Giro d’Italia 2023 MAY 6-28 The Giro d’Italia – one of cycling’s prestigious Grand Tours – first set out from Milan in 1909, inspired by the success of the Tour de France. The 2023 race begins with a time trial along the picturesque Abruzzo coast and ends with a circuit stage in the Italian capital, Rome, after 21 gruelling days ----------------------------------------- Elite Club Italian legends Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi are two of only three riders to have conquered Giro five times. Vincenzo Nibali’s 2016 win – his second overall – provided most recent home victory 5 Alfredo Binda ITA Stage wins 1925, 27, 28, 29, 33 41 5 Eddy Merckx BEL 1968, 70, 72, 73, 74 24 5 Fausto Coppi ITA 1940, 47, 49, 52, 53 22 ----------------------------------------- RECENT CHAMPIONS 2022 Jai Hindley AUS Bora-Hansgrohe 2021 Egan Bernal COL Ineos 2020 Tao Geoghegan Hart GBR Ineos 2019 Richard Carapaz ECU Movisar Team 2018 Chris Froome GBR Team Sky 2017 Tom Dumoulin NED Team Sunweb 2016 Vincenzo Nibali ITA Astana ----------------------------------------- Race Classifications Jersey colours Overall leader: Pink Awarded to race winner and worn by current race leader at start of each stage – calculated by totalling each day’s finishing time Points leader: Purple Fastest sprinters compete for points at end of each stage – points adjusted by terrain, with flat stages awarding most points King of the Mountains: Blue Held by rider who proves to be best climber, with more severe climbs offering most points Best young rider: White Awarded to highest placed rider aged 24 or younger on first day of year. Prize returned in 2007 after 12-year hiatus ----------------------------------------- Maglia Rosa – race leader’s pink jersey – introduced in 1931 by Armando Cougnet, sports journalist at La Gazzetta dello Sport to help spectators identify race leader. It has since been worn by total of 261 different riders HIGHEST NUMBER OF DAYS IN MAGLIA ROSA Eddy Merckx (1968-70, 1972-74) 77 Alfredo Binda (1925, 1927-29, 1931, 1933) 60 Francesco Moser (1976-77, 1979-82, 1984-85) 57 Gino Bartali (1936-37, 1939, 1946-47) 50 Giuseppe Saronni (1979, 1981, 1983, 1985-86) 49 Jacques Anquetil (1959-61, 1964, 1967) 42 ----------------------------------------- Giro: Start to finish 1908: Giro d’Italia first organised to increase sales of newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport 1909: First edition, 8 stages and 2,447km long, is won by Italian Luigi Ganna (right). Four riders excluded for taking train on one stage 1914: Last race before WWI still holds record for longest stage – 430km from Lucca to Rome 1931 Learco Guerra wears first Maglia Rosa – colour chosen because La Gazzetta dello Sport is printed on pink paper 1933 Alfredo Binda becomes first five-time winner 1940 Fausto Coppi becomes youngest winner, at 20 years and 158 days old 1950: Swiss rider Hugo Koblet (below) is first foreign rider to win Giro, ending 40 years of Italian dominance 1956: Over 60 riders forced to abandon race on bitterly cold 21st stage in Dolomites with temperatures near −10°C 1965 Introduction of Cima Coppi – named in honour of Fausto Coppi – title given to highest mountain of each Giro, and worth more points than all other first-category climbs 1966 Points classification introduced, awarded to most consistent sprinters 1968: First drug tests introduced. Belgian Eddy Merckx (inset) wins first of five Giro titles 1974: First year jersey is awarded to leader of mountains classification – initially green, changed to blue in 2012 1990 Gianni Bugno (right) becomes only fourth rider to wear Maglia Rosa from start to finish, after Costante Girardengo (1919), Binda (1927) and Merckx (1973) 2009: Centenary race is won by Russia’s Denis Menchov 2017: Tom Dumoulin is first Dutch winner, in 100th edition of Giro d’Italia 2021: Giro returns to traditional May slot after pandemic 2022: Jai Hindley becomes first Australian to win race 69 Home favourites have traditionally dominated race – winning 69 of 105 editions ----------------------------------------- 2023 Route Stage Stage start Stage finish Stage start / finish Rest day 1 START: May 6, Fossacesia Ortona Teramo 2 San Salvo Vasto 3 Melfi Venosa 4 Lago Laceno Atripalda 5 Salemo 6 Napoli Capua 7 Gran Sasso d’Italia Terni 8 Gran Sasso d’Italia Savignano sul Rubicone 9 Cesena Scandiano 10 Viareggio Camaiore 11 Tortona Bra 12 Rivoli Borgofranco d’Ivrea 13 Crans Montana Sierre 14 Cassano Magnago Seregno 15 Bergamo Sabbio Chiese 16 Monte Bondone Pergine Valsugana 17 Caorle Oderzo 18 Val di Zoldo Longarone 19 Tre Cime di Lavaredo Tarvisio 20 Monte Lussari 21 FINISH: May 28, Rome 2023 edition features five mountain stages and seven summit finishes – including brutal mountain time trial on penultimate stage in Julian Alps – and passes through 13 of Italy’s 20 regions Total race distance 3,489.2km Altitude gain 51,400m ----------------------------------------- Jai Hindley 2022 winner Opted not to defend Giro title for tilt at Tour de France crown Vuelta a España 2022 winner Remco Evenepoel Belgian rider – reigning road race world champion – heads field after winning first Grand Tour in September ----------------------------------------- STAGE BREAKDOWN Individual time-trial Mountain stage Sprint stage Hill stage Stage Date km 1 May 6 19.6 2 7 201 3 8 216 4 9 175 5 10 171 6 11 162 7 12 218 8 13 207 9 14 35 10 16 196 11 17 219 12 18 179 13 19 207 14 20 193 15 21 195 16 23 203 17 24 195 18 25 161 19 26 183 20 27 18.6 21 28 135 ----------------------------------------- Trofeo Senza Fine ‘The Trophy with No End’ first awarded in 1999 ----------------------------------------- Sources: Giro d’Italia, Gracenote Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Wikimedia Commons, Twitter © GRAPHIC NEWS