Route unveiled: Dramatic final week for 2023 Giro before capital finish

MILAN: Next year’s Giro d’Italia will be held almost entirely on the Italian mainland.

The 2023 route of the Italian Grand Tour was unveiled in a ceremony in Milan on Monday. It will start in Abruzzo, as announced last month, and end in Rome.

The Giro will not cross over to either of the Italian islands of Sardinia or Sicily but will go briefly into Switzerland on Stage 13, with an uphill finish in Crans Montana. The riders will also climb the Croix de Coeur that day and the Colle del Gran San Bernardo, which at 2,469 meters (8,100 feet) will represent the race’s highest point — traditionally known as the “Cima Coppi” (Coppi peak).

The route features eight stages suitable for sprinters, three time trials, seven mountain stages — most of which are packed into what should be a dramatic final week — and as many uphill finishes.

“The whole race looks interesting. It’s a fantastic route so it’ll be an interesting race,” said Australian cyclist Jai Hindley, who still has to decide with his team whether he will attempt to defend his title next year.

Riders will climb a total of 51,300 meters (168,000 feet) in vertical elevation, over a distance of 3,449 kilometers (2,143 miles) from May 6-28.

“It would be pretty sweet to the start the Giro with No. 1 on the back, that’s for sure,” Hindley added. “It’s still early October and the season’s just finished and I haven’t thought too much about what next year has.

“But, you know, I think it also depends on what the route of the Tour de France is like. But the route that came out tonight, it’s also pretty interesting and for sure it’ll be a really, really hard race.”

Here are some aspects of the 2023 race:

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The 2023 Giro is the first edition since 2013 to