percent. But that’s misleading: for some reason, the “official” climb begins with over 3 km of downhill roads, which lowers the average gradient overall.

The second week ends with Stage 15, which might be the hardest in this year’s Giro. Originally slated to bring the race into Switzerland for a hot sec, the route of this 220-kilometer stage has been altered to keep the race in Italy. That’s bad news for the riders, as they now will face the Mortirolo—one of the hardest and most famous climbs in Giro history—two-thirds of the way through the stage. The day ends with back-to-back Category 1 ascents: the Passo di Foscagno and—after a very short descent—the final climb to the Mottolino ski resort above Livigno, a steep, 8-kilometer climb with pitches that hit 18 percent. Thank goodness the next day is a rest day!

But after the second Rest Day, the riders won’t have a chance to ease themselves back into action, as Stage 16—another stage over 200 km—begins with an ascent of the Stelvio (20.2 km at 7.2 percent). Topping out at 2,758 meters, this is the highest climb in the entire Giro, and the first rider over the summit will win the Cima Coppi prize for being the first to the top. There’s a long ride from the top of the pass down into the valley, but two hard climbs at the end of the stage will settle things once and for all.

Stage 18 takes the race into the Dolomites on a 159-kilometer route containing five categorized climbs, including ascents of both sides of the Passo Brocon, with a summit finish on the steeper side of the mountain. And just for good measure, Stage 20 heads back into the Dolomites, where the riders will climb the Monte Grappa (18.1 km at 8.1 percent) twice. This one doesn’t end with a summit finish, but after 20 days of racing and at the end of another ferocious final week, this stage should blow the peloton apart. At the end of the day, we’ll know the eventual winner of the 2024 Giro d’Italia.

6. Pog Goes for Pink

But by far, the biggest marquee rider on this year’s start list has to be Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). Perhaps the most exciting rider in the entire men’s peloton, Pog can win it all: grand tours, cobbled classics, and week-long stage races. He’s the most complete and multi-faceted male rider we’ve seen in decades, and this year—for the first time in his career—he’s heading to Giro.

Yup, that’s right. The 25-year-old has made it a career goal to win every major race on the calendar. For example, the two-time Tour de France champion took a dominant victory in last year’s Tour of Flanders , a cobbled Monument that grand tour riders usually avoid. And in March, he stated his desire to win all seven of the sport’s major week-long stage races (he’s already won three of them).

This is a far cry from just a decade or two ago when riders rode super-specific programs, often only targeting one or two major events each season. This was especially the case with riders targeting the Tour de France. These riders cared less about winning as many races as possible and more about building fitness for the Tour de France—without crashing or getting sick (which, as recent events have shown us, is a delicate balance).

But we’re talking about Tadej Pogačar, a rider who cares more about winning as many races as he can than winning one or two races as many times as he can. And at 25, he can race a diverse program right now and still decide to specialize a few years from now.

Given the way he’s riding—having raced nine times this season and only finishing off the podium twice, and doing so with no real challengers—he could blow the doors of the Giro by the end of the first week. And that might be a good thing: in addition to winning the Giro, Pog also wants to become the first rider since Pantani to win the Giro and the Tour in the same season.

Jumping out to an early, insurmountable lead would allow Pogačar to sit back and ride defensively, possibly saving him important matches in what has suddenly become (after the recent crash at the Itzulia Basque Country ) a rather winnable Tour de France for someone having already raced the Giro. Now, that would be historic!

.css-1t6om3g:before{width:1.75rem;height:1.75rem;margin:0 0.625rem -0.125rem 0;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-background-size:1.25rem;background-size:1.25rem;background-color:#F8D811;color:#000;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-1t6om3g:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/bicycling/static/images/chevron-design-element.c42d609.svg);} 2024 Giro d'Italia

2024 Giro d’Italia | Van Aert Is Officially Out

Van Aert’s Giro Dreams in Jeopardy

Is Tadej Pogačar Peaking Too Early?

Challengers of the 2024 Giro d'Italia and TdF

The 2024 Women’s Giro d’Italia Route is Epic

Wout Van Aert Won’t Sacrifice the Classics

Anticipating the 2024 Giro d’Italia Women Route

Wout van Aert will Focus on the 2024 Giro d’Italia

Sepp Kuss Should Target the 2024 Giro D’Italia

Alex Baudin’s Giro d’Italia Result Is Scrubbed

Results From the 2023 Giro Donne

Giro d'Italia 2024: Your questions answered

The giro d'italia is one of the biggest events on the cycling calendar, but what is it that makes it so special.

