Here’s the 2026 Giro d’Italia guide. You’ll find all the stage profiles together on one page, along with a concise preview of each day…
…as well as explainers on the rules for the mountains and points competitions; TV guide and more.
Route summary
49,500m of vertical gain puts it within 1km of the average under Mauro Vegni but all this comes within fewer kilometres: the y-axis is the same as usual, it’s the x-axis that is shorter. The 246km Blockhaus stage is notable but the story is the brevity of the main summit finishes, 133km to Pila, 113km to Cari and 151km for the Dolomite day. The average stage length is 165km, down from 179km in 2025 and 193km in 2023. It’s backloaded with mountain stages but less so than recent years, three mountain stages in the final week compared to the usual four. More medio than gran fondo.
There are seven stages likely for the sprinters but some of these have significant climbs to get over and open up the day to a breakaway, all the better to create sport and suspense. There are some likely breakaway days.
Stage 1 – Friday 8 May
A Slavic start with the opening stage in Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast. Why Bulgaria? Like Albania last year this is a country courting the Italian audience to promote a nearby low-cost holiday destination. Similarly it has had a few pro riders over the years and hosts a 2.2-rated national tour. Unlike Albania it’s an EU member and has recently adopted the Euro.
There’s one climb but it’s almost imperceptible and functions as a ruse to award the mountains jersey for the day. There’s one lap of a finishing circuit in Burgas which has its charms but the skill of TV production will be to showcase these instead of the giant oil refinery.
Stage 2 – Saturday 9 May
The second longest stage in the race at 220km. The final climb out of Lyaskovets is steep and will see most of the sprinters in trouble.
Stage 3 – Sunday 10 May
A race between the two major cities with the finish in the capital. If you want to learn some Bulgarian, why not start with ceдловина or sedlovina which means a saddle, as in a mountain pass because the race goes over Borovec sedlovina but with 75km left to regroup and on big wide roads. The race then has a Monday rest day as the convoy makes its way to the foot of Italy.
Stage 4 – Tuesday 12 May
144km and a climb midway. The race manual says it’s “easy” but it’s still 17km at 5% and via a twisting side road too so bound to sap some sprinters and the finish is on an uphill drag.
Stage 5 – Wednesday 13 May
Similar to Stage 7 in 2022 where Koen Bouwman won in Potenza to salvage Jumbo-Visma’s Giro after their GC ambitions had already evaporated, although this has a slightly different finish in town. There’s 3,700m of vertical gain here. Like that day the climb of Montagna Grande di Viggiano is the hardest of the day, 6km at 9% towards a small ski station.
Stage 6 – Thursday 14 May
A spin along the Mediterranean coast. Napoli is the new Pau: a regular mid-race haunt, a ready supply of hotels and the ability to draw on a variety of local terrain. This time the climb in the Fuorigrotta part of town should be gentle before the habitual sea front finish but this time with a cobbled twist.
Stage 7 – Friday 15 May
Blockhaus via Roccaraso. The longest grand tour stage since 2021 there’s plenty to tire the riders before they reach the final climb of the day with 4,500m of vertical gain. The Blockhaus climb is 18km at over 8% so comparable to Mont Ventoux in terms of stats; and anecdotally often windy too. The road keeps climbing on to over 2,000m but painting the finish line at 1,665m is plenty for the first week.
Stage 8 – Saturday 16 May
A Tirreno-Adriatico style stage, this puts the emphasis on the Adriatic with a long ride along the coast before turning inland for the final 60km for the some wall-like climbs. Capodarco is known to the peloton for its selective U23 race and there’s a steep climb to the finish in Fermo including a 22% section.
Stage 9 – Sunday 17 May
A summit finish? Yes, but a gradual one for the most part. The Corno alle Scale is the peak above, this is the road via Acero. It kicks up right at the end but this is the sort of finish where it’ll pay to sit on the wheels until late. A sizeable group could come reach the final three kilometres together before the slope bites and rewards attackers.
Stage 10 – Tuesday 19 May
A flat time trial where the obstacles are the numerous corners to the first time check as the course stays in the streets of Viareggio. Then it’s along the coast to the finish. This is relatively long – the world champs are shorter at 39km – so expect significant time gaps but is the only TT in the race this year.
