The 93rd edition of the Tour of Italy in 2010 will start in the Netherlands on May 8 before embarking on a 3,416.5km journey around the Italian peninsula and ending in Verona on May 30.
That was the course unveiled in Milan on Saturday with 21 stages and 39 climbs. Reigning champion Denis Menchov, the Russian Rabobank rider, was among the guests at the official presentation alongside former winner Damiano Cunego and Italian stars of the past such as Mario Cipollini.
There was also a chance for Italy to get to know Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen, a Dutch actress and presenter who will be the face of the 2010 Giro and who also happens to be the girlfriend of new Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder.
The opening stage will be a short 8.4km time trial (TT) around Amsterdam which will also host the start of the next two stages, ending in Utrecht and then Middleburg before the riders take an early break with the first rest day and a flight to Italy before recommencing in Savigliano with a 32.5km team time trial.
There will be two more individual time trials with a 12.9km TT on the 16th stage following the second rest day while the final stage will be a 15.3km time trial around Verona as the Giro ends for the second year in a row on a time trial – something that sparked much excitement this year.
It will be the ninth time the Giro has begun outside of Italy and second time it does so in the Netherlands. The first foreign start was in 1965 in San Marino.
The highest point of the Tour will be the Passo Gavia on the 20th and penultimate stage at 2,618m above sea level with some parts reaching a gruelling 15 percent gradient.
There will also be an emotional finish in L’Aquila, the capital of the Abruzzo region hit by a tragic earthquake in April, at the end of the 11th and longest stage counting 256km from Lucera.
There are also stages that pay homage to Italy’s two greatest Italian stars Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. The fifth stage will end at Novi Ligure, where Coppi found his first job as a helper in a delicatessen while the seventh stage from Carrara to Montalcino is dedicated to his great rival Bartali.
The Mortirolo pass makes its return to the Tour of Italy and has once again been nominated the ‘Pantani Mountain’ – every year one climb in the Giro is dedicated to the now deceased Marco ‘The Pirate’ Pantani, winner of the Giro in 1998 and much loved by the Italian public.
A list of the 21 stages in the 2010 Tour of Italy which begins in Amsterdam on May 8 and ends in Verona on May 30 after 3,416.5km:
Stage 1 – Saturday May 8: Amsterdam (individual timetrial) 8.4km
Stage 2 – Sunday May 9: Amsterdam to Utrecht 209km
Stage 3 – Monday May 10: Amsterdam to Middelberg 209km
Rest day – Tuesday May 11: Travel to Italy
Stage 4 – Wednesday May 12: Savigliano to Cuneo (team timetrial) 32.5km
Stage 5 – Thursday May 13: Novara to Novi Ligure 168km
Stage 6 – Friday May 14: Fidenza to Carrara 166km
Stage 7 – Saturday May 15: Carrara to Montalcino 215km
Stage 8 – Sunday May 16: Chianciano Terme to Terminillo 189km
Stage 9 – Monday May 17: Frosinone to Cava De Tirreni 188km
Stage 10 – Tuesday May 18: Avellino to Bitonto 220km
Stage 11 – Wednsday May 19: Lucera to L’Aquila 256km
Stage 12 – Thursday May 20: Citta Sant’Angelo to Porto Recanati 191km
Stage 13 – Friday May 21: Potro Recanati to Cesenatico 222km
Stage 14 – Saturday May 22: Ferrara to Asolo 201km
Stage 15 – Sunday May 23: Mestre to Monte Zoncolan 218km
Rest day – Monday May 24
Stage 16 – Tuesday May 25: San Vigilio di Marebbe/St. Vigil to Plan de Corones/Kronplatz (individual timetrial) 12.9km
Stage 17 – Wednesday May 26: Brunico/Bruneck to Peio Terme 173km
Stage 18 – Thursday May 27: Levico Terme to Brescia 151km
Stage 19 – Friday May 28: Brescia to Aprica 195km
Stage 20 – Saturday May 29: Bormio to Tonale 178km
Stage 21 – Sunday May 30: Verona (individual timetrial) 15.3km
