Giro details emerge: Plan de Corones, Gavia, Verona finale

The 2010 Giro d'Italia will include a team time trial and high mountain passes at Plan de Corones, the Gavia and Mortirolo en route to the final stage in Verona, according to details leaked in Tuttosport. Organiser RCS Sport will present the official route of the three-week stage race on October 24, but its media rival printed details yesterday.

RCS Sport already announced that the race will start in The Netherlands with three stages based around Amsterdam, but the transfer to Italy will reportedly be unusual. The last Dutch stage, which runs from Amsterdam to Middelburg, will end early, at 13:00, to avoid a rest day on the fourth day. The riders will fly south, likely to Torino, and the supporting cars will drive the 1150 kilometres.

There will be two stages in the Piemonte region, a team time trial stage based in Cuneo and a stage in Alessandria dedicated to Fausto Coppi. Cycling great Coppi passed away 50 years ago, and race director Angelo Zomegnan said Tuesday that next year's Giro would celebrate 50-year anniversaries. The riders will then travel through Liguria and Toscana before the first rest day and transfer to Puglia.

From Italy's heel in Puglia, the race will make its way north. The first mountain stage will reportedly be near L'Aquila, site of last year's earthquake. Riders will head from Abruzzo over the border into Lazio to climb the Monte Terminillo (2217m). The riders will then travel north toward Emilia-Romagna for a stage to Marco Pantani's town, Cesenatico.

On Sunday, May 23, the Giro makes its third visit to Monte Zoncolan (1750m). The second rest day, Monday, comes before the Giro's second visit to Plan de Corones. Like 2008, the organisers plan a mountain time trial up the gravel roads, from San Vigilio a Plan de Corones. The riders will travel to Lombardia for a two-stage mountain finale: one includes Passo del Mortirolo (1855m) and the other Passo di Gavia (2618m).

Like this year, the Giro will not finish in Milan. Instead, the finale will take place in Verona. The last time the Giro finished there was in 1984, when Italy's Francesco Moser won the stage and took the overall title from France's Laurent Fignon. Like 1984 and last year in Roma, a time trial will conclude the Giro, according to Tuttosport.

Zomegnan and race organiser RCS Sport will present the official route of the 93rd Giro d'Italia on October 24 in Milan. RCS Sport announced Tuesday that it will present the route at East End Studios, the recording set of Italian television show X-Factor.

RCS Sport owns newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, which is a direct rival with Tuttosport.

Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed