Giro d’Italia: 3 key stages which could decide the Maglia Rosa

This year’s Giro d’Italia will begin in Turin on May 8 and will take in some signature highlights including the Alps, the Dolomites and the white gravel Strade Bianchi roads.

The 104th edition will end in Milan on May 30, returning to its traditional time-slot after the 2020 edition took place in October.

Organisers have revealed a route that will start and finish with individual time-trials – over a total of 38.4km – which will please elite climbers like Colombian Egan Bernal and Frenchmen Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet who have all committed to the race.

The route also has six mountain finishes and seven other hilly stages and will cover a total distance of 3 450km.

In a bid to counter any Covid-19 drop outs, organisers have invited an extra wild card team to increase the field to 184 riders from 23 teams of eight.

Three key stages:

Stage 11: Peruggia to Montalcino – 163km

As the dust settles on the early stages of the race and the first rest day, stage 11 will kick up a new cloud on the 35km section that gives the Strade Bianchi classic its name.

Australian Cadel Evans emerged as the winner in 2010 on a rainy day that covered the riders in white mud on the non-tarmac section.

Stage 16: Sacile to Cortina d’Ampezzo – 212km

Three climbs that marked the centenary version of the Giro will make stage 16 a potentially decisive point in the fortunes of the contenders with the Dolomites making for an epic backdrop.

The second climb takes the Giro to its highest point at 2 239m and is being touted as the ‘Queen stage’ with its total 5 700m of climbing.

Stage 21: Senago to Milan – 29.4km

Anyone who witnessed the triumphant final day into Milan last year where Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart overturned the lead of Australia’s Jai Hindley is likely to enjoy the 29.4km concluding race against the clock.