Featured image courtesy of Tim de Waele | Credit: Getty Images
From Saturday 8th May to Sunday 30th May, the 104th Giro d’Italia starts in Turin and finishes in Milan. But what lies in between?
The 2021 route includes two time trials to open and conclude the whole race. There are five opportunities for the sprinters, five hilly stages for the puncheurs and nine mountain stages across both the Apennines and the Dolomites.
Below is the route map.
21 stages, 3,479 km in total with 47,000 m of climbing. Time trials, sprints, hills and mountain tests – a thrilling first Grand Tour awaits.
Here are nine key stages that are a must watch.
Stage 1: Turin (Saturday 8th May)
The Giro opens with a flat 8.6 km time trial in the capital of the Piedmont region, Turin. Starting from Piazza Castello, the route offers long straight stretches and finishes near the church of Gran Madre di Dio, at the foot of the Superga hill.
Filippo Ganna took all three time trial stages as world champion last year, but in 2021 he so far hasn’t been to spectacular. The stage win is up for grabs, a pure time trial specialist like Ganna (below) or maybe Frenchman Remi Cavagna could win the first pink jersey of the Giro.
The GC men will also want to make a good start to avoid losing any time to rivals. Remco Evenepoel and João Almeida for Quick Step are both good at TT’s, so a marker will want to be laid.
It’s also ten years since Turin last hosted the Grande Partenza (Grand Start). Team HTC-High Road won the opening team time trial, while Marco Pinotti was the first rider to wear pink.
Stage 2 Stupingi – Novara (Sunday 9th May)
The opening road stage is always intriguing, the first glimpse of the road bikes, the kits in all their glory, the first breakaway and of course the finale.
Who will win the first bunch sprint? A bunch sprint should be the outcome in Novara but unexpected circumstances such ad the weather and crashes can cause nerves.
The sprinters teams will be all in to control to stage and the team with pink will be expected to honour the race and contribute the chase. For the overall contenders these are always days of nerves. Getting through flat stages unscathed is the priority – as ever you cannot win the Giro in week one but you can lose it.
Caleb Ewan starts as the best sprinter on paper although others will be willing to beat him such as European road champion Giacomo Nizzolo.
Stage 2 is one of only five flat stages for the sprinters this year, so making the most of each opportunity is a must.
Stage 4 Piacenza – Sestola (Tuesday 11th May)
The first uphill finish of the race should be both a key stage for the puncheurs who can climb short sharp hills fast as well as an important day for the GC.
At 187 km to road to Sestola will be a lumpy day after 75 km of flat to start. An up and down day with climbs atop Mount Antoniano and Montemolino.
The race then enters Sestola along the Via Passerino before a downhill then leads to a 2 km at the finale.
Bike handling and descending skills will be key on Stage 4. It is also the first time since 2016 that the Giro has visited Sestola. Last time it was a young Giulio Ciccone who excelled when riding for Bardiani, a huge win to ingnite his career. It is a different finish from five years ago but for Bardiani themselves this was the last stage they won at the biggest race on their yearly calendar.
Stage 9 Castel di Sangro – Campo Felice (Sunday 16th May)
A tough 158 km test for the riders in the Apennine mountains with 3,400 m of vertical climbing.
All the climbs aren’t necessarily too steep to get over but it’s the finale at Campo Felice that serves a double digit gradient and an unpaved section.
A GC clash is on the cards, but could a breakway actually contest the stage win instead? It is a far from flat stage, the route not challenging until the last ascent – ideal for a breakaway.
If it does end in the GC men contesting the stage win the expect fireworks and explosive racing to conclude week one.
Stage 11 Perugia – Montalcino (Wednesday 19th May)
Stage 11 serves up more unpaved roads on this 162 km route to Montalcino. It’s a Strade Bianche special on the Giro d’Italia!
The famous dust roads of Tuscany on the Giro is oh so similar to the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix being placed on the Tour de France route. It might be another anmoying obstacle to the GC men but it does give an opportunity for a specialist to shine, someone like 2019 Tour of Flanders champion Alberto Bettiol springs to mind.
