2026 Giro d’Italia to start in Bulgaria confirms RCS president

Giro d’Italia owners RCS have confirmed that next year’s 109 edition of the corsa rosa will start in Bulgaria. After recent starts in Hungary and, this year, in Albania, the Bulgarian Grande Partenza will be the most easterly in the race’s history.

Speaking at the Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy, RCS president Urbano Cairo verified rumours that had been circulating for some months about the location for the opening days of the 2026 edition. "In May, we started from Albania, and next year from Bulgaria," said Cairo, who was explaining how organising starts outside Italy add value to the event at home as well as abroad.

"These initiatives have a positive impact, they’re appreciated by the countries we visit but also by Italians who are familiar with a new territory. We’re boosting Italian exports, and this is a goal for our country," Cairo went on to explain.

"The Giro d’Italia is an ambassador for sport around the world, bringing it to a foreign country opens up all sorts of opportunities," he added.

Earlier this summer, Bulgaria’s minister of tourism, Miroslav Borshosh, had revealed the country’s interest in hosting the race. "We’re finalising talks about one of the biggest world events – Giro d'Italia “Grande Partenza” – an event that puts the host country on the world map in terms of tourism and recognition as a destination. It’s one of the biggest sporting events," Borshosh said.

Cairo didn’t reveal any details about potential stages in Bulgaria, but the race is likely to get under way in the country’s capital, Sofia, in line with the 2022 Grande Partenza, which started in the Hungarian capital of Hungary, and this year’s edition that kicked off with a stage into the Albanian capital of Tirana.

The full route of the 2026 Giro, which is set to run from 9-31 May, is due to be revealed before the end of the year. When this presentation takes place, it will be interesting to see how RCS deal with the logistical and administrative issues bound up with starting the race a thousand kilometres to the east of its home country.

While a plane transfer seems inevitable given this distance, UCI rules lay out that race organisers are only permitted to request an extra travel day once every four years. This year’s corsa rosa required an extra travel day after its Albanian Grande Partenza.