Stage 11 – Wednesday 20 May
A ride out of Tuscany and into the hills of the Cinque Terre. The roads here vary, the Giro has often stuck to the main arteries but this time it’s got some smaller roads and they’re very tricky in places. The finish has been changed substantially since the route was announced: an extra climb added and a tricky descent taken away, before finishing with a twist in town that barely shows on the profile.
Stage 12 – Thursday 21 May
Not quite a reverse Milano-Sanremo but a start in Imperia and then taking part of the via Aurelia used in March in the opposite direction. The climbs make life harder for the sprinters, the Bric Berton has 4km nudging 7% but there’s 50km to regroup before Novi, famous in cycling for Fausto Coppi but probably more famous in Italy for its eponymous chocolate.
Stage 13 – Friday 22 May
Two tricky climbs to thwart the sprinters in the finish. The local rider in Verbania is Filippo Ganna – or was as in he’s moved to Switzerland – so he might be interested but the course is not designed for him. The final climb to Ungiasca will sting as it tackles backroads and often stays above 10%.
Stage 14 – Saturday 23 May
4,200m of vertical gain in just 133km. It’s on lots of familiar roads around the vineyards of Aosta, the Giro has used them, as have other races. One selling point of Aosta is you can get a gondola from the city to reach the ski slopes: the Pila lift. The road to Pila featured in 2022 but it was a descent. It’s 17km at mostly 7% so think of a steady ski-station summit finish.
Stage 15 – Sunday 24 May
An urban interlude – don’t call it a rest day – with the finishing hosting four laps around Milan but not the city centre, more towards the Vigorelli velodrome. As much as cycling is a rural sport it’s important to visit cities along the way too and good especially for the Giro and RCS to be back in Milan after issues with the townhall and the move of Milan-Sanremo to Pavia… which features here too. Still it’s a mid-Giro criterium and so tune in for the finish.
Stage 16 – Tuesday 26 May
A 100% Swiss day in the canton of Ticino for a mini-stage, just 113km and crammed into a small zone too but still 3,000 of vertical gain all on swish tarmac. The south-facing finish is steep with lots of 8-9% and has featured in the Tour de Suisse, Adam Yates won here in 2024 alongside João Almeida.
Stage 17 – Wednesday 27 May
The breakaway stage, half the field should have this in their diaries as it’s open to plenty with a loop around Andalo below the peaks of Paganella which makes it a Dolomite stage in geological terms but with none of the familiar climbs of this part of the Alps. Instead several unmarked climbs await including one with 10km to go.
Stage 18 – Thursday 28 May
Didn’t win from the breakaway yesterday? A second chance for teams to correct things if they missed the move, and for riders strong in the third week to try again. Indeed the previous day’s winner could equally win again. The Ca’ del Poggio wall is a staple of cycling and always a good point for fans.
Stage 19 – Friday 29 May
The tappone. No epic marathon in the Dolomites as this is just 151km long but there’s 4,800m of vertical gain via plenty of tough climbs including the Giau via its harder side which, weather-permitting, is the Cima Coppi high point of 2026. The final climb is only 5km but 10% most of the way.
Stage 20 – Saturday 30 May
After a start to commemorate the 1976 Friuli earthquake in Gemona, the stage is all about the double rations of Monte Cavallo. It’s a steep climb that’s often 10% and most selective at the start, but all on a wide road. It should make things marginally easier to control, especially for a stronger team.
Stage 21 – Sunday 31 May
The final stage in Rome with the now traditional trip to the coast in Ostia, the return via Eur and before that, the 700km transfer to debate.
The Jerseys
There are four jerseys in the race: pink, cyclamen, blue and white.
Pink: the most famous one, the maglia rosa, it is awarded to the rider with the shortest overall time for all the stages added together. As such, they have covered the course faster than anyone else. It is pink because the race has been organised by La Gazzetta Dello Sport, a newspaper printed on bright pink paper. It is sponsored by the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, a political moment for the race as the region is run by Lega, the far-right party of deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini
There are time bonuses available on all the stages except the time trials:
- 10-6-4 seconds for the first three riders on each stage (excluding time trials)
- 6-4-2 seconds at “Red Bull kilometre”, look for the logo on the stage profiles
Note it’s branded the “Red Bull kilometre” but this is an intermediate sprint where the sponsor gets to instrumentalise a kilometre of countryside with branding but it’s still only about the line across the road for time bonuses and points.
Purple: the points competition. Riders score points at both of the intermediate sprints per day and at the finish line. The allocation of points depends on the stage in question, they are categorised with the typical sprint stages offering more points in a bid to place the purple-toned jersey on the shoulders of a sprinter who can handle arithmetic. The maglia ciclamino is sponsored by Be It, a Made in Italy marketing campaign.
- Stages 1,3,4,6,12,15,18,21, offer points for the first 15 riders at the finish: 50-35-25-18-14-12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
- Stages 2,5,8,11,13,17 offer points for the first 10: 25-18-12-8-6-5-4-3-2-1
- Stages 7,9,10,14,16,19,20 offer points for the first 10: 15-12-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
- At both of the intermediate sprints there are points for the first five: 12-8-5-3-1
Blue: the mountains jersey. It is sponsored by Banca Mediolanum, a bank. There are five categories of climb:
- 9 fourth category climbs: the first three riders crossing the top of the climb win 3-2 and 1 points respectively
- 17 third category climbs: the first four riders over the top get 9-4-2-1 points
- 13 second category climbs: first six riders get 18-8-6-4-2-1 points
- 9 first category climbs: the first eight riders get 40-18-12-9-6-4-2-1 points but if it is also the stage finish then 50,24,16,9,6,4,2,1
- CC or Cima Coppi: a special award, the “Coppi Summit” for the highest point of the race. This year it is the Giau on Stage 19. The first nine win 50-30-20-14-10-6-4-2-1 points
White: for the best young rider, this is awarded on the same basis as the pink jersey, except the rider must be born after 1 January 2001, ie aged 25 or under. It is sponsored by Conad, a supermarket.
There are also other prizes and in-race competitions like as the Red Bull competition which is separate to the points competition but there are also 15-8-5-3-1 points at this point each day and the leader wears a special number and goes on the podium each day. Confusingly there’s an intermediate sprint competition too.
The fuga (“breakaway”) prize for the rider with the most kilometres in the breakaway as long as the group is no bigger than 10 riders and they start counting if a move lasts more than five kilometres. There’s a daily combativity prize and a team prize too.
Time cuts
All riders have to make the time cut each day to stay in the race and this is a function of the stage type and average speed:
- Stages 1,6,15,21 the winner’s time plus 7% if the average speed is less than or equal to 40 km/h; 8% of the average speed is between 40 and 45 km/h; 10% if the average speed is over 45 km/h
- Stages 3,4,12,18: the winner’s time plus 9% if the average speed is less than or equal to 37 km/h; 10% of the average speed is between 37 and 41 km/h; 11% if the average speed is over 41 km/h
- Stages 2,5,8,11,13,17: the winner’s time plus 11% if the average speed is less than or equal to 35 km/h; 12% if the average speed is between 35 km and 39 km/h; 13% if the average speed is over 39 km/h
- Stages 7,9,14,16,19,20: the winners’ time plus 16% if the average speed is less than or equal to 30 km/h; 17% if the average speed between 30 km/h and 34 km/h; 18% if the average speed is over 34km/h;
- Stage 10 TT: the winner’s time plus 30%
Three and Five Kilometre Rule
Anyone with a mechanical or crash within the final kilometres can get the same finishing time as the group the were with at the time of the incident
- Final 5km for Stages 1,4,6,12,15,21
- Final 3km for Stages 3,5,11,13,18
- Not applicable on Stages 2,7,8,9,10,14,16,17,19,20
Bunch sprint time gaps
The three second protocol for time gaps in bunch sprints applies for Stages 1,3,4,6,12,15,21.
The unmissable stages
Anything can happen during the Giro but there are some stages that matter more than others, some suggestions for the must-watch days:
- Stage 2: see what Bulgaria looks like and a lively finish
- Stage 7: the Blockhaus summit finish
- Stage 8: the wall-climbs in the Marche region
- Stage 14: the first Alpine summit finish to Pila
- Stage 16: the mountain sprint stage to Cari
- Stage 19: the tappone, the biggest mountain stage
TV
All stages will be broadcast live from start to finish. Host broadcaster RAI offers the richest coverage with experienced commentators as well as two roving reporters on motorbikes to add extra info.
If you want English coverage, there’s Max/Eurosport/TNT, in the US it’s on Max, Flobikes for Canada, Australia SBS; for Japanese coverage see J-Sports.
The timing varies but as a rule the finish is expected for around 5.15pm CEST each day.