With five days until the battle for the Giro d’Italia’s pink jersey starts, BikeRadar will be highlighting the riders to watch as the spectacular race unfolds over three weeks of May.
Every day, we will preview the upcoming stage with analysis and comment on key riders as the peloton makes its way from Naples to Brescia, where the race will finish after 3,405km on 26 May.
Watch our route overview to see where the corsa rosa will be heading in 2013.
Giro d'italia 2013 route preview
The Giro is a race famed for its climbs, and this year is no different, with seven summit finishes packed in, including a foray into France where stage 15 will finish atop the mighty Galibier, the summit where Andy Schleck won in the 2011 Tour de France.
But the time trials could be where the Giro is decided. More than 90km is against the clock, including a 17.4km team trial on the picturesque island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples on stage 2 and a mammoth 55.5km solo effort on stage 8.
Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins starts as favourite after winning the Tour de France last year, and will be making an attempt to become the first Briton to ever win the maglia rosa outright. It’s a jersey he knows well, after first wearing it in 2010 when he won the opening prologue in Amsterdam.
But will Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) or last year’s champion Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) be able to see off the UK super-team’s challenge?
For full coverage of the Giro, please visit our sister site Cyclingnews.com.
