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. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 edition of the race was moved to October 3 to 25.
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 – the 103rd edition in 2020 was meant to start in Hungary until the coronavirus postponement.
This year’s edition of the race has attracted some serious talent despite plenty of riders opting to target the Tour de France in August/September and the Classics in October.
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 opportunities to riders looking for prestigious individual stage wins that can define careers.
Giro d’Italia contenders

Geraint Thomas will aim for Giro d’Italia victory (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Team Ineos will be sending 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas to the Giro d’Italia, but he’ll face stiff competition if he is to win a maiden pink jersey.
The route suits the Welshman however; an accomplished time triallist and climber, he should thrive over the three individual efforts against the clock and be able to hold his own against the pure climbers in the high mountains.
Thomas’ fellow Brit Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) will return to the Giro after he came so close to victory in 2018. Yates won the Giro prelude race Tirreno-Adriatico, so is entering the race in good form and will look to attack in his trademark style in the gruelling mountain stages.
A two-time winner of the Giro will also be present in Sicily for the start, with home favourite Vincenzo Nibali lining up for his first Grand Tour with Trek-Segafredo. At 35, Nibali is no longer at his dominant best, but should never be counted out. It’ll be a tough ask for the Italian to take a third victory, but his second place in 2019 shows he can still mix it with the in-form riders.
Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) will look to take their first career Grand Tour victories at this year’s Giro and will be supported by strong teams. Fuglsang will have a former podium finisher in Miguel Ángel López to support him, while Kruijswijk will have a squad eager to go one better than the Tour de France and put their leader on the top step of the podium.
Other outside contenders include Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), while Britain’s James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) has the potential for a top-10 finish overall.
Giro d’Italia sprinters

Peter Sagan will make his debut at the 2020 Giro d’Italia (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
With some favourable stages throughout the race, the Giro sees an impressive line-up of sprinters for the 103rd edition.
The biggest name is three-time world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), who makes his debut at the race and will miss the Classics. After failing to win a stage at the Tour de France, Sagan will be keen to secure victories in Italy.
There’ll be some fierce competition though from riders with some previous wins here. Michael Matthews rides his final Grand Tour for Sunweb, while Arnaud Démare leads the line for Groupama-FDJ. Fernando Gaviria will be the fast man for UAE Team Emirates.
Elia Viviani will hope to secure his first victory for Cofidis since joining them at the start of 2020, while his former team Deceuninck-Quick-Step will hope Colombian sprinter Álvaro Hodeg will be able to take a stage win on his Grand Tour debut.