The Giro d'Italia trophy sits in front of the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) Source: Getty

How to watch the 2024 Giro d'Italia LIVE on SBS

What is the giro d’italia.

Is the Giro d'Italia like the Tour de France?

How many teams and riders are involved in the giro d'italia 2024.

• Alpecin–Deceuninck
• Arkéa–B&B Hotels
• Astana Qazaqstan Team
• Bora–Hansgrohe
• Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale
• EF Education–EasyPost
• Groupama–FDJ
• Ineos Grenadiers
• Intermarché–Wanty
• Lidl–Trek
• Movistar Team
• Soudal–Quick-Step
• Team Bahrain Victorious
• Team dsm–firmenich PostNL
• Team Jayco–AlUla
• UAE Team Emirates
• Visma–Lease a Bike
• Israel–Premier Tech
• Polti–Kometa
• Tudor Pro Cycling Team
• VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè

How do you win the Giro d'Italia?

Who won the GC title at the Giro d'Italia last year?

When does 2024 giro d'italia start, how long is the giro d'italia, who are the favourites for the 2024 giro d'italia, is every stage at the giro d'italia the same.

• Stage 1 on May 4: Venaria Reale to Turin = 143km
• Stage 2 on May 5: San Francesco al Campo - Sanctuary of Oropa (Biella) = 161km
• Stage 3 on May 6: Novara - Fossano = 166km
• Stage 4 on May 7: Acqui Terme - Andora = 190km
• Stage 5 on May 8: Genova - Lucca = 178km
• Stage 6 on May 9: Torre del Lago Puccini (Viareggio) - Rapolano Terme = 180km
• Stage 7 on May 10: Foligno - Perugia TUDOR ITT = 40.6km
• Stage 8 on May 11: Spoleto - Prati di Tivo = 152km
• Stage 9 on May 12: Avezzano - Napoli = 214km
• May 13 = Rest Day
• Stage 10 on May 14: Pompei - Cusano Mutri (Bocca della Selva) = 142km
• Stage 11 on May 15: Foiano di Val Fortore - Francavilla al Mare = 207km
• Stage 12 on May 16: Martinsicuro - Fano = 193km
• Stage 13 on May 17: Riccione - Cento = 179km
• Stage 14 on May 18: Castiglione delle Stiviere - Desenzano del Garda TUDOR ITT = 31.2km
• Stage 15 on May 19: Manerba del Garda - Livigno (Mottolino) = 222km
• May 20 = Rest Day
• Stage 16 on May 21: Livigno - Santa Cristina Valgardena/St. Christina in Gröden (Monte Pana) = 202km
• Stage 17 on May 22: Selva di Val Gardena/Wolkenstein in Gröden - Passo del Brocon = 159km
• Stage 18 on May 23: Fiera di Primiero - Padova = 178km
• Stage 19 on May 24: Mortegliano - Sappada = 157km
• Stage 20 on May 25: Alpago - Bassano del Grappa = 181km
• Stage 21 on May 26: Roma – Roma = 122km

How can Australians watch the 2024 Giro d'Italia?

Have a story or comment contact us.

Share this with family and friends

Most popular

Giro d'Italia

SBS Cycling Calendar: Races to watch in 2024

How to watch La Vuelta Femenina 2024 LIVE on SBS

How to watch 2024 FIG World Cup Series on SBS

Extended Highlights - Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes 2024

How to watch LIVE sport on SBS

How to watch cycling live on SBS

ProVelo Super League means exciting prospects for Australian domestic cycling

Sbs sport newsletter, sign up now for the latest sport news from australia and around the world direct to your inbox..

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

You are using an outdated browser. Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site.

Tour, Giro or Vuelta, which cycling race is the toughest?

Source: Composite by Daniel Osuna based on Tim Moreillon 's image

Which is the toughest cycling competition: the Tour the France, the  Giro d'Italia or the Vuelta a España?  

