Feature

Mon 26 Oct, 9:00 am UTC

2010 Giro to start in the Netherlands

By AFP & Cyclingnews.com

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 TT 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 despite doping allegations throughout his career.

The race route of the 2010 giro d'italia:

Stages

  • Stage 1 - Saturday, May 8, Amsterdam TT, 8.4km
  • Stage 2 - Sunday, May 9, Amsterdam - Utrecht, 209km
  • Stage 3 - Monday, May 10, Amsterdam - Middelburg, 209km
  • Rest day, Tuesday, May 11, Savigliano
  • Stage 4 - Wednesday, May 12, Savigliano - Cuneo TTT, 32.5km
  • Stage 5 - Thursday, May 13, Novara - Novi Ligure, 168km
  • Stage 6 - Friday, May 14, Fidenza - Marina di Carrara, 166km
  • Stage 7 - Saturday, May 15, Carrara - Montalcino, 215km
  • Stage 8 - Sunday, May 16, Chianciano - Monte Terminillo, 189km
  • Stage 9 - Monday, May 17, Frosinone - Cava de' Tirreni, 188km
  • Stage 10 - Tuesday, May 18, Avellino - Bitonto, 220km
  • Stage 11 - Wednesday, May 19, Lucera - L’Aquila, 256km
  • Stage 12 - Thursday, May 20, Città Sant'Angelo - Porto Recanati, 191km
  • Stage 13 - Friday, May 21, Porto Recanati - Cesenatico, 222km
  • Stage 14 - Saturday, May 22, Ferrara - Asolo (Monte Grappa), 201km
  • Stage 15 - Sunday, May 23, Mestre - Zoncolan, 218km
  • Rest day, Monday, May 24, Friuli
  • Stage 16 - Tuesday, May 25, San Vigilio di Marebbe - Plan de Corones TT, 12.9km
  • Stage 17 - Wednesdday, May 26, Brunico - Pejo Terme, 173km
  • Stage 18 - Thursday, May 27, Levico Terme - Brescia, 151km
  • Stage 19 - Friday, May 28, Brescia - Aprica, 195km
  • Stage 20 - Saturday, May 29, Bormio - Passo del Tonale, 178km
  • Stage 21 - Sunday, May 30, Verona - Verona TT, 15.3km

© AFP & Cyclingnews.com 2009

User Comments

There are 8 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 comments

  • Good grief is she riding it too? would be nice to ride behind he he

  • The bird in the photo, whilst, 'quite fit' is, I'm afraid to say, mutated, she's got another hand growing out of her 'bingo-wing' urrrrrrrrrrrk

  • Woop woop, I can feel a trip on the overnight ferry from North Shields may be in order!

  • I am lucky because the Giro will be in Middelburg,my home town for a day, Stage 3 on May 10th so looking forward to it.Oh by the way the woman pictured Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen is not much of an actress. She is better known for chasing well of Dutchmen and taking them for all there worth. Her current boyfriend is footballer

    Wesley Sneider who plays for Inter Milan. By the time the Giro comes around she will have dumped him for someone else, you can be sure of that.

  • "By the time the Giro comes around she will have dumped him for someone else, you can be sure of that."

    I've got a couple of quid floating round, should get me a couple of hours with it.

  • ...road racing...sex, drugs....er not sure about the rock 'n' roll though.....

  • Can I pop round for a cuppa then ademort, before I head back for the ferry ;o)

  • Can I pop round for a cuppa then ademort, before I head back for the ferry ;o)

    If you want to pop round for a cuppa or something stronger then its no problem. Perhaps we could have a Bikeradar gettogether, if any other members are interested then drop me a line, we could make a weekend of it. Shame we have no hills to show you.

    Ademort

  • 1

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