Giro d'Italia 2019
The 102nd Giro d’Italia begins on Saturday 11th May in Bologna and ends of Sunday 2nd June in Verona. The UCI World Tour race is one of the three major races on the cycling calendar, alongside the Tour de France and the Vuelta Espana. Chris Froome (Team Sky) became the first British champion of the Giro when he won the 2018 edition.
Last year, Froome dominated the Giro’s famous climbs Monte Zoncolan and Colle delle Finestre to take the title in Rome.
The Giro starts and ends with an individual time trial (ITT). The opening stage is a hilly time trial in Bologna. Over the course of the route, the Giro features seven summit finishes, as well as three individual time trials. The highest mountain climb will be the Gavia Pass, standing at 2,619 metres high. The mountain stages 19 and 20 will once more likely have a massive say in who will claim the winners jersey. This year’s race concludes with a shorter 15 km individual time trial featuring an early 5% climb and 4 km descent.
The favourites
Simon Yates (Team Mitchelton-Scott) has announced he will be returning to the Giro d’Italia to attempt to regain the pink jersey. In 2018, he wore the leaders jersey for just over two weeks before Chris Froome overtook him in the penultimate mountain stage following an incredible attack. Former Giro champions Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Italian favourite Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team) are also competing and will fancy their chances.
Challengers elsewhere include World Champion Alejandro Valverde (Team Movistar), Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma), Mikel Landa (Team Movistar) and Egan Bernal (Team Sky).
2019 Giro d’Italia - Guide
What is the race?
The Giro d'Italia is an annual 23 day race held in Italy, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except when it was stopped for the two world wars. The Giro is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI ProTeams.
Along with the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, the Giro makes up cycling's prestigious three-week-long Grand Tours. The race takes place in May. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same, with the appearance of at least two time trials, and a passage through the mountains of the Alps including the Dolomites.
History
The Giro was created by the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. At the time La Gazzetta's rival, Corriere della Sera, was planning on holding an Italian wide bicycle race of its own, building on success of their automobile race. La Gazzetta successfully held The Giro before their rivals, raising funding through asking for donations. The prize money even came from a Casino!
In 1909, 127 riders set off from Milan and completed 2,488km over 8 stages. The first Giro was won by Luigi Ganna. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world.