THE GIRO D’ITALIA The Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy), also known as The Giro, is a long- distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours, and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. It is the second most prominent stage race in the world, and it makes up the Triple Crown of Cycling. It includes the passage through the mountain chains of the Dolomites and the Alps, and the finish in Milan. The modern editions of the Giro d'Italia normally consist of 21 day-long stages over a 23-day period with 2 rest days. It began in 1909 because of a competition between two newspapers, La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere della Sera.

FIRST RACE On 13 May 1909, 127 riders started the first Giro d'Italia, which took place at Loreto square in Milan, and the race was split into eight stages covering 2448 kilometres. A total of 49 riders finished, with Italian Luigi Ganna winning the inaugural event.

ATHLETES The athletes come from all around the world and there are also the most important Italian teams. The athlete leader of the race, races in the "maglia rosa" (pink jersey), derived from the "Gazzetta dello Sport", which is pink too.

MOST FAMOUS ITALIAN RACERS Fausto Coppi Marco Pantani Gino Bartali