The hardest gravel sector is situated on the Passo del Lume Spento at 13 kim long and the average gradient sits at 3.5% but don’t be fooled as this section averages 8.5% and punches up to 16%.
To make things harder, the finale in Montalcino has a final 200 m that has a max 12% gradient.
Stage 14 Citadella – Monte Zoncolan (Saturday 22nd May)
Save the date because this is going to be brutal! The Monte Zoncolan is fearsome but actually not as difficult as shown in previous editions. The Zoncolan was included six times before on the Giro d’Italia with Gilberto Simoni (2003 and 2007), Ivan Basso (2010), Igor Antón (2011), Michael Rogers (2014), and Chris Froome (2018) winning the stage.
With the exception of 2003 the Monte Zoncolan was always tackled in Ovaro, which is the hardest side: 10.1 kilometres at 11.9%. This time the riders take the more gentle approach in Sutrio. The altitude gain is the same on both sides, but the length is different. The Sutrio ascent is 14.1 kilometres long and the average gradient sits at 8.5%.
Stage 16 Sacile – Cortina d’Ampezzo (Monday 24th May)
The ‘Queen Stage’ at 212 km long and an elevation gain of 5,700 m. The riders take on the Passo Pordoi and the first climber over the Pordoi earns this year’s Cima Coppi, the highest point of the race.
The highest point of the 2021 Giro peaks out at 2,239 m, which is a far cry from the Stelvio’s 2,758 m. Featuring 28 hairpins, the steady ascent is 11.8 km long and the average gradient sits at 6.8%.
Passo Pordoi isn’t the only difficulty though. The Passo Giau is almost as high – just 6 metres less, but much harder. The 9.9 km climb averages 9.3%. The finale of the ‘Queen Stage’ is a 17 km descent into Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Nine years since the race visited Cortina d’Ampezzo. Joaquim Rodriguez won the stage ahead of Ivan Basso, Ryder Hesjedal, Rigoberto Uran, Michele Scarponi, and Domenico Pozzovivo. Hesjedal was the man who won the GC in 2012, 16 seconds ahead of ‘Purito’ Rodriguez.
Stage 20 Verbania – Alpe Motta (Saturday 29th May)
The riders will all be at their limit at this point, the three week block of racing will have definately taken its toll. Just watch the facial expressions as each and every rider pushes on the complete the final road stage, a 164 km course from Verbania to an uphill finish atop the Alpe Motta.
4,200 m of climbing is the order of the day with the San Bernardino Pass and Splügen Pass. The summit of the Splügen Pass coincides with the Swiss/Italian border and the riders return into Italy via a 20 kilometres descent. In Campodolcino they loop steeply back up the mountainside on the stunning old road to Madesimo. The Alpe Motta climb is 7.3 kilometres long and averages 7.6%, while the gradients are hardest in the final part, although the ascent levels out in the last 300 metres.
The Giro won’t be sealed here unless the current leader at this point has a sizeable time gap or they struggle and lose time on the stage before the final time trial in Milan.
Stage 21 Senago – Milan (Sunday 30th May)
The Giro d’Italia concludes with a second flat time trial of 30.3 km. The starting ramp is located in Senago, while the winners celebrate in the shadows of the stunning Milan Duomo. Last year’s final ITT set off east of Milan, this time the riders start to the north, with the parcours virtually the same although almost twice as long.
Filippo Ganna stormed to a dominant victory on the final day of the 2021 Giro, finishing 32 seconds faster than Victor Campenaerts and Rohan Dennis. If Ganna has already won the opening stage in Turin and makes it all the way to Stage 21, then expect the world champion to win once again.
The final GC to see who wins the pink jersey will also be decided. Last year’s final ITT saw Tao Geoghegan Hart move into the pink jersey after starting dead-level on time with Jai Hindley. Geoghegan Hart went 39 seconds faster than the Australian to secure the GC victory.
The celebrations and podium ceremonies then take place to crown the Giro d’Italia champion – it’s definately one big party!
