The 2026 Giro d'Italia will start in Bulgaria, with three stages of the Corsa Rosa set to be held in the Balkan nation after the Bulgarian government approved the project and official bid.
The 109th Giro is scheduled to be held between May 9-31, but may now start a day earlier to facilitate the transfer from Bulgaria to Italy. The Giro is likely to start in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia and perhaps visit the Black Sea coastline before the race caravan transfers to Italy via plane and road.
The Bulgarian Tourism and Sports ministers announced the Grande Patenza in Bulgaria, according to local media, and sources confirmed the news to Cyclingnews. There was no immediate reaction from race organisers RCS Sport.
"On Wednesday, the government supported the proposal from the two ministries to finalize negotiations for hosting this prestigious sporting event," Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh said, according to media reports in Bulgaria.
"The Giro d’Italia will put our country on the global tourism map and will make Bulgaria a recognizable destination."
The news came after the UCI banned Bulgarian Federation president Evgeniy Balev Gerganov and vice-president Danail Petrov Angelov for two years after accusations of abuse of authority and conflicts of interest.
Giro d'Italia organiser RCS Sport has still to announce Bulgaria as the host of the 2026 Grande Partenza due to the final negotiations. Bulgaria apparently competed against several other nations to host the 2026 Grande Partenza, including Abu Dhabi and, reportedly, even Saudi Arabia.
The 2025 Giro d'Italia started in Albania, with other international starts in Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands and Northern Ireland and Ireland in recent years.
Albania reportedly paid RCS Sport close to €10 million for the right to host the start of the Giro d'Italia in May.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won the opening stage to the capital Tirana, while Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) went on to snatch overall victory from Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the final mountain stage to Sestrière.
