Next year’s Giro d’Italia will feature seven very sprint-friendly stages, race organizers have announced.
Breaking with tradition, the race organizer RCS Sport has decided to publish the details of next year’s race in installments. Last week it was announced that the 105e edition of the Giro would start in Hungary – as it was planned to do last year before the coronavirus pandemic.
Two of the three stages in Hungary are suitable for sprinters, although the 195 kilometer hilly first stage includes an uphill finish.
“It’s a Giro full of great opportunities for the sprinters. Maybe the finish of the first stage is more favorable for a finisher or a sprinter who can climb well, ”revealed sprint specialist Elia Viviani, who won four of his five stage victories at the Giro in 2018 , when he also won the points classification.
“I would like to be able to fight again to win the Maglia Ciclamino [le meneur du classement par points] and try to win a few stages… There is certainly the possibility of repeating my performance at the Giro 2018. ”
Upcoming releases
RCS Sport unveiled five additional stages suitable for sprinters on Monday, although it does not confirm precisely when those stages will take place until the route is described in full on Thursday.
The hilly stages will be unveiled on Tuesday and the high mountain stages on Wednesday.
The sprint stages include one in Sicily, from Catania to Messina, and two which are the longest in next year’s Giro. The 201 kilometer stage along Lake Balaton from Kaposvár to Balatonfüred which is the last stage in Hungary, and another of the same distance which is completely on the flat from Santarcangelo di Romagna to Reggio Emilia.
The final stage for the sprinters is a short and fast 146 km from Borgo Valsugana to Treviso which includes two category 4 climbs and also crosses the Prosecco production area between Valdobbiadene and Refrontolo.
The Giro will take place from May 6 to 29.