A very demanding start in the Piedmont region, two very respectable time trials – for a total of 68.2 km – and a final week with the usual mountainous toughness, including two days of more than 200 km each. The route of the Giro 2024 was made official yesterday in Trento under the watchful eye of Primoz Roglic, current winner, whose presence at the start on May 4 seems more than doubtful. His void could be filled by Tadej Pogacar, willing to include the Corsa Rosa in his agenda, with the desire to lift the trophy on May 26 at the finish line in Rome.
At a quantitative level, the 107th edition of the Giro is summarized in 3,321 km, with 42,900 meters of accumulated unevenness. From a qualitative point of view, however, the race has taken a step back in terms of toughness.. After the abrupt cancellations and cuts in the dolomite giants of the last editions, RCS Sport has opted this time for a greater weight for the medium mountain. In line with the Vuelta and the Tour, the Italian round has reduced the daily mileage with the idea of enhancing the excitement. Finally, only four days will exceed 200 km, with the majority around 170 km.
Furthermore, this time the race will ignore its great peaks (Mortirolo, Gavia, Zoncolan, Giau) to make way for less legendary names such as Prati di Tivo, Livigno or the double ascent of the intimidating Monte Grappa, with 18.2 km at the top. 8.1%. Likewise, the Passo Stelvio, Coppi summit with its 2,757 meters of altitude, seems much more relaxed, since it will be crowned 150 km from the finish line, located in Santa Cristina Val Gardena.
Six high finishes
That arrival at Monte Pana, after the second day of rest, will be one of the moments where the fate of the Giro will be elucidated.. Only two days before, the 15th stage, after a brief passage through Swiss territory, will end in Livigno, at 2,385 meters above sea level. The 17th stage includes the Passo Brocon, a mountainous difficulty unprecedented since the 1950s, while the 19th will end at the Cima Sappada, where Stephen Roche claimed his victory in the 1987 Giro. In total, six days with a high finish.
The varied menu of the Giro, of course, will be completed with two important trials, as crucial or more so than the mountain.. In the seventh stage, on Friday, May 10, the favorites will mark the first differences on the way to Perugia. After a completely flat initial section, the last seven kilometers of the climb to the capital of Umbria seem to be the most exciting. The second effort will be even more captivating, with a dizzying 31 km along Lake Garda, where the specialists will ride at an average of around 55 km/h.
Likewise, the Giro will recover the sterrato, another of its distinctive elements, which it had dispensed with in recent editions. To do this, in the sixth stage, you will face some of the unpaved sections of the Strade Bianche, the March classic. Through those 12 km of white roads, through the Siena area, no favorite will be able to afford a mistake..
During the initial week there will also be room for nostalgia, with the arrival at the Santuario di Oropa, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of that immortal attack by Marco Pantani. Not to forget the ascent, in the first stage, to the Colle di Superga, as a tribute, 75 years later, to the victims of the air tragedy that frustrated the history of Grande Torino.