AGI – The wait is over: tomorrow, Saturday 4 May, the 107th edition of the Giro d’Italia begins, the first of the three great tours (Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana the other two) of the cycling season, also enhanced by the appointment with the Paris Olympics. The 2024 Giro will start with the Grande Partenza from Turin, which will begin the descent of the country to Naples and Pompeii, and then go up along the Adriatic; last week as usual decisive on the alpine and dolomite climbs, and this is where the race will be decided.
Rome, for the second consecutive year, will host the last stage scheduled for Sunday 26 May, in a circuit among the main monuments of the Eternal City which will act as a catwalk for the runner capable of carrying the iconic pink jersey on his shoulders until the ‘last day. Among illustrious absentees, such as the injured Wout Van Aert or the winner of the last edition, Primoz Roglic, and other big names who preferred to conserve their energies for the Tour, the first participation in the pink race of Tadej Pogacar, absolute favorite for the final victory.
The champion of the UAE Team Emirates, after the triumphs at the Grande Boucle, also wants to put his signature on the Giro, with the aim of making the Corsa Rosa speak Slovenian again and above all to try to complete that Giro-Tour double in the same season that it has not occurred since Marco Pantani’s feat in 1998.
Geraint Thomas, the Welshman from Ineos Grenadiers who finished on the second step of the podium last year, will try to make things difficult for him, but also the Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R), on the launching pad in the first part of the season, passing for Daniel Martinez of Bora-Hansgrohe, with an eye on Christophe Laporte, captain of the Visma-Lease a Bike team and making his debut at the Giro, and the usually unpredictable Frenchman Romain Bardet of DSM.
Beyond the general classification, there are many big names who will try to conquer one or more stages: from the expert Julian Alaphilippe to the young revelation Cian Uijtdebroeks, passing through the old climbing lion Nairo Quintana, while a new top is expected from Thymen Arensman 10 after last year’s final sixth place. Italy is betting everything on the usual Filippo Ganna, who will circle the time trials on Friday 10 May and above all on Saturday 18 May with the little red circle, but also on Damiano Caruso, second in the Giro in 2021 and fourth last year, and on the young talent of Antonio Tiberi, who can compete for a good placement in the general classification, without forgetting for the individual stages riders such as Matteo Trentin and Edoardo Affini, and the top sprinters Alberto Dainese and Jonathan Milan, who will have in Tim Merlier, Kaden Groves, Caleb Ewan, Fabio Jakobsen and Fernando Gaviria the main contenders in the sprints. Coming to the route, as mentioned there are two time trials, six stages that could reward the sprinters with a sprint finish, another six mountain stages with an uphill finish. In detail, there will be 10 first category GPMs, with Cima Coppi, the highest peak of the 2024 Giro, set on the Stelvio Pass at 2,758 meters above sea level. The Corsa Rosa will start from Piedmont and the first two stages will already call the ranking men into action, while the third stage with arrival in Fossano is suitable for fast wheels.
In Tuscany for the sixth stage which could already be a watershed: there are dirt roads, three sectors on dirt roads, and you won’t be able to get distracted. The ranking will then be reshuffled by the long Umbrian time trial with an ascending finish that will connect Foligno and Perugia across 40.6 kilometres. The eighth stage proposes the arrival in Prati di Tivo with a very tough final climb, we will then move to Campania for two stages in the second week which reserves the most interesting moments on the weekend: first the time trial without altitude roughness and therefore suitable for main specialists in races against the clock, then on Sunday the very tough fifteenth stage with the Mortirolo and the uphill finish at the Mottolino in Livigno with steep slopes and peaks of 18%.
After the rest day, another Dolomite stage with the Stelvio Pass and the final climb to Monte Pana, while the seventeenth stage presents the Sella Pass and two climbs to the Brocon Pass from two different sides. Before the final stage in Rome, the two stages that will probably decide the 107th edition of the Giro.
The nineteenth stage, from Mortegliano to Sappada, with a very tough finish in which the riders will face the Duron Pass and the long climb towards Cima Sappada, while the twentieth stage with arrival in Bassano del Grappa presents its toll after three weeks of tiredness accumulated in the legs with the double ascent towards Monte Grappa. As usual, there are four jerseys up for grabs during the Giro: the pink jersey will designate the leader of the general classification, the cyclamen jersey that of the points classification, the blue jersey for the leader of the climbers’ classification and the white jersey dedicated to the best young. 3400.8 km to travel, twenty-one stages as usual, all within national borders (with two days of rest, Monday 13th and Monday 20th May), for a total difference in altitude of 44,650 metres. 176 runners and 22 teams competing in a ‘pink’ festival which, as always, will keep Italy in suspense for three weeks.
