Giro 2024: chain, route, French participants, favourites... Everything you need to know about the Tour of Italy

After the spring classics, it’s time for the Giro, the first Grand Tour of the season. The peloton will set off on Saturday 4 May from Venaria Reale, near Turin, for three weeks of racing until arriving in Rome on 26 May. Here’s everything you need to know about this 107th Tour of Italy, with Tadej Pogacar the hot favourite.

The route: twice, the Alps in the 3rd week

No respite for the runners, put directly in the bath of the first two robust routes in Piedmont and an arrival at the top of the Santuario di Oropa (category 1, sectors of 11%) from the second stage. The rest of the first week will be quieter, despite a short passage on the white paths of the Strade Bianche and will finish with a tough time trial around Perugia (Stage 7, May 10) before, the following day, the first proper mountain stage in the Apennines (including a final climb of 15 km at 7% average).

After the first day of rest around Naples, the second week promises to be in the same vein with a crescendo increase in difficulty. This concludes with the second and final flat time around Lake Garda, before a final, absolutely decisive week in the Alps. Three big stages are actually on the menu (stages 15, 16 and 17 from May 19 to 22 – rest on the 20th), where gaps can be widened in the general classification. If this is not the case, the penultimate stage in Veneto, characterized by two ascents of Monte Grappa (18.2 km), will act as a justice of the peace before the traditional arrival in Rome.

The French: Bardet and Laporte waited, the Alaphilippe question

21 Frenchmen are participating in this Tour of Italy. Not everyone has the same ambitions, but some can hope to play a role. Among them Romain Bardet (Team DSM). Auvergnat remains on top, with his second place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and will try to do well in the general classification. During his last appearance at the Giro, in 2022, he was forced to retire at the start of the third week, while in 4th place. Stage winner in the Vuelta and Tour de France, Bardet has never won in the Tour of Italy.

Originally, Christophe Laporte was not scheduled for this Giro, but he was recalled following Wout van Aert’s withdrawal. Varois will not aim to compete in the general, but can use the various hilly stages to aim for victory. Aurélien Paret-Peintre, stage winner last year at the Giro and one of the major architects behind the good start to the Decathlon AG2R season, has the same ambitions.

The big question concerns Julian Alaphilippe. What role can he play in Soudal-Quick Step? After breaking his knee on the Strade Bianche at the beginning of March, the double world champion returned to the Tour de Romandie with a notably third place in the prologue, before exploding on the Queen’s stage on Saturday. His performance in the very first Giro of his career, at nearly 32 years of age, will largely depend on his physical condition, which is uncertain to say the least.

Favorites: Pogacar, Pogacar and Pogacar

Since the announcement of his participation in the Giro, he has been the natural favourite. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) will obviously aim for final victory, for his first Tour of Italy. The double winner of the Tour de France (2020 and 2021) is coming off a fantastic season of classics, marked by victories at Liège-Bastogne-Liège or the Strade Bianche. He will benefit from the support, especially from Felix Grossschartner or Rafal Majka, to wear the pink jersey and win as many stages as possible.

Who is able to outshine him? A priori, not many people, although a few famous riders are at the start of this Giro. Let’s quote Geraint Thomas (Ineos), second last year and vindictive despite his advanced age (he will celebrate his 38th birthday the day before the finish). The revelation of the last Vuelta with Bora-Hansgrohe, Cian Uijtdebroeks will compete in his first grand Tour with Visma and try to take a place of honor, just like Romain Bardet or Ben O’Connor, the leader of Décathlon AG2R. Despite the rather extensive CV of these, most of them experienced in three weeks of racing, any result other than a final victory for Pogacar would represent a huge surprise.