Giro d'Italia 2023: Preview, stages, schedule and how to watch

Who are the top riders to watch out for at the 2023 Giro? What are the key stages during the three-week race? How to watch the 2023 Giro d'Italia road cycling stage race? Discover all you need to know.

6 minBy ZK Goh
Giro d'Italia trophy
(REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo)

The first Grand Tour of the 2023 men's road cycling season is almost upon us.

On Saturday 6 May, 176 riders representing 22 teams will set out from Fossacesia Marina on Italy's Adriatic Sea coast to begin the 106th Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy).

Among them will be INEOS Grenadiers' Tao Geoghegan Hart who clinched the Maglia Rosa in 2020 and is set to be the only previous champion taking part.

Last year's winner Jai Hindley and 2021 hero Egan Bernal - who is back in the saddle after suffering serious injuries in a training crash - are both focusing on the Tour de France.

This year's race – some 3489.2 kilometres (2168.1 miles) long – will start and end in its home country Italy, with just a short detour through the Swiss canton of Valais to end Stage 13 and begin Stage 14. The race will see a total of 51,400 metres (168,600 ft) of altitude gain.

For the first time since the 2018 race, the 21st and final stage of the Giro will be a flat procession (more commonly seen in the Tour de France and Vuelta a España), instead of the individual time trial used to end the race in five of the last six editions.

Giro d'Italia 2023 riders to watch

There are 22 teams involved – 18 UCI WorldTour teams, the UCI ProTeam Israel-Premier Tech, and three Italian wildcards – in this year's race.

While Geoghegan Hart is the only previous winner lining up, he is unlikely to be the headline act this year. Not with riders like reigning world champion Remco Evenepoel, three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic, and Geoghegan Hart's own Tour de France-winning teammate Geraint Thomas all also in the peloton.

Evenepoel enters the Giro as one of the form men, having enjoyed a famous win in the rainbow stripes at the Liège–Bastogne–Liège monument late last month, in addition to finishing first and second in the general classification at the UAE Tour and Volta a Catalunya respectively already this season.

Roglic, meanwhile, had a successful March, having won the Catalunya general classification the week after achieving that same feat at Tirreno–Adriatico. This is just his third participation in a Giro, but has good memories of the race, having finished third in 2019.

Other previous Giro podium finishers in this year's race include Colombian veteran Rigoberto Urán, second in 2013 and 2014, as well as the 2021 runner-up Damiano Caruso.

However, the race will be without potential challenger Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), who has withdrawn after testing positive for Covid. France's Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) is also a doubt after contracting Covid.

As this year's course is not particularly sprinter-friendly, with only three truly flat road stages, it seems likely that the cyclamen (mauve) jersey for top points scorer will go to a sprinter who can hold their own on the climbs – perhaps someone like 2019 world champion Mads Pedersen.

(REUTERS)

Giro d'Italia 2023 route, stages, and schedule

There are three individual time trials on the 2023 Giro d'Italia route, including a mountainous time trial on Stage 20 up to Monte Lussari, which includes eye-watering gradients of up to 22 per cent.

Six stages – Stages 7 (Gran Sasso), 13 (Crans-Montana), 16 (Bondone), 18 (Val di Zoldo), 19 (Tre Cime di Lavaredo), and 20 (Lussari) – will all finish at the top of climbs, with another – Stage 4 (Laceno) – finishing on a short plateau after a mountainous climb.

The race's Cima Coppi – the highest climb – comes on Stage 13's excursion to Switzerland, with the 2470m-high (8100ft) Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard on the Italian–Swiss border taking the honour.

  • Saturday 6 May: Stage 1 - Fossacesia Marina to Ortona, flat individual time trial, 19.6km
  • Sunday 7 May: Stage 2 - Teramo to San Salvo, flat, 201km
  • Monday 8 May: Stage 3 - Vasto to Melfi, medium mountains, 216km
  • Tuesday 9 May: Stage 4 - Venosa to Lago Laceno, medium mountains, 175km
  • Wednesday 10 May: Stage 5 - Atripalda to Salerno, hilly, 171km
  • Thursday 11 May: Stage 6 - Naples to Naples, hilly, 162km
  • Friday 12 May: Stage 7 - Capua to Gran Sasso d'Italia (Campo Imperatore), high mountains, 218km
  • Saturday 13 May: Stage 8 - Terni to Fossombrone, medium mountains, 207km
  • Sunday 14 May: Stage 9 - Savignano sul Rubicone to Cesena (Technogym Village), flat individual time trial, 35km
  • Monday 15 May: Rest day
  • Tuesday 16 May: Stage 10 - Scandiano to Viareggio, hilly, 196km
  • Wednesday 17 May: Stage 11 - Camaiore to Tortona, hilly, 219km
  • Thursday 18 May: Stage 12 - Bra to Rivoli, medium mountains, 179km
  • Friday 19 May: Stage 13 - Borgofranco d'Ivrea to Crans Montana (Switzerland), high mountains, 207km
  • Saturday 20 May: Stage 14 - Sierre (Switzerland) to Cassano Magnago, hilly, 193km
  • Sunday 21 May: Stage 15 - Seregno to Bergamo, high mountains, 195km
  • Monday 22 May: Rest day
  • Tuesday 23 May: Stage 16 - Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone, high mountains, 203km
  • Wednesday 24 May: Stage 17 - Pergine Valsugana to Caorle, flat, 195km
  • Thursday 25 May: Stage 18 - Oderzo to Val di Zoldo, medium mountains, 161km
  • Friday 26 May: Stage 19 - Longarone to Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Rifugio Auronzo), high mountains, 183km
  • Saturday 27 May: Stage 20 - Tarvisio to Monte Lussari, mountainous individual time trial, 18.6km
  • Sunday 28 May: Stage 21 - Rome to Rome, flat, 126km

How to watch 2023 Giro d'Italia

GCN has broadcast rights in many territories around the world on all continents. Across Europe, Eurosport will also show the Giro.

You can find out which channel is showing the 2023 Giro d'Italia in your country by checking the Giro d'Italia's list of TV partners.

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