Giro d’Italia 2022 – How to watch Stage 1 on Friday, TV and live stream details, timings and route map

The Giro d’Italia gets underway on Friday in the historic Italian city of… Budapest?! Yep, Hungary is hosting the Grande Partenza for the opening Grand Tour of 2022, with three stages on the menu in central Europe before the race heads to Sicily next week. Ad/> The opening stage is a largely flat 195km run from the capital to Visegrad, with a punchy 5.5km finish at 4.2%.

Giro d'ItaliaCan Cavendish win sprinters battle to seize Tour spot?5 HOURS AGO With the GC favourites set to use this as a warm-up ahead of three gruelling weeks – especially with a fast and furious individual time trial set to shake up the standings on Saturday – this will likely be one for a puncheur. Two men in the field fit this brief more than the rest.

Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Wanty–Gobert Materiaux) is bidding to become the first Black African rider to win a stage at a Grand Tour, although he will start as second favourite behind Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). If the pace is slower than expected on the final ascent, then a traditional sprinter might prosper – expect Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) to have the best chance from that group here.

Giro d’Italia team guide: Star riders, memorable moments, which Italian food are they? Maglia rosa guide – Who will win the Giro d’Italia’s fight for pink? HOW CAN I WATCH THE GIRO ON TV AND LIVE STREAM? Each and every stage will be broadcast in its entirety on Eurosport, discovery+ and GCN+, bookended by The Breakaway, presented by Orla Chennaoui and Dan Lloyd. Rob Hatch and Hannah Walker will be in the commentary box with regular contributions from pundits Robbie McEwen, Sean Kelly and Adam Blythe, with Bradley Wiggins doing his thing on the back of a motorbike.