Next year’s Giro d’Italia route aims to make early stages more important

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TRENTO, Italy (AP) — Next year’s Giro d’Italia could see more “fireworks” than usual during the first two weeks after organizers unveiled a route designed to make the early stages more important.

The full route of next year’s Giro was revealed in a televised ceremony on Friday after the first three stages were detailed earlier this week, including a tricky climb to Oropa on day two.

Race organizer RCS Sport was keen to stress that there will be more opportunities than usual to build time gaps early on in the three-week race.

“The riders who want to win it will have to be ready from the start and I expect a lot of spectacle,” Giro director Mauro Vegni said.

The winners of the past two editions of the Italian Grand Tour — Primož Roglič and Jai Hindley — were among those on stage during the televised presentation at Trento’s Teatro Sociale.

Roglič stormed to victory in this year’s Giro with a dominant ride on the penultimate stage, despite a mechanical problem. And the Slovenian cyclist still expects he final climbs to have a decisive role next year before the largely ceremonial finish in Rome.

“The (closer) to the end you go the more decisive they are,” Roglič said. “And for sure Monte Grappa will be the last one where all the ones are there to win it. They will have to do it there.”

Here are some aspects of the 2024 Giro that starts on the outskirts of Turin on May 4 and ends in Rome on May 26:

BALANCED RACE

The 3,321.2-kilometer (2,063.7-mile) route features six stages suitable for sprinters, two time trials totaling nearly 70 kilometers (43 miles) and five mountain stages, as well as six uphill finishes along the way.

The first of those comes at the end of the second stage and will be the earliest mountain finish at the Giro since 1989 when the race began in Sicily and went up Mount Etna.

The second uphill finish is at the end of the first week with a top-category climb of more than 14 kilometers to Prato di Tivo.

“The design of the Giro d’Italia 2024 can’t be compared to past editions,” Vegni said. “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.

“It is an evolving route, which has many medium and high mountain fractions that will test the riders not only in the third week … but throughout the Giro.”

The two time trials are on the seventh and 14th stages, while Stage 15 is one of the hardest of the Giro and comes at the end of the second week.

There are five categorized climbs and 5,200 meters of elevation on the 220-kilometer (137-mile) leg from Manerba del Garda to Livigno and the arrival at Mottolino, where the last 1,800 meters is on asphalt along a ski slope with 18% gradients.

“It will be a super hard second week,” Hindley said. “And also with this last stage on the second week, it’s a monster day on the bike. Expect to see fireworks.”

DECISIVE DOLOMITES

After the second and final rest day comes the final week which, despite RCS Sport’s argument that it is less tough than previous editions, nevertheless has three of the five stages that have been given a five-star rating for maximum difficulty.

Stage 16 features 4,400 meters of elevation and the highest point of the race, over the Stelvio Pass and that comes immediately before the Queen Stage — the hardest leg of next year’s race.

Apart from one short stretch, the riders will constantly be climbing or descending on the brutal 159-kilometer (99-mile) route from Selva di Val Gardena, with four classified climbs before the top category ascent to the finish on the Passo Broncon.

The long descent and sprint to Padova and a medium-difficulty stage to Sappada comes before the anticipated showdown on the Giro’s penultimate stage, with two category-one climbs up Monte Grappa.

CAPITAL FINISH

The Giro will finish in Rome for the second straight year and the fifth time in the race’s 107-year history.

Following a 550-kilometer (342-mile) transfer from Venice to the capital, there will be a largely processional 126-kilometer (78-mile) final leg through the streets of Rome, ending near the Colosseum.

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