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2017 Giro d’Italia route released

Historic 100th edition corsa rosa has 67-km of time trials, five summit finishes

Giro d’Italia organizers presented the 2017 corsa rosa on Tuesday in Milan. The 100th edition of the race will visit all but four of the nation’s 21 regions and features two time trials along with celebrated climbs like Mount Etna, the Blockhaus, Mortirolo, Oropa, Stelvio, Monte Grappa and Pordoi.

The world already knew that the 100th edition would begin on the island of Sardinia on May 5 in Alghero. Stage 2 will be a lumpy 208-km route from Olbia to Tortoli. After another sprinter’s stage, there’s an early first rest day on May 8 so the race can transfer to Sicily. The real climbing will begin on stage 4, starting in Cefalù and finishing 180-km later on the slopes of Mount Etna.


Sprinters get more opportunities as the race finishes up on Sicily and heads north/northeast through Calabria and Puglia.

The second mountaintop finish will be held on stage 9, just before the second rest day, a 139-km jaunt from Montenero di Bisaccia to the formidible Blockhaus, a nearly 30-km climb. Here, Eddy Merckx won very early in his career.


The first stage after rest day two is a rolling 39.2-km time trial through Umbria’s Sagrantino vineyard region.


After medium-mountain Stage 11’s start in Ponte a Ema near Florence at Gino Bartali’s birthplace, the race’s next mountaintop finish, coming at the conclusion of Stage 14 from Castellania to Oropa, is a homage to both Fausto Coppi and Marco Pantani. The 131-km stage is mostly flat until reaching the final climb that rises for 13-km at 8%.


It’s hard to consider a leg of a race a queen stage if it has a downhill finish, but Stage 16 following the final rest day is a beaut. It features a double climb of the Passo dello Stelvio, where Ryder Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodriguez did battle in 2012. The 227-km stage requires the riders to climb the legendary Mortirolo and then the Stelvio twice, first from Bormio before descending the Trafoi hairpins and climbing back up via Switzerland and the Umbrailpass.


Another doozy, this time in the Dolomites, Stage 18 from Moena to Ortisei includes five big climbs over the Pordoi, Valparola, Gardena, Pinei Panidersattel and the Pontives all in 137-km.


After Stage 19’s tough summit finish on Piancavallo, the 2017 Giro’s penultimate stage and final mountain showdown sees the peloton climb Monte Grappa and then clamber up the switchbacks of the Foza climb before finishing 15-km later in the Asiago mountain valley.


The 100th Giro d’Italia finishes with a flat 28-km time trial to Milan on May 28. It’s a return to the format that saw chronos conclude Giros from 2008 to 2012, the latter race against the clock the setting of Hesjedal overcoming a 31-second deficit to Rodriguez to win the pink jersey by 17-seconds.

Who will vie for the pink jersey in May 2017? Steven Kruijswijk (The Netherlands/LottNL-Jumbo) wants revenge for crashing out of pink this year. Esteban Chaves (Colombia/Orica-BikeExchange) wants in. Fabio Aru is riding both the Giro and the Vuelta a España, while Vincenzo Nibali won’t confirm his start in Sardinia yet. The 67-km of time trials may lure both Chris Froome and Tom Dumoulin into the fray.

2017 Giro d’Italia

Stage 1 Friday, May 5: Alghero – Olbia 203 km
Stage 2 Saturday, May 6: Olbia – Tortolì 208 km
Stage 3 Sunday, May 7: Tortolì – Cagliari 148 km
Rest day 1 Monday, May 8
Stage 4 Tuesday, May 9: Cefalù – Etna 180 km
Stage 5 Wednesday, May 10: Pedara – Messina 157 km
Stage 6 Thursday, May 11: Reggio Calabria – Terme Luigiane 207 km
Stage 7 Friday, May 12: Castrovillari – Alberobello 220 km
Stage 8 Saturday, May 13: Molfetta – Peschici 189 km
Stage 9 Sunday, May 14: Montenero di Bisaccia – Blockhaus 139 km
Rest day 2 Monday May 15
Stage 10 Tuesday, May 16: Foligno – Montefalco 39 km TT
Stage 11 Wednesday, May 17: Firenze – Bagno di Romagna 161 km
Stage 12 Thursday, May 18: Forlì – Reggio Emilia 237 km
Stage 13 Friday, May 19: Reggio Emilia – Tortona 162 km
Stage 14 Saturday, May 20: Castellania – Oropa 131 km
Stage 15 Sunday, May 21: Valdengo – Bergamo 199 km
Rest day 3 Monday, May 22
Stage 16 Tuesday, May 23: Rovetta – Bormio 227 km (cima Coppi – Stelvio)
Stage 17 Wednesday, May 24: Tirano – Canazei 219 km
Stage 18 Thursday, May 25: Moena – Ortisei/St. Urlich 137 km
Stage 19 Friday, May 26: San Candido/Innichen – Piancavallo 191 km
Stage 20 Saturday, May 27: Pordenone – Asiago 190 km
Stage 21 Sunday, May 28: Monza – Milano 28 km TT