The  Tour de France , the  Giro d'Italia and the  Vuelta a España are the most important three-week cycling races in Europe. They have a long history and attract the best teams and riders in the world. Legendary cyclists like Hinault, Merckx and Indurain made history on some of the most iconic stages such as those finishing at Alpe-d'Huez, Tourmalet, Passo di lo Stelvio, Mortirolo, Angliru or Lagos de Covadonga. However they are different views regarding the difficulty of these races.

Tour, Giro or Vuelta, which cycling race is the toughest in your opinion?   Vote here and share examples about past races that illustrate how difficult they are.

Vote to see result and collect 1 XP. Your vote is anonymous. If you change your mind, you can change your vote simply by clicking on another option.

Voting results

New to netivist?

Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free. You will not receive any promotional materials from third parties.

Or sign in with your favourite Social Network:

Join the debate

In order to join the debate you must be logged in.

Already have an account on netivist? Just login . New to netivist? Create your account for free .

 Report Abuse and Offensive language

Was there any kind of offensive or inappropriate language used in this comment.

If you feel this user's conduct is unappropriate, please report this comment and our moderaters will review its content and deal with this matter as soon as possible.

NOTE: Your account might be penalized should we not find any wrongdoing by this user. Only use this feature if you are certain this user has infringed netivist's Terms of Service .

Our moderators will now review this comment and act accordingly. If it contains abusive or inappropriate language its author will be penalized.

Posting Comment

Your comment is being posted. This might take a few seconds, please wait.

Error Posting Comment

  error.

We are having trouble saving your comment. Please try again .

Most Voted Debates

Start a Debate

Would you like to create a debate and share it with the netivist community? We will help you do it!

Found a technical issue?

Are you experiencing any technical problem with netivist? Please let us know!

Help netivist

Help netivist continue running free!

Please consider making a small donation today. This will allow us to keep netivist alive and available to a wide audience and to keep on introducing new debates and features to improve your experience.

• What is netivist?
• Entertainment
• Top Debates
• Top Campaigns
• Provide Feedback

Follow us on social media:

 Share by Email

There was an error...

Email successfully sent to:

Join with confidence, netivist is completely advertisement free You will not recive any promotional materials from third parties

 Join netivist

Already have a netivist account?

If you already created your netivist account, please log in using the button below.

If you are new to netivist, please create your account for free and start collecting your netivist points!

You just leveled up!

Congrats you just reached a new level on Netivist. Keep up the good work.

Together we can make a difference

Follow us and don't miss out on the latest debates!

What do all the Giro d'Italia jerseys mean? Pink, purple, blue and white explained

There are no polka dot or green jerseys in this race

• Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Giro d'Italia jerseys

Other classifications.

If you're watching the  Giro d'Italia  as intently as we are, then you might be wondering what all the distinctive jerseys mean. Away from the 22 different teams, and the national champions - and world champion, in the case of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), there are four more jerseys you need to keep your eyes on.

They are the pink ( rosa ), white ( bianco ), purple/cyclamen ( ciclamino ) and blue ( azzurra ). That is the leader's jersey, the young rider's jersey, the points jersey, and the king of the mountains jersey, respectively. There's no  Tour de France  green or polka dots here.

The jerseys are all worn by the leaders in those competitions, unless one rider holds two at once - in that case, the pink jersey takes priority, followed by the  ciclamino , then the blue and white. That's why you will see riders who are not leading the competition in the colourful jerseys.

General classification - pink jersey

First up is the maglia rosa, the pink jersey, the kit worn by the leader of the general classification, the rider who has got around the route faster than everyone else. It is given to the rider who sits atop the GC at the end of every day, with the final one awarded with the Trofeo Senze Fine to the winner after the final stage.

It was introduced in 1931 and is pink because La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian sports newspaper which created the race, is printed on pink paper.

It is not as simple as getting round fastest cumulatively. Time bonuses are also on offer, with the top three men on each of the 18 road stages taking 10, six, and four seconds. Intermediate sprints on each road stage also offer bonuses of three, two, and one seconds.

In the event of two riders tying on time, the organisers will decide the standings based on fractions of a second measured in the race's time trials.

Get The Leadout Newsletter

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

The pink jersey is sponsored by Enel, an Italian energy company.

The riders who have won the jersey the most are Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi and Alfredo Binda, who all took the coveted prize five times. The closest to that feat in the current pro peloton is Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) with two wins in 2013 and 2016.

