The Giro d’Italia. The Giro. The 'pink one!' What ever you call it, the first of the Grand Tours is back and it's destined to be another legendary event. Expect gravel, snow, tight roads, rolling hills and a sprinkling of chaos.
Now it's important to state that this is no ordinary cycling event. It has an illustrious history stretching back 109 years (circa 2026), and with 800 million viewers it is one of the most watched sporting events on the planet. That said, if you're new to the sport or the event then don't worry about some of the some of the complexities. We'll cover everything you need to know in this article. So let's start with the basics:
In the world of cycling there are three major professional cycling races. The Giro d'Italia (in May), the Tour de France (in July) and the Vuelta a España (in August). Together they are known as the ‘Grand Tours’, and they all follow a standard format: 3 weeks of racing across a variety of stages and 2 rest days. Hit the logo's here to check out the home pages for each:
The Grand Tours are seen as the toughest & most prestigious cyclists in the professional peloton, and winning one is no easy feat. But one of the coolest thing about the Grand Tours is that there's actually more than one way to win. Let me explain ...
Cycling is a team sport and just like in football or rugby, each team gives their cyclists specific roles based upon their skill set. This leads riders to become specialists in their chosen category, which are called Classifications. The 3 main classifications are:
At the end of each day's racing a winner is declared for each of the Categories, and they are awarded the relevant 'Leaders Jersey' to wear the next day. This really helps the fans, as we can easily spot the current leaders amongst the peloton!
The 2026 Giro is the 109th edition of the race, and the first time in its history the Corsa Rosa has started in Bulgaria. Three opening stages run along the Black Sea and through the country's old capitals, before the race transfers south to Italy for the long climb home. From there, twenty-one stages and 3,468 kilometres take the peloton from the heel of Italy up through Naples, Tuscany and Milan to the decisive mountain stages in the northeast, before the final stage in Rome on Sunday 31 May.
It's a route built for the climbers. Just one time trial: a flat 42 kilometres of Tuscan coast between Viareggio and Massa, tailor-made for the rouleurs. Eight flat stages for the sprinters. Seven medium-mountain stages where the breakaways will fight for it. And five proper mountain stages with seven summit finishes, including the return of the Passo Giau in a Dolomite queen stage from Feltre to Alleghe that packs over 5,000 metres of climbing into a single afternoon. The kind of day that decides Grand Tours.
Nearly 50,000 metres of total elevation across the three weeks. Seven climbs above 2,000 metres. And a final flourish through the streets of Rome on the last Sunday: eight laps of a city circuit, flat and fast and largely ceremonial for the GC riders. A day that's all about the sprint, the prosecco, and someone in pink raising a glass on a balcony.
The contenders going in: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) is the favourite: a two-time Tour de France winner stepping back to the Giro for the first time as the rider everyone wants to beat. Behind him: Thymen Arensman, Felix Gall, Ben O'Connor, and former Giro winner Jai Hindley. The sprinters' line-up is led by Jonathan Milan, Paul Magnier and Kaden Groves. And keep an eye on Filippo Ganna in the time trial, and on Italy's Giulio Pellizzari in the young rider classification, one for the future.
The first of the Grand Tours kicks off in early May, lasting for 3 weeks with 21 race days and 2 rest days. The race for the Maglia Rosa wraps up by the end of the month, and typically there's just a 4 week break before the Tour de France kicks off at the end of June.
No surprises here - the Giro is hosted all over Italy! But there are some key regions that tend to be included regularly. Look out for the Dolomites, Lombardy and Piedmont for the mountains, Emilia-Romania, Tuscany and Umbria for the lowlands, and of course a final day in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Occasionally the opening few days are held outside of Italy, and in 2026 the first stage being held in Bulgaria.
184 riders across 23 Teams (so 8 riders per team), will ride 3,468km with over close to 50,000 vertical metres of climbing. Gulp...
Whilst the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta are incredibly different, varied and with their own histories & cultures... Today they all have exactly the same framework for competition - with 184 riders, across 23 teams of 8. They are also equally distanced with approximately 3,500km & up to 45,000 metres of climbing. Keep an eye out for the Tdf & Vuelta routes as they are announces, because they may seek to match it!
Just like the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia also has it's roots in the world of local newspapers. Way back in 1909 there was a notable lack of internet availability, and so people got their daily dose of news from their local newspaper publishers. A particularly famous local paper called 'La Gazzetta dello Sport!' sponsored the first event to advertise along their distribution routes. But the coolest thing to know is that this newspaper was printed on pink paper, and this is where the famous Maglia Rosa / Pink Jersey (for the GC leader) was derived from.
