Guide to the Giro d'Italia 2023: from the route to the stages, everything you need to know
7 minutes
Are you ready to attend one of the most famous and most-watched sports competitions in the country? The Giro d'Italia 2023 will take place from 6 to 28 May and is full of surprises and emotions.
The historic road cycling stage race, won last year by the Australian Jai Hindley, will see 176 participants divided into 22 teams face 3,489 kilometres on their bikes. The route, which is divided into 21 stages of varying difficulty, will start in Abruzzo and will end in the heart of Rome, the Eternal City.
If you want to know what the stages are, who are the favourites, what the programme is and where you can follow it, you can find all the answers in this article.
History and fun facts about the 'Pink Race'
The long history of the Giro began in 1908, when the sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport decided to organise for the first time what later became one of the most important international cycling races.
The first Giro d'Italia started on 10 May 1909 from Piazzale Loreto in Milan and was won by Luigi Ganna. The introduction of the pink jersey, a symbol of the Giro d'Italia coloured like the pages of the Gazzetta, did not occur until 1931.
To date, the record for victories in the Giro d'Italia is shared by three cyclists, with five victories each: the Italians Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi and the Belgian Eddy Merckx.
Stages and route of the Giro d'Italia 2023
This year, the route of the race will start from the Costa dei Trabocchi Tudor, at the gates of Ortona, in Abruzzo, and will wind through most of the Bel Paese, with a small deviation in Switzerland, through 21 stages and for a total of 3,489.2 kilometres. The dates have been set well in advance: from Saturday 6 to Sunday 28 May.
Among the most important cities in Italy that will be passed along the way are Naples, Bergamo and Rome, the star of the final stage of 135 kilometres.
Teams, participants and favourites of the Giro d'Italia 2023
There will be 22 teams: 18 World Tour teams and 4 guests, composed of 8 riders each, for a total of 176 participants from all over the world. Among them, there are great champions, such as the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, the Slovenian Primož Roglič and the British Geraint Howell Thomas are included, while among the Italians, Lorenzo Fortunato and Domenico Pozzovivo stand out. Among the favourites are Primož Roglič, who finished third in 2019, Wilco Kelderman, who finished third in 2020, the Portuguese João Almeida and the Italian Damiano Caruso.
How to follow the most famous cycling race in Italy
As usual, you can follow the Giro d'Italia on TV free-to-air on Rai 2 and Rai Sport HD, channel 57 of digital television, but also on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, Sky channels 210 and 211.
Rai Sport and Eurosport 1 will follow the race from the early stages of each stage, while on Rai 2, the connection will start in the early afternoon, when the race will already be live. You can also follow live streaming for free on RaiPlay and for a fee on Eurosport Player, Discovery+, Sky Go, NOW, DAZN and TIMVISION.
To attend the live competition, there are many evocative locations where you can see the Giro d'Italia 2023. Starting from the heart of Naples, the star of the sixth stage, in Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo, the theatre of the next stage, passing through Trentino with the arrival of the sixteenth stage Sabbio Chiese – Monte Bondone and the departure the following day of the seventeenth stage Pergine Valsugana – Caorle, the city of Rome, where for the grand finale, the race will pass places and monuments such as the Colosseum, the Imperial Fora, the Ara Pacis, Villa Borghese, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla.
The calendar of the Giro d'Italia 2023
In order not to miss any of the stages, dates and routes, below, you can find the calendar.