Points - purple jersey

To be clear, the purple isn't purple, it's technically cyclamen, or ciclamino. This eye-catching kit is worn by the rider who has accumulated the most points over the stages.

Points on offer are weighted towards sprint stages, so flat or punchy stages offer more than summit finishes. An intermediate sprint on each day - apart from time trials - also offers points. 

The 18 road stages of the race are separated into five difficulty categories with their own points weightings. On A and B category days, the top 15 score, while on others it is just the top 10.

A and B category (stages two, five, seven, 10, 11, and 21):  50, 35, 25, 18, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points

C category (stages three, four, six, and eight):  25, 18, 12, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points

D and E category (stages one, nine, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 20):  15, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points

Intermediate sprints:  12, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points

The jersey is sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Trade Agency to promote the country under the banner of BeIT.

Mountains - blue jersey

The blue jersey, or maglia azzurra, is given to the rider who takes home the most points on classified climbs over the race; potentially the best climber in the race, or the most canny breakaway expert.

There are 49 classified climbs across the 21 stages and unlike the Tour de France in recent years, it is not normally the GC winner who takes home the mountains jersey. 

The mountain classification has appeared in the race since 1933 but a green was introduced in 1974. The jersey has been blue since 2012 to match the colours of the competition sponsor, the Milanese bank, Banca Mediolanum. 

Climbs are separated into five different categories, from the Cima Coppi award to fourth-category. For the first time in 2023, summit finishes on first category climbs will gain extra points.

Cima Coppi:  50, 30, 20, 14, 10, 6, 4, 2, 1 points

First-category summit finishes (5 climbs):  50, 24, 16, 9, 6, 4, 2, 1 points

First-category (8 climbs):  40, 18, 12, 9, 6, 4, 2, 1 points

Second-category (18 climbs):  18, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 points

Third-category (8 climbs):  9, 4, 2, 1 points

Fourth-category (9 climbs):  3, 2, 1 points 

Best young rider - white jersey

The best young rider classification awards the white jersey. It is, in effect, the same as the pink jersey yet can only be won by those who were 25 or under at the start of the year. The current iteration of the jersey was introduced in 2007.

Italian men's underwear brand Intimissimi Uomo sponsors the jersey, which means that the holder every evening gets a pair of boxers with their jersey. 

Evgeni Berzin, Nairo Quintana, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Egan Bernal are the only men to win the pink and white jerseys in the same year, though Damiano Cunego would have been eligible had the prize existed in 2004. Remco Evenepoel would qualify if he won the overall this year.

This is the teams classification at any other race. The top three finishers from each team are added up each day, and then added up across the 21 stages, to establish the best team overall.

Lowest accumulated time wins, and there are usually some big gaps in this competition. It is sponsored by Autostrade per l'Italia.

Intermediate sprints

There are two intermediate sprints on each road stage, with both offering points towards this competition. It gives an opportunity to riders who spend a lot of time in breakaways, but might not win stages, to win a prize.

Points are awarded to the first five riders across the line – 10, six, three, two, and one.

The Fuga Pinarello prize is given to the rider who spends the most time in front of the peloton across the three weeks. Only breakaways of fewer than 10 riders are counted, and the move must cover more than 5km of racing.

Fighting spirit

This is essentially the Giro d'Italia's version of the Tour de France's 'supercombativity' award, and is incredibly subjective. A poll with a maximum of four riders will run each day from 7pm to 7am on the Giro d'Italia's Twitter. The winner gets a red number to ride with for the next day, and there is an overall winner at the end of the Grand Tour.

Points are given to the squads which receive penalties across the 21 stages, and this is counted up over the race. The team with the least points wins. Simple.

The rider who crosses the highest point of the Giro d'Italia first is given the Cima Coppi , the prize named after Fausto Coppi, who won the race five times.

This year, the Cima Coppi is on stage 13, at the top of the 2,469-metre-high Colle di Gran San Bernardo.

MONTAGNA PANTANI

Another deceased Italian cycling great, Marco Pantani, is honoured by a separate mountain prize, the Montagna Pantani . It is given to the rider who tops another of the race's great climbs. This year, it's the Gran Sasso d'Italia on stage 7.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Adam is Cycling Weekly ’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.