Famously prized for it's chaos, beauty and passion, the Giro d'Italia has a personality and a lure all of it's own. Unfolding through the mountains during spring, sees a mixture of heat, sun, winds and snow that can lay to waste the most thoughtful of team plans. One minute a rider can be on top of the world, descending in pink with seas of adoring fans and a seemingly unstoppable lead.... And the next a crash, mechanical, or side wind can turn the tables of destiny before you can finish an Aperol sprits!
No one knows how this Grand Tour will unfold, but one thing remains constant year upon year - and that's the fans. Known as the 'Tifosi', the Italian fans bring their own passion and verve unlike any other. In the face of such passion, such adoration, and such involvement from the fans - it's almost impossible not to get caught up in the Pink whirlwind year after year!
For the General Classification:
This is all about finishing the stages as quickly as possible. The winner of the first stage becomes the leader of the General Classification ('GC') and is awarded the Pink Jersey to wear the next day, From there everyone's times are recorded and added up day-by-day, giving each rider a total riding time. Who ever has the lowest time at the end of each stage wins for that day, and is awarded the Pink Jersey (Maglia Rosa) to wear the next day. To spice things up there are also bonus seconds awarded for crossing certain sections first.
For the Points Classification:
Is focused in winning & accumulating points through each of the 21 stages. The points scoring system can be a bit complicated, but the key thing to know is that the harder the section is the more points the riders can win. So super hilly sprints on a mountain side get high points, and short flat sections get fewer points. Whoever has the highest points score at the end of each race wins the Stage, and is awarded the Purple Jersey (Maglia Ciclamino) to wear the next day.
For the Mountains Classification:
This one focuses on the Climbers, awarding points for the first group of riders to cross Classified Climbs (registered as a certain difficulty and allocated with points as part of the race planning). In 2024 there are 45 Classified climbs across the Giro d'Italia, awarded across 6 different difficulty categories. Who ever has the highest Mountain Points score at the end of each race wins the stage, and is awarded the Blue Jersey (Maglia Azzurra) to wear the next day.
For the Best Young Rider:
This is another version of the General Classification competition, but reserved for riders under 25 at the start of the year.
This is the fastest Team overall. It is calculated by combining the top 3 finishers of each team, each day across the 21 stages. Which ever team has the lowest time overall wins. This has grown in importance to the teams in recent years, as getting the team on a podium is great for moral and the sponsors.
There are 2 of these in every stage, and are designed to allow a great breadth or riders to win points by encouraging breakaways on every stage.
The rider who spends the most time at the front of the Peloton (over the whole 3 weeks) is awarded this 'Break Away' title.
Is awarded to the most combative rider. The selection is made by analysing social media comments from 7am to 7pm, and the winner gets a red bib number to wear the next day.
For the team that receives the lowest amount of penalties across the 3 weeks.
An homage to the late and great Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, this award is given to the first rider to cross a specified climb. The selected climb is different each year, and usually something with particular difficulties or that Pantani had won upon in the past.
The first person to cross the highest point of the entire 3 weeks, wins this much coveted prize. Expect to see an all out brawl for this one! Previous climbs to host this award include the Motirolo (often described as the hardest climb in Italy), the Stelvio (and once the two together aka: the 'double shot!') and the unpaved Colle delle Finestre.
Overall wins & stage wins at the Giro d'Italia are often career defining moments for riders. Only 22 riders have ever won the GC Classification more than once & just a handful have won 2 back to back... The most recent of which was Mallorca's very own Miguel Indurain in 1992 & 1993.
Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi, and Eddy Merckx have all won the race a record five times.
Mario Cipollini holds the total wins record with an incredible 42 Stage Wins. The only person to get anywhere close to that was Eddy Merckx who has 24 Stage Wins. Whilst he didn't beat Cipollini's record, he did manage to wear the pink Jersey on 77 Stages (a record on it's own).
This one must have crossed your mind at some point! Here we can fill that void with some hard numbers and show exactly how the total pot of €1,642,860 in prize money is divided up:
So whoever wins the GC this year will pocket €265,668, plus any other prizes won.
This all seems pretty tasty for the winners, but remember - it's customary that the prize money is split between the team, and so riders don't actually pocket this amount. Cycling is a team sport after all.
If the coffee croissant chat goes too deep into Giro d'Italia territory - don't worry, we've got your back! Nod along knowingly and drop one of these 'hot-topic' bombs to blow the conversation wide open. Everyone will chip in and assume you know what you're talking about:
Recap on last years talking points:
Everything we write and review we do through passion for the sport & elove of the process. We are not sponsored and we aren't briefed. We write about the things that helped us, and we hope that they help you too!
