All the information a few weeks before the start of the Grio, where Slovenian Tadej Pogacar will be the big favorite
A few weeks before the start of the Tour of Italy, we know a little more about the forces involved. Huge favorite, Tadej Pogacar will try to achieve a very difficult Giro-Tour de France double. This year he will not have his compatriot Primoz Roglic, winner last year, facing him. The new leader of BORA-Hansgrohe should indeed concentrate on the Tour, and will not be on the ramps of the Stelvio this year. Qunitana and Geraint Thomas should also try to overtake the first two grand tours of the season. No Wout Van Aert, however, for this 2024 edition of the Giro. After his violent fall on March 27 on Across Flanders which caused him a broken collarbone and seven ribs, the Belgian announced his withdrawal, insufficiently recovered from his injuries, "I cannot train at all This is why we have made the decision not to start the Tour of Italy." Frenchman Christophe Laporte will replace him for the Dutch team Visma | Lease a Bike. This package is added for Visma to that of Wilco Kalderman. The Dutchman, 3rd in the last Giro, fell at Paris-Nice, fracturing his collarbone.
The organizer made no secret of it, he absolutely wanted to attract Tadej Pogacar to the Tour of Italy this year. If he denies having designed the course solely for the Slovenian, he is obviously delighted with his participation. “The route was not designed for Pogačar; we simply changed our philosophy on how we design the Giro route. However, this route gives Pogačar the opportunity to do the double,” explains the event director Mauricio Vegni. In the absence of his main competitor in the three-week races, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard, Pogacar is therefore the huge favorite for this Tour of Italy. He could make significant gaps with 70 kilometers of time trials, and key passages, notably the double ascent of Mount Grappa the day before the finish.
If the organizers of the Giro have chosen to reduce the total altitude difference and the number of mountainous stages to attract riders who would also like to do the Tour de France, the route should offer a spectacle from the first week, and particularly during the 6th stage taking the gravel paths of Strade Bianche. The penultimate stage before the first day of rest could also do damage, with an arrival at altitude, at Pravi di Tivo.
In a second week of transition, with stages promised to the sprinters, the 31-kilometer time trial should make it possible to gauge everyone's state of form before a terrible sequence in the Dolomites which risks causing great damage. As justice of the peace for this Giro 2024, the terrible Monte Grappa will have to be climbed twice during the penultimate stage, on the eve of the arrival in the streets of Rome.
The Giro d'Italia will follow the spring season and start on May 4. Arrival is scheduled three weeks later, on May 26.
The start of the Giro 2024 will be in Venaria Reale in the suburbs of Turin, near the Juventus Stadium. The arrival will be in Rome. Here is the list of steps:
Here is the route map for this Giro 2024:
The Tour of Italy is broadcast live and in full on Eurosport channels. The race can be followed on Eurosport 1, Eurosport.fr as well as on the Eurosport and GCN applications. Each stage will be accompanied by a presentation and a debrief of the “Kings of the Pedal”, hosted successively by Géraldine Weber and Lesly Boitrel. The race will be commented on by Guillaume Di Grazia and Jacky Durand, joined in turn by Steve Chainel, David Moncoutié, Philippe Gilbert, Audrey Cordon Ragot.
Here are the results of the last 15 years of the Tour of Italy, called Giro d'Italia.