American gravel and mountain bike brand will "continue to seek a buyer"

By Adam Becket Published 22 April 24

Questions have been raised about the commission providers charge local bike shops - but the scheme could be improved for users, too

By Sam Jones Published 22 April 24

Useful links

• Tour de France
• Giro d'Italia
• Vuelta a España

Buyer's Guides

• Best road bikes
• Best gravel bikes
• Best smart turbo trainers
• Best cycling computers
• Editor's Choice
• Bike Reviews
• Component Reviews
• Clothing Reviews
• Contact Future's experts
• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Cookies policy
• Advertise with us

Cycling Weekly is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site . © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Preview of the Giro d'Italia 2024 | Pogacar is given the ideal course to seal the deal in just two weeks

The 2024 Giro d'Italia looks set to be a showdown titled 'Tadej Pogacar vs. the Rest'. The Slovenian star from UAE-Team Emirates is set to make his debut, and with no formidable rivals in sight, the big question is how dominant he will be in the first grand tour of the year. Will he be the first rider ever to don the pink jersey from start to finish? How many stages can he claim, and how much is he aiming to win? IDLProCycling.com breaks down the entire route for you, shedding light on the challenges that await Pogacar and his competitors starting May 4th.

This marks the 107th edition of the Tour of Italy. If Pogacar reaches Rome, it might seem like the winner is already decided. However, the Giro is famous for its unpredictability. In Italy, the roads can be treacherous, unexpected weather can wreak havoc, dark horse contenders can rise, and the grueling long stages are sure to take a toll on the riders' legs

Giro boss Mauro Vegni has a list of past winners that is quite impressive. Last year it was Primoz Roglic, but over the past decade, legends like Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, and Alberto Contador have also triumphed. Vegni would love to add Pogacar to this list, which seems to be the goal.

Since the Slovenian also wants to race the Tour de France, the Giro has tempted him with a theoretically less challenging course than usual. Moreover, there will be quite a bit of time trialing, many stages with punchy finishes, and Pogi can make a difference in the well-known mountain stages in the third week. But as we've said: the Giro is the Giro. Maybe Pogacar won't win, and we'll see a fiery battle all the way to Rome.

Practical information Giro d'Italia 2024

• Saturday, May 4 - Sunday, May 26, 2024
• Participants
• Classification: 2.UWT

In this article

• Recent winners
• Route, climbs and times
• Favorites for the stage wins

Recent winners of the Giro d'Italia

2023 Primoz Roglic

2022 Jai Hindley

2021 Egan Bernal

2020 Tao Geoghegan Hart

2019 Richard Carapaz

2018 Chris Froome

2017 Tom Dumoulin

2016 Vincenzo Nibali

2015 Alberto Contador

2014 Nairo Quintana

Giro d'Italia 2024: Route, times and favorites daily wins

Stage 1, saturday, may 4, 2024: venaria reale - torino (140 km).

This year's Grande Partenza is set in Turin, a city familiar with the Giro d'Italia. This northern Italian city is a frequent host and has a beautiful stage in store on the opening day. The stage immediately features three categorized climbs, including the Superga, once a decisive challenge in the Milan-Turin race. Particularly interesting is a steep little bump near the finish line. This new addition, with its double-digit gradient percentages, was added just two days before Tadej Pogacar was announced as a participant. It's perfect for Pogi but also suits many other punchy riders.

48.4 km: Berzano di San Pietro (2.8 km at 5.3%)

78.5 km: Superga (8.2 km at 4.3%)

118.1 km: Colle Maddalena (6.5 km at 7.0%)

Start: 1:55 PM

Finish: around 5:15 PM

Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates)

Daniel Felipe Martínez (BORA-hansgrohe)

Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL)

Stage 2, Sunday, May 5, 2024: San Francesco al Campo - Santuario di Oropa (161 km)

Tom Dumoulin, are you watching? The Dutch rider will certainly remember the finish of this Giro's second stage, where he triumphed in 2017 wearing the pink jersey on the cobblestones to the finish line. The climb to Santuario di Oropa, last used in 2019 when Egan Bernal clinched victory in the Gran Piemonte, makes its comeback, potentially setting the stage for Pogacar to win in pink just as Dumoulin did seven years ago...

