Giro d’Italia route 2012

This week saw the unveiling of both the Giro d’Italia & Tour de France 2012 routes in glitzy celebrations from Milan & Paris.

The two tours couldn’t be more contrasting next year, the Giro favouring the nimblest of climbers and the Tour designed for the greatest all-rounder.

Giro d’Italia 2012

Next year the Giro goes for the random prologue awards by starting in Denmark on Saturday May 5th with an 8.7 km blast on the TT bikes, giving the likes of Cancellara, Tony Martin & Wiggins the chance to don the fabled Maglia Rosa (should they be slated to ride the Giro – unlikely in Wiggins case).

The riders spend two more fast and flat days in Denmark, the third stage route is poignantly shaped in a figure of 8 and is set as a memorial ride for Belgian Leopard Trek rider 108 Wouter Weylandt who tragically lost his life on stage 3 of last year’s Giro. Each of these stages favours a bunch sprint and with Mark Cavendish attending the launch ceremony it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see the new World Champion’s rainbow stripes crossing the line first. Expect breakaways including Danish riders like Jakob Fuglsang looking for glory on home roads.

The first rest day comes on the 8th of May, less of an actual rest day for the riders & crew & more of a cross Europe dash to the first Italian stage on the 9th of May – In fair Verona where they race as teams… yep, Shakespeare aside, the riders will be skinsuit & aero helmet clad again for the 32.2km pan flat TTT. Expect Garmin-Cervelo to dominate this one as newer teams struggle to work together.

The Giro then moves south down the east coast from Modena (home of Ferrari, cars, not Michele) towards San Marino then Rimini to the finish in the seaside town of Fano, flat again so more bunch sprinting on the cards.

The route then goes inland for the day with a few short sharp hills on the 207km stage, those looking for mountain points will undoubtedly make their first move here, probably a stage that will see many of the smaller Italian teams sending their riders into breakaways.

The next few stages follow a similar pattern, long – with a few medium climbs but not really mountain terrain as such. Those hoping for GC positions will need to keep their teams to the front of the peloton though as Giros have been won and lost mid tour. Expect lots of breaks closed down to bunch sprints and with luck a solo win or two!

The Giro’s longest stage returns the race north from the ancient town of Asissi, birthplace of St. Francis. At 243km the riders will be glad of the gently descending route profile.

From here the race skirts along the west coast of Italy, visiting Seravezza, Sestri Levante & Savone before heading inland to the first real mountain stages.

An 2000m mountain top finish on May 19th in the fashionable ski resort of Cervinia should light the touch paper for the GC shootout, while many of the favourites will have managed to hide their fatigue in the bunch over the the past fortnight those who have been storing their reserves will certainly open an attack here. Expect Rodriguez, Cobo, Di Luca, Nibali and Scarponi to show their hands here.

The next few days in the mountains aren’t quite as severe but expect those who lost time to try and claw some back before the long overdue rest day. The Giro continues pushing north through the Italian alps past Bergamo and onto the shores of the gorgeous Lake Como, 4 categorised climbs will give the eagles a chance to soar and the sprinters a day of suffering! Looks like a day for a successful breakaway in the hunt for mountain points, expect the GC contender with the least to lose going for the Maglia Verde.

After the rest day the non climbers will enjoy (if that’s the right word?!) the flattish transfer stage 174km from the tip of Lake Garda past Bolzano to the Austrian border. One of the final chances for sprinters to cement their points standings or go for a win.

May 25th sees a return to the big mountains with climbs over classic Dolomites passes including the Giau & Valparola en route to the stage finish in another glamorous ski resort, this time Cortina d’Ampezzo. The following stage is a rather unusual almost entirely descending 139km which will surely be a contender for fastest tour stage (non TT) for a while! certainly the last bunch sprint of the Giro.

The last two road stages are the stuff that Giro legends are made of, steep climbs, sweeping descents and infamous passes. The penultimate stage, on May 26th is a monstrous 218km struggle over the passo Tonale into Aprica. The real challenge of the 2012 route then faces the riders in the form of the Mortirolo, 11.4km at 10.5% average gradient…6km of which is between 11-14%..trust me, this one hurts relentlessly! The riders that make it over this in one piece then have the Passo dello Stelvio to climb, at 2757m this is the Cima Coppi of the Giro, the highest peak, expect lots of snow all the way to the bottom of the 48 hairpin turns, some of which are worn down to the original cobbles from 1820! The sprinters still left in the race at this point might struggle to make the cut off with only a day left. True climbers will make the most of the tough terrain so expect the likes of Scarponi & Cunego to take flight. Look out for some superlight bikes and interesting kit choices such as triple chainsets, compacts & long cage derailleurs as riders try to keep moving on the Mortirolo!

The now traditional final stage TT runs its circular 31.5km route through the streets of Milan and onto the pink catwalk to the finish.

Who will win?

Without Contador (who will be focusing on the Tour should his CAS case rule in favour) its really quite open to good climbers, the all rounders will suffer on the serious climbs in the latter stages and the TT’s that bookend this tour are too short to make much difference. Riders like Nibali, Basso & Cunego stand a good chance though given the opportunity younger pros like Roman Kreuziger & Chris Froome could really shine. If they weren’t so Tour focused this is a course that would really suit the Schleck brothers. Cavendish is already favourite for the points jersey and with the mountains being so critical to the GC in this Giro expect an overall contender to wear the Maglia Verde.

Whoever wins or loses its sure to be a spectacular 3 weeks in May!

Full route details -

Giro d’Italia 2012 on La Gazzetta dell Sport.it