The Heron takes flight
“It’s a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.”
-Fausto Coppi. The five-time Giro champion – Il Campionnissimo.
The 109th edition of the Giro d’ltalia will take place from May 8th in Nessebar, Bulgaria to May 31st in Rome. It is the first Grand Tour of the season, including 21 stages that will take the riders through many of Italy’s iconic cities, the mythical Alps (Stage 16 Switzerland) and the Dolomites.
The race starts off in Bulgaria with a sprint stage. And, there are six stages for the purists including finales in Napoli, Milano and Rome. There is one 40km time trial, pan-flat finishing in Massa.
There are six mountain stages, and every single one of them has a summit finish. These include Blockhaus, Corno alle Scale, Pila, Cari, Pieve di Soligo and Piancavallo. With eight stages that are mixed, good for the breakaway opportunists and puncheurs. The Grand Partenza will total 3,468km with an altitude gain of 48,700m.
Overwhelming favorite for the maglia rosa will be Jonas Vingegaard. Hopefuls for the podium: Giulio Pellizzari, Egan Bernal and Adam Yates. Top Canadian (the only Canadian rider in fact) is Derek Gee-West could well be a solid top-10. He has had great success with the Giro, having broken through as a rider chasing breakaways in 2023 (22nd place) and finished fourth in 2025. And, he heads into his third appearance and gets stronger in the third week – fingers crossed.
I’m looking forward to this Giro d’ltalia!