122.7 km: Oasi Zegna (5.7 km at 5.1%)

137.4 km: Nelva (3.2 km at 6.6%)

161.0 km: Santuario di Oropa (11.8 km at 6.1%)

Start: 1:05 PM

Finish: around 5:13 PM

Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)

Stage 3, Monday, May 6, 2024: Novara - Fossano (166 km)

The third stage is a tricky one. Along the way, there's only one fourth-category climb, but the final stretch includes a few bumps that could challenge the day's sprinters. A 1.8 km stretch at just over 4% might not be a problem for some, but it could mean that the better-climbing sprinters will battle it out for victory over those who prefer a flat, wide road...

58.1 km: Masio (3.8 km at 3.8%)

Start: 1:25 PM

Finish: around 5:12 PM

Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike)

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)

Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step)

Stage 4, Tuesday, May 7, 2024: Acqui Terme - Andora (190 km)

After three relatively short stages, on the fourth day, riders face a 190-kilometer stage. The difficulty lies mainly in the first half, which includes another tricky climb near the end. The Colle del Melogno is long but not very steep, similar to the wall of 1.8 kilometers at 4.4 percent towards the end. Nonetheless, this setup has punchers eager for action.

88.1 km: Colle del Melogno (8.9 km at 4.3%)

Start: 12:35 PM

Finish: around 5:14 PM

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)

Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ)

Stage 5, Wednesday, May 8, 2024: Genova - Lucca (179 km)

The fifth stage finishes in one of Tuscany's most picturesque towns, but before potentially sprinting to the finish, riders must overcome two small climbs. These are not significant by name, and for the first time, the organizers have opted for a flat finish.

63.1 km: Passo del Bracco (15.2 km at 3.9%)

157.8 km: Montemagno (3.0 km at 4.3%)

Start: 1 PM

Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL)

Stage 6, Thursday, May 9, 2024: Torre del Lago Puccini - Rapolano Terme (180 km)

The race heads into the heart of Tuscany, synonymous with Strade Bianche. Although the race doesn't reach Siena this day, it does traverse the stunning Tuscan landscapes. Approaching the finish in Rapolano Terme, there are two gravel sections, one totaling 9.2 kilometers and another of 2.4 kilometers, with the finish line positioned atop a hill, potentially giving attackers a chance to break away from the peloton.

80.4 km: Volterra (9.8 km at 4.2%)

140.4 km: Grotti (2.5 km at 6.0%)

Start: 12:55 PM

Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike)

Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step)

Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost)

Stage 7, Friday, May 10, 2024: Foligno - Perugia (40.6 km, time trial)

It's been a while since such a long time trial was included in a grand tour. A 40.6-kilometer individual time trial, with the final 6.6 kilometers uphill, will significantly shake up the general classification. Lighter riders may struggle, while powerhouses like Pogacar could gain substantial time on their rivals.

40.6 km: Perugia (6.5 km at 4.0%, first 1.3 km at 10.7%)

Start first rider: 1 p.m.

Finish last rider: around 5:09 p.m.

Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers)

Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers)

Stage 8, Saturday, May 11, 2024: Spoleto - Prati di Tivo (152 km)

One day after the grueling time trial to Perugia, the first serious uphill test will follow. Prati di Tivo is a bit different from Oropa or a gravel road... 14.7 kilometers at 7 percent average, with a short and a challenging route towards the foot of the final climb. It's another opportunity to gain time, particularly for those who suffered losses the previous day. And who will compete for the day's victory? Pogacar and co, or the escapees?

37.1 km: Forca Capistrello (16.4 km at 5.6%)

112.6 km: Croce Abbio (7.5 km at 4.9%)

152.0 km: Prati di Tivo (14.7 km at 7.0%)

Start: 12:45 PM

Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious)

Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost)

Stage 9, Sunday, May 12, 2024: Avezzano - Napoli (214 km)

The next stage might feel like a leisurely walk. After two grueling days, the organizers have a 214-kilometer stretch lined up towards Naples before the first rest day arrives. Heading towards the Italian city, the race is on, but who will be eager to push the pace early on? Once Monte di Procida emerges after about 175 kilometers, the pace will surely pick up, as the infamous walls around Naples await.

