The 107th Giro d’Italia heads out from Venaria Reale on Saturday 4 May 2024, with the first stage finishing in Turin. While previous editions have seen either starts abroad or, as last year, sorties into surrounding lands, this year's race is an all-Italian affair.
The Giro d'Italia finishes on Sunday 26 May, as last year with a circuit in Rome. Between its start and end, the riders will have covered 3,400km, a little less distance than last year, and 44.6km vertically, a whole 6km less than in 2023.
Despite the lack of ascent, the race takes on some big climbing days in the Apennines on its way to its furthest southern point in Naples, as well as the usual mountain-packed final week in the Alps and Dolomites. It also packs in two time trials: 40.6km on Stage 7 and 31.2km on Stage 14.
This year's showcase final-week climbs include the Mortirolo and Stelvio, and a double ascent of Monte Grappa on the penultimate stage.
This year, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is slated to take to the start line, as a first step in a mooted attempt at the Giro-Tour double. Several of his potential rivals are out of action after early-season crashes and last year's winner Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) is opting to ride the Tour de France this year.
That leaves Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) as his greatest rival on paper. The Welshman came close to winning the Giro in 2023, only being ousted from the maglia rosa by Roglič on the penultimate-stage mountain time trial. The Giro has a habit of unearthing less fancied winners though, such as Jai Hindley in 2022, Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020 and Richard Carapaz in 2019.
Unlike the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia has limited free-to-air coverage in many countries, so it’s quite difficult to keep up with the action unless you have a paid subscription.
How can I watch the Giro d’Italia 2024 live in the UK?
Eurosport 1 and Discovery will show live coverage of the Giro d’Italia 2024 and, as usual, there’s an on-demand option. There's a warm-up one-hour summary of the 2023 race, starting at 12.30pm UK time on Saturday 4 May, with live coverage of Stage 1 from 1.30pm to 5.45pm.
A standard Eurosport/Discovery subscription costs £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year. It’s available on a range of platforms, including tablets, mobile, TV with Chromecast or AirPlay, Android TV and Apple TV.
How can I watch the Giro d’Italia 2024 live in the US?
This year, Giro coverage will be on Max. A subscription costs from $9.99 per month/$99.99 per year, or you can escape the ads with plans from $15.99/$149.99. The B/R Sports add-on is being introduced later this year, which will add a further $9.99 a month to the sticker price, although Giro watchers may escape this.
As usual, there's a wide range of platforms supported, on-demand coverage and, with premium subscriptions, the option to download.
How can I watch the Giro d’Italia 2024 live in Australia?
SBS will be covering the Giro d’Italia live and on demand, with hour-long highlights on SBS Channels 3 and 30. The full schedule is not yet available, but is expected here.
How else can I watch the Giro d’Italia 2024?
There’s live terrestrial coverage in many European countries, with Italian chain Rai showing the racing live on Rai 2 and Rai Sport (times TBA), and on Rai Play for on-demand access. If you have a VPN, you may be able to sign in to watch, complete with Italian commentary to get the full Giro experience.
There's a full list of broadcasters by country on the Giro d'Italia's site here.
How can I watch the Giro d’Italia 2023 if I can’t watch live coverage?
YouTube is a good option if you want shorter highlights and you don’t have on-demand access to any of the above sources. You can also watch short highlight videos on the Giro d’Italia site, although the Giro’s own highlights are often patchy and appear at variable intervals after the end of the stages.
Both are also good sources for highlights of previous editions to get you geared up for the racing.
