GIRO D’ ITALIA 2021
GIRO D’ ITALIA 2021 The 2021 Giro d’Italia was the 104th edition of the Giro d’Italia, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. The race started on 8 May and finished on 30 May, won by Egan Bernal Colombian cyclist followed by Damiano Caruso, from Italy and Simon Yates from UK. On 26 May 2019, the race organizers RCS Sport originally announced that the start of the 2021 Giro (known as the Grande Partenza) would be in Sicily, Italy. However, on 4 February 2021, RCS Sport announced that the race would instead start in Turin, with the rest of the race route being announced on 24 February 2021. Length of the Competition and Peculiarities The full route, consisting of 21 stages covering a distance of 3,479.9 kilometers (2,162.3 mi) and an elevation gain of over 47,000 meters (154,000 ft), was announced by RCS Sport on 24 February 2021. The race is bookended by two individual time trials in Torino and Milano, respectively. There are six summit finishes, the first of which is on stage 6 to Ascoli Piceno. The summit finishes also include the infamous Monte Zoncolan on stage 14 and three of the last five stages. There are also six stages designed for the sprinters to contest and two rest days, which are after the tenth and sixteenth stages, respectively. Though stage 16 to Cortina d’Ampezzo did not feature a summit finish, it was initially earmarked as the queen stage by race organizers, as riders were due to cover over 5,700 metres (18,700 ft) of elevation gain, and the Passo Pordoi was due to award the Cima Coppi award to the first rider to cross it as the highest climb of the race. However, due to poor weather, the stage was rerouted to remove the Pordoi and Fedaia, significantly shortening it and leaving the Passo Giau as the only climb in the Dolomites. With the removal of the Passo Pordoi, the Passo Giau also became the Cima Coppi of the race. The nineteenth stage was also changed three days before the run. The original route had the riders climb the Mottarone climb and then descend into Gignese, however, following the Stresa–Mottarone cable car crash, the route was changed out of respect to those affected to remove the climb, leading the riders straight to Gignese. The stage was shortened by 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).
26 INFORMA
