Giro d’Italia organizer RCS Sport today announced the chosen region for the start of Giro d’Italia 2024 and the routes of the first three stages of the Grand Tour.

The Giro d’Italia 2024 will start on May 4 and it is the fourth time in the proud history of the Giro d’Italia that the race commences in the Piemonte region. The region has been chosen by the Giro organizers because it provides the perfect setting for a challenging start of next year’s Giro.

The 2024 Giro d’Italia will begin with a 136-kilometer stage 1 ride from Venaria Reale to Torino. The riders in the Giro peloton will immediately be exposed to challenging mountain conditions as the route features the category 2 Colle Maddalena climb as well as one category 4 and one Category 3 climb before the stage concludes in Turin. The route features the legendary Superga Hill, where a plane featuring the Grande Torino soccer team crashed 75 years earlier.

Stage 2 will be a 150-kilometer ride from San Francesco al Campo to the top of the Category 1 Santuario di Oropa climb where Marco Pantani took one of his most legendary victories in the 1999 Giro d’Italia. The final part of the stage will be similar to that of the 2019 GranPiemonte, which was won by Egan Bernal.

The Giro organizers have not forgotten the impatient sprinters in the peloton as stage 3 from Novara to Fossano features a flat route which appeals to the sprinters, though some minor uphill parts will be an obstacle for the heaviest strongmen.

The Piemonte region got its name from its close geographic proximity to the Alps. The Piemonte term originates from the medieval Latin terms of Pedemontium and Pedemontis – meaning at the foot of the mountains. Piemonte is situated in northwestern Italy and borders France to the west and Switzerland to the north. The climate is temperate, and the region features extensive areas of mountain territory and large hilly areas as well as numerous lakes that are well worth a visit for tourists.

The capital of Piemonte is Turin, which used to be the capital of Italy before the capital was resituated to Florence and then Rome.

Commenting on the selection of Piemonte for the start of next year’s race, Giro d’Italia Director Mauro Vegni told Roadcycling.com "It will be a spectacular Grande Partenza. We will start with tough and demanding stages for which the riders who aspire to the Maglia Rosa will have to be ready right from the start.” 

“Both the opening stage, which is somewhat reminiscent of one of the most spectacular and popular ones of 2022, and the second stage, with a selective finale and the uphill finish at Oropa, could create gaps between the favorites in the Giro peloton.”

“Oropa will be the Montagna Pantani of the 2024 edition, 25 years after one of the Pirate's most epic victories. The third stage also hides some pitfalls because the finish in Fossano is uphill and it will not be easy for pure sprinters to compete with the puncheurs. We will have good fun."

Piemonte is known for its white Alba truffle production and for its delicious hazelnuts used in desserts and luxury chocolate. It is also known as the birthplace of the slow food movement and the Terra Madre network of food communities that works to enable small-scale farmers and food artisans to produce food in a way that protects the environment and local communities.

The Piemonte region is also host to the production of wine, vermouth, Asti, dried beef Bresaola, and Lavazza coffee.

The region also used to be known for automobile production as Fiat cars used to be manufactured around Turin, but most Fiat plants have been sold to companies such as Alstom, General Electric, and Leonardo SpA. The region now hosts military industry plants.

The Giro d’Italia visit to the Piedmont region will conclude with the stage 4 start in Acqui Terme. 

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from Giro d’Italia 2024.