ROME, Italy – Mount Etna, the Blockhaus and Passo Fedaia on the program, only 26 kilometers of time trial: the Giro d’Italia 2022, which will start for the first time from Hungary, will take pride of place next May to climbers between Budapest and Verona.
Four summit finishes are planned, the first on Etna upon arrival in Sicily after the three-day prelude in Hungary. The Blockhaus at the end of the first week, Cogne in the Aosta Valley then the Passo Fedaia in the dolomitic Marmolada massif, will be the other highlights in the mountains, with a formidable stage arriving in Aprica after the Mortirolo climbed by its little-used southern slope then the little-known Santa Catarina (13.5 km at 8%).
Seven stages are designed for sprinters according to the organizers who have targeted six high mountain stages. On the other hand, the chronometer specialists will only have two short tests in their favour, the first in Hungary (second stage, in the streets of Budapest) and the second at the conclusion of the event on May 29 in the Verona bullring where the Giro returns three years after the success of Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz.
It’s quite unusual to see the Giro finish somewhere other than Milan, but it’s not completely unheard of either: Verona will thus host its fifth finish after those of 1981, 1984, 2010 and 2019.
The route, 3410.3 kilometers long (a number subject to slight variations by May), has an overall drop of 51,000 meters, a historically high total that characterizes this 105th Giro as a great tour for climbers.
The organizers had announced last week that the Giro would start from Hungary, as was already planned in 2020 before the Tour of Italy was postponed to the fall in a modified version due to the Covid pandemic. This is the 14th time that the Tour of Italy will start from abroad, the previous one dating back to 2018 with a given start from Jerusalem.
The title holder is the Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos), winner in May of his first Giro.
