Gran Sasso mountain finish confirmed as RCS Sport hope to tempt Evenepoel with 60km of time trials
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(Image credit: RCS Sport)
(Image credit: RCS Sport)
(Image credit: RCS Sport)
(Image credit: RCS Sport)
The 2023 Giro d’Italia will start in the Abruzzo region of Italy on the central Adriatic coast, with an 18.4km opening time trial largely on a spectacular coastal bike path, followed by a sprint stage to San Salvo. The Corsa Rosa will then return to Abruzzo on stage 7 for a 2135-metre high mountain finish at Campo Imperatore in the shadow of the spectacular Gran Sasso.
Next year's Giro will start on Saturday, May 6 and end three weeks later on Sunday, May 28.
It is the second time Abruzzo that will host the Giro d'Italia Grande Partenza. In 2001, Rik Verbrugghe won a prologue time trial to Pescara, setting an average speed of 58,874 km/h for the 7.6km stage, a record average that still stands.
The team presentation will be held in the city center of Pescara, in Piazza Salotto, two days before the first stage.
The opening 18.4km time trial stage will follow a long section of the Via Verde-Costa dei Trabocchi bike path that has been created from a former railway line that follows the Adriatic coast line.
Abruzzo will host a key mountain stage for a fourth consecutive year. In the last two previous editions, stage winners Egan Bernal in 2021 at Campo Felice, and Jai Hindley in 2022 at Blockhaus, went on to win the Giro d'Italia.
The Italian Grand Tour is expected to include 60km of time trials and so perhaps tempt new world champion and Vuelta a España winner Remco Evenepoel to target the Giro in 2023 instead of making his Tour de France debut.
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Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the 2022 Giro, snatching the maglia rosa from Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) on the final mountain stage and then defending the jersey in the Verona time trial.
The first week of the Giro will visit the south of Italy, with the second and third weeks expected to be in the north, with a final mountain time trial on the steep climb of Monte Lussari.
The race was set to finish in Trieste, perhaps in the hope of tempting Tadej Pogačar to ride, but reports of a late offer from the capital could see the riders instead make the long transfer to Rome for a finish around the Eternal City.
Organisers RCS Sport will reveal the full route of the 2023 Giro on October 17 in Milan.
11 riders from Abruzzo have won stages at the Giro d'Italia, with the often out-spoken climber Vito Taccone the most victorious with 8 wins between 1961 and 1966. Both Giulio Ciccone and Dario Cataldo have won stages at the Giro d'Italia and attended the presentation of the Grande Partenza in Abruzzo.
"The Grande Partenza of the Giro d'Italia is already, in itself, an electrifying event. And if it happens in my region, a few steps from home, in the area where I grew up, the emotions and motivations are immediately very strong," Ciccone said.
"The opening time trial on the Costa dei Trabocchi will offer a crazy scenario and a super fast test. The second stage will give a chance to those who have not accumulated too much gap in the time trial and play for the Maglia Rosa.
"I look forward to the finish of Stage 7 in Campo Imperatore, which I know well but we will have time to talk about goals and ambitions later on."
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