178.3 km: Monte di Procida (16.4 km at 5.6%)

Start: 12:15 PM

Finish: around 5:29 PM

Favorites Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)

Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla)

Jan Tratnik (Visma | Lease a Bike)

Stage 10, Tuesday, May 14, 2024: Pompei - Cusano Mutri (142 km)

After a well-deserved rest day, the Giro peloton picks up the pace with a mountain stage. While the distance might suggest a short day in the saddle, the elevation gain will complicate matters. The riders start in the stunning Pompeii, followed by a flat lead-in phase. Around seventy kilometers in, the road starts to really ascend, shortly followed by the climb of Camposauro. The delicious finale is the climb towards Cusano Mutri, a picturesque town in the province of Benevento. This final climb is a tough one, so riders must stay alert!

82.5 km: Camposauro (6.2 km at 7.5%)

142.0 km: Cusano Mutri (18.0 km at 5.6%)

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Koen Bouwman (Visma | Lease a Bike)

Stage 11, Wednesday, May 15, 2024: Foiano di val Fortore - Francavilla al mare (207 km)

Stage eleven should be one for the sprinters again. The 207-kilometer journey features just one real obstacle, and that too right at the start of the stage—the climb of Pietracatella. Some sprinters are likely to be dropped here, but there's more than enough time to catch up and prepare for a sprint through the streets of Francavilla al mare, or Francavilla by the sea!

48.4 km: Pietracatella (7.8 km at 5.7%)

Start: 12:05 PM

Finish: around 5:10 PM

Favorites Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step)

Stage 12, Thursday, May 16, 2024: Martinsicuro - Fano (193 km)

A very tricky stage, one that seems perfect for a day of attacks! On paper, the hills may not seem high, but in reality, they range from 5.5% to 8.1% gradients. And that's from kilometer 55 to 170. Who will finish it off after a rapid descent in Fano?

93.2 km: Osimo (1.3km at 5.5%)

126.8 km: Monsano (1.8km at 6.0%)

138.4 km: Ostra (1.0km at 9.2%)

150.6 km: La Croce (1.5km at 6.7%)

Start: 12:25 PM

Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan)

Michael Storer (Tudor)

Stage 13, Friday, May 17, 2024: Riccione - Cento (179 km)

Flatter than this is hard to find. It is very likely that sprinters who benefit most from an ultra-flat sprint stage have this stage marked in dark red in their personal route books. Between Riccione and Cento - two towns located in the Emilia-Romagna region - the competing riders cover 179 kilometers. A sprint finish seems almost inevitable, as the total elevation gain is less than 150 meters, unless some incredibly strong breakaway riders manage to escape...

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)

Stage 14, Saturday, May 18, 2024: Castiglione delle Stiviere - Desenzano del Garda (31.2 km, time trial)

For the second time in this three-week race through 'the boot' of Italy, it's time for an individual time trial! While the first time trial included some elevation, this time it's practically flat. Between Castiglione delle Stiviere and Desenzano del Garda, the riders cover 31.2 kilometers, predominantly on a slight descent. Thus, the pure time trialists can therefore certainly indulge themselves.

Start first rider: 1:20 PM

Finish last rider: around 5:09 PM

Stage 15, Sunday, May 19, 2024: Manerba del Garda - Livigno (222 km)

A monstrous stage to close out the second week, serving as a preview of what's to come in the third week... 222 (!) kilometers, with the finish up in the popular training location of Livigno.A climb in the shape of a two-stage rocket, familiar to many in the peloton. But do not underestimate the climbs leading up to the finale. Will a GC team want to control the day, or will the better climbers with some time to make up start their mission for a stage victory here?

37.7 km: Lodrino (7.3 km at 4.5%)

64.7 km: Colle di San Zeno (13.9 km at 6.6%)

155.4 km: Passo del Mortirolo (12.8 km at 7.5%)

213.3 km: Passo di Foscagno (15.0 km at 6.3%)

222.0 km: Livigno (4.7 km at 7.3%)

Start: 10:40 AM

Finish: around 4:10 PM

Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)

Nairo Quintana (Movistar)

Stage 16, Tuesday, May 21, 2024: Livigno - Santa Cristina Valgardena (202 km)

After the second and final rest day, the riders kick off the third week with a lighter mountain stage. The Stelvio is a legendary appointment, but beyond that, it's mainly the finale that demands caution. Indeed, the gradients in a new two-stage rocket regularly soar towards 15 percent! The big question once again: will a GC contender aim for the win, or will this type of stage be one for the breakaway specialists?

