Giro d’Italia 2024 MAY 4-26 The Giro d’Italia – one of cycling’s three Grand Tours – first set out from Milan in 1909, inspired by the success of the Tour de France. The 2024 race begins in the Alpine foothills of Piedmont and ends in Rome after 21 gruelling days Elite Club Italian legends Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi are two of only three riders to conquer Giro five times. Vincenzo Nibali’s win in 2016 – his second – 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 2023 Primož Roglič SLO Jumbo-Visma 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 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 262 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 2023: Former ski jumper Primož Roglič becomes first Slovenian to win race Primož Roglič 2023 winner (below) will not defend title – for tilt at Tour de France crown Tadej Pogačar Reigning Tour de France champion (left) is overwhelming favourite for La Maglia Rosa – route suits his skills 2024 edition features six mountain stages, Strada Bianca (gravel) stage and two individual time trials, with final week crescendo in Dolomite mountains 2024 Route Stage Stage start Stage finish Stage start / finish Rest day 1 START: May 4, Venaria Reale Torino San Francesco al Campo 2 Santuario di Oropa Novara 3 Fossano Acqui Terme 4 Andora Genova 5 Lucca Viareggio 6 Rapolano Terme Foligno 7 Perugia Spoleto 8 Prati di Tivo Avezzano 9 Napoli Pompei 10 Cusano Mutri Foiano di Val Fortore 11 Francavilla al Mare Martinsicuro 12 Fano Riccione 13 Cento Castiglione delle Stiviere 14 Desenzano del Garda Manerba del Garda 15 Livigno 16 Monte Pana Selva di Val Gardena 17 Passo Brocon Fiera di Primiero 18 Padova Mortegliano 19 Sappada Alpago 20 Bassano del Grappa 21 FINISH: May 26, Rome Total race distance 3,400.8km Altitude gain 44,650m STAGE BREAKDOWN Individual time-trial Mountain stage Sprint stage Hill stage Stage Date km 1 May 4 140 2 5 161 3 6 166 4 7 190 5 8 178 6 9 180 7 10 40.6 8 11 152 9 12 214 10 14 142 11 15 207 12 16 193 13 17 179 14 18 31.2 15 19 222 16 21 202 17 22 159 18 23 178 19 24 157 20 25 184 21 26 125 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