Date: Saturday May 4, 2024 - Sunday May 26, 2024 
Start: Venaria Reale
Finish: Rome
Total distance: 3,321.2km
Stages: 21
Riders: 176
Teams: 22
Defending champion: Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma)

Key info: Route

GIRO D'ITALIA OVERVIEW

The Giro d’Italia, or just the Giro, is a gruelling multi-stage endurance race and is one of the three Grand Tours, along with the Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

Staged over three weeks with 21 individual stage races and two rest days, the Giro features the world’s best cyclists battling it out to win the prestigious pink winner’s jersey.

Last year, the Giro remained on home soil for its Grande Partenza, with Fossacesia hosting the opening individual time trial. Previously, like the two other Grand Tours, the Giro has featured a foreign start in countries like Hungary and Belgium. The 2024 edition remains on home soil for a second year running, starting in Venaria Reale in the Italian city of Turin, and finishing in Torino 136-kilometres later.

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won the 2023 edition, taking the pink jersey from Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) on the penultimate stage, which was an individual mountain time trial finishing atop Monte Lussari. It has not yet been announced whether he'll be back in 2024 to defend his title.

GIRO D'ITALIA ROUTE 2024

2024 will be the shortest edition of La Corsa Rosa since 1979, with the organisers seemingly trying to invite attacking racing with stages that hover at around 175km and 200km throughout the three weeks. Multiple days begin with uphill starts which should form prime terrain for a breakaway to establish itself, while mountain stages are scattered throughout the race – this should make for an interesting general classification battle. With a total of 68.2 kilometres of time trialling from stages seven and 14, RCS seem to be trying to entice the biggest Grand Tour riders of this generation such as Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard to their race.

While there is a relatively light helping of high mountains in the Giro compared to the Tour de France, those in the fight for the pink jersey will still face some significant challenges. The final week of the 2024 Giro d’Italia is packed with climbing – stages 15, 16 and 17 look like a brutally difficult series of mountain stages, with stage 16 including the famed Stelvio ascent. In the hope that the general classification battle will be fought to the very end, stage 20 will include two climbs of Monte Grappa, before the race concludes with a traditional flat sprint stage in Rome. In fact, there’s a lot for the sprinters to like in this Giro d’Italia, too, with eight potential bunch finishes.

Stage one: Venaria Reale - Torino, 136km

Stage two: San Francesco al Campo - Santuario di Oropa, 150km

Stage three: Novara - Fossano, 165km

Stage four: Acqui Terme - Andora, 187km

Stage five: Genova - Lucca, 176km

Stage six: Viareggio - Rapolano Terme, 177km

Stage seven: Foligno - Perugia, 37.2km 

Stage eight: Spoleto - Prati di Tivo, 153km

Stage nine: Avezzano - Napoli, 206km

Stage 10: Pompei - Cusano Mutri, 141km

Stage 11: Foiano di Val Fortore - Francavilla al Mare, 203km

Stage 12: Martinsicuro - Fano, 183km

Stage 13: Riccione - Cento, 179km 

Stage 14: Castiglione delle Stiviere - Desenzano del Garda, 31km 

Stage 15: Manerba del Garda - Livigno, 220km

Stage 16: Livigno - Santa Cristina Valgardena, 202km

Stage 17: Selva di Gardena in Gröden - Passo del Brocon, 154km

Stage 18: Fiera di Primiero - Padova, 166km

Stage 19: Mortegliano - Sappada, 154km

Stage 20: Alpago - Bassano del Grappa, 175km

Stage 21: Roma - Roma, 126km

See the route stage-by-stage

GIRO D’ITALIA TEAMS 2024

While the 2024 team list has not yet been announced, it is expected that 22 teams will compete in the Giro d'Italia, with 18 of those being WorldTour teams who automatically receive a place on the start line and the four remaining places will be for second-division pro teams who are top-ranking or chosen as a wildcard by the organisers.

GIRO D’ITALIA HISTORY

The Giro d’Italia will be in its 107th edition in 2024, having begun life in 1909. Founded by a local, pink coloured newspaper called La Gazzetta dello Sport, today it’s run by RCS Sport, whose parent company RCS Mediagroup also owns the newspaper.

It has become known for being one of the toughest races in the world, and its savage, varied, and beautiful routes have distinguished its prestige even amongst the other Grand Tours.

Such is the Giro’s accolade, overall wins and stage wins are often career defining moments for riders. Throughout the years the Giro has been running, only 22 riders have won the race more than once, and not many can pull off the back-back Giro wins. For many years no one has, with Spaniard Miguel Indurain the last to pull-off the feat in 1992 and 1993. Three riders – Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi, and Eddy Merckx – have won the race a record five times.

Mario Cipollini has won the most stages in the Giro with a grand total of 42 wins. No one has come close to challenging this record, with Eddy Merckx holding second place with 24 stage wins, Francesco Moser with 23, and Alessandro Petacchi and Roger De Vlaeminck both with 22.

Throughout the history of the Giro, Merckx holds the title for the rider to have worn the pink jersey the most, donning it on 77 occasions.

Jai Hindley won the 2022 Giro d’Italia, while Ineos Grenadiers won the two prior editions through Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020 and Egan Bernal in 2021.

Most Giro d’Italia wins:

5 wins - Alfredo Binda (1925-1933), Fausto Coppi (1940-1953) and Eddy Merckx (1968-1974)

3 wins - Gino Baratli (1936-1946), Bernard Hinault (1980-1985), Fiorenzo Magni (1948-1955), Felice Gimondi (1967-1976), Giovanni Brunero (1921-1926)

Recent Giro d’Italia winners:

2023 - Primož Roglič, Jumbo-Visma

2022 - Jai Hindley, Bora-Hansgrohe 

2021 - Egan Bernal, Ineos Grenadiers 

2020 - Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ineos Grenadiers 

2019 - Richard Carapaz, Movistar Team 

2018 - Chris Froome, Team Sky 

2017 - Tom Dumoulin, Team Sunweb 

2016 - Vincenzo Nibali, Astana 

2015 - Alberto Contador, Tinkoff-Saxo 

2014 - Nairo Quintana, Movistar Team 

2013 - Vincenzo Nibali, Astana