53.4 km: Passo dello Stelvio (20.2 km at 7.2%)

190.0 km: Passo Pinei (23.4 km at 4.7%)

202.0 km: Monte Pana (7.6 km at 6.1%)

Start: 11:35 AM

Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek)

Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike)

Stage 17, Wednesday, May 22, 2024: Selva di Val Gardena - Passo Brocon (159 km)

Here, the GC contenders normally wouldn't risk too much. There might be differences on the final climb, but does anyone dare to attack from the start, knowing there's more to come in the following days? More likely, it's an increasingly fierce battle to get into the breakaway, with better climbers who have already lost ground in the GC seeing their chance. A short stage of 159 kilometers lends itself perfectly to this, with constant ups and downs from start to finish...

8.9 km: Passo Sella (8.9 km at 7.4%)

67.6 km: Passo Rolle (19.8 km at 4.8%)

100.4 km: Passo Gobbera (5.8 km at 5.8%)

122.2 km: Passo Brocon (13.3 km at 6.5%)

159.0 km: Passo Brocon (12.2 km at 6.4%)

Start: 12:30 PM

Finish: around 5:11 PM

Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)

Stage 18, Thursday, May 23, 2024: Fiera di Primiero - Padova (159 km)

A wonderful day for the peloton to catch their breath, and for sprinters to briefly escape their mountain ordeal. Just one climb for show, but mainly a rapid descent towards Padova. Here, the fast men get their penultimate chance in this Giro!

17.6 km: Lamon (3.5 km at 5.6%)

Start: 1:10 PM

Stage 19, Friday, May 24, 2024: Mortegliano - Sappada (157 km)

The penultimate chance to make differences, but is it challenging enough for the big names to do so? For the attackers, it's a playground, though they'll typically need to survive a storm of attacks in the first ninety 'flat' kilometers before the climbing starts. An interesting day full of powerhouses versus the better climbers? The flat run to the finish leaves all scenarios open.

104.9 km: Passo Duron (4.4 km at 9.6%)

121.7 km: Sella Valcalda (6.5 km at 5.9%)

150.8 km: Cima Sappada (7.4 km at 5.4%)

Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek)

Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers)

Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)

Stage 20, Saturday, May 25, 2024: Alpago - Bassano del Grappa (184 km)

Everything comes down to the last mountain stage in the Giro, although it could very well already be decided by then. Climbing the notoriously steep Monte Grappa twice gives the riders a chance to either make amends or go for a stage win. For the first time in this Giro (!), the finish is located at the bottom after a long climb, adding an extra element to the finale.

106.1 km: Monte Grappa (18.1 km at 8.1%)

153.3 km: Monte Grappa (18.1 km at 8.1%)

Start: 11:50 AM

Stage 21, Sunday, May 26, 2024: Roma - Roma (125 km)

Unfortunately, there's no explosive final day, but rather a parade through Rome. It's a great opportunity for the sprinters who have managed to survive all the climbing.

Start: 3:35 PM

Finish: around 6:43 PM

Updated 22/02/2024 at 10:15 GMT

He may have seen Jonas Vingegaard leave the Tour de France draped in yellow in 2022 and 2023, but that hasn't stopped Tadej Pogacar adding the Giro d'Italia to his race programme for 2024 alongside the Tour. The two-time Tour champion is targeting a rare double this season, with seven-time Grand Tour champion Alberto Contador insisting the feat "is possible" for a rider like Pogacar.

'The four best GC riders in the world are on different teams – you can't ask for more than that'

'I was quite emotional' – Pogacar dedicates win to fiancée's late mother

21/04/2024 at 17:42

• Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: When is it? Who's riding? How to watch?
• Exclusive: 'The best will win' - Roglic on Tour battle with Vingegaard, Pogacar and Evenepoel
• 'Can I have all three?' – Vollering eyes Tour de France, Olympics and rainbow jersey treble

‘Wow’ – Vingegaard allows Pogacar to catch up after crash in ‘incredible’ gesture

'When he goes, everyone goes away!' – Pogacar's top five wins in extraordinary 2023

'It was quite emotional' – Pogacar dedicates win to girlfriend's late mother

'a titan of our times' – pogacar storms to solo victory, froome: another tour stage win would be an amazing way to end my career.

10/04/2024 at 10:20