The Giro d’Italia is one of cycling’s three Grand Tours, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. It is the first of the three week races of the cycling season, usually taking place in May into early June.
As you might expect, the race predominantly takes place within its home country of Italy, but has frequently visited other nations in its 102 editions so far.
This year’s edition of the race is expected to attract some serious talent, as plenty of riders opt to skip the Tour de France in favour of the more rugged racing in Italy.
Team Ineos will be sending their new star signings Richard Carapaz and Rohan Dennis to the race. Carapaz will wear the number one as the reigning Giro champion, while Dennis will put the world time trial champion’s colours on display.
Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) will also be racing this year’s Giro as he tries to reinvigorate his Grand Tour ambitions, while Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be making his Giro debut this season.
The 2020 Giro d’Italia will visit Hungary this year for three stages before returning to Italy for the remaining 18 stages.
The Giro is well known for its long, high mountain stages in the Alps and Dolomites, making famous names of climbs like the Passo dello Stelvio, Passo Gavia, Monte Zoncolan, Passo di Mortirolo and Passo Giau among others. But the Giro is often decided by it’s testing time trials, with the 2020 edition featuring three, including one on the final day.
Anyone hoping to win the Giro overall will also need to navigate numerous sprint stages and medium mountain stages, which offer up opprtunities to riders looking for prestigious individual stage wins that can define careers.
