THE GIRO

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THE GIRO

• The Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy), also known as
  The Giro, is a long-distance road bicycle racing
  stage race for professional cyclists held over
  three weeks in May/June in and around Italy. The
  Giro is one of the three Grand Tours, and is part
  of the UCI World Ranking calendar. It is the
  second most prominent stage race in the world,
  and it makes up the Triple Crown of Cycling. It
  included the passage through the mountain chains
  of the Dolomites and the Alps, and the finish in
  the Italian city of Milan. The modern editions of
  the Giro d'Italia normally consist of 21 day-long
  stages over a 23-day period that includes 2 rest
  days. It began because of a competition between
  two newspapers, La Gazzetta dello Sport and
  Corriere della Sera.

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FIRST RACE

• On 13 May 1909, 127 riders started the first Giro
  d'Italia, which took place at Loreto Place in
  Milan, and the race was split into eight stages
  covering 2448 kilometres. A total of 49 riders
  finished, with Italian Luigi Ganna winning the
  inaugural event.

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STAGES

• In the Tour of Italy there are some time trial
  stages, and often the last stages of the tour are
  the hardest because they relate to the mountain
  passes as "the Mortirolo" and these are shorter,
  while the level stages are always much longer.

The Mortirolo stage
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ATHLETES

• The athletes come from all around the world and
  there are also the most important Italian teams.
  The athlete leader of the race, races in the
  "maglia rosa" (pink jersey), derived from the
  "Gazzetta dello Sport", which is pink too.

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MOST FAMOUS ITALIAN RACERS
Marco Pantani
Gino Bartali

• Fausto Coppi