From Triest to Bulgaria: Giro d’Italia Conquering the East

Born in Milan, in the heart of northern Italy, the Giro has always had a taste for the horizon. As early as its opening edition in 1909, the peloton rolled south to Naples before charging back toward the Alps and Turin, brushing the western edges of the peninsula. By the very next year, the race was already stretching eastward to Udine, within touching distance of Slovenia and Austria – an early sign of what would become a steady push toward new frontiers.

This seemingly natural eastward drift reaches a new milestone in 2026, with the race landing in Bulgaria for the most easterly Grande Partenza ever held on European soil (excluding the Asian start in Israel in 2018). From the shores of the Black Sea, the Giro will tick off its 22nd foreign country and the 12th to host a start outside Italy.

This is a natural evolution for a race that has never stopped redrawing its map, north to south, west to east. As early as the 1910s and ’20s, epic Alpine forays brought the Giro into contact with France and Switzerland. Even the all-Italian 1919 edition marked a symbolic eastward leap with a finish in Trieste, a city that would become a real symbol of this expansion.

Triest, the trailblazer

When racing resumed after World War I, the Giro ventured into territories newly annexed by Italy in 1918. In 1919, it was in Trieste that Costante Girardengo stamped his authority, delivering a victory loaded with symbolic weight. The fisrt Campionissimo dominated that edition ahead of Gaetano Belloni, who would inherit his mantle the following year. By 1922, the race had already pushed further east to Portorož – then Italian territory, now in Slovenia.

The geopolitical shifts of the 20th century saw the Giro roll across roads that would later belong to Slovenia or Croatia. After World War II, Trieste became the heart of the Free Territory of Trieste, a neutral state under UN control. In 1951, the Giro returned: Luciano Frosini took the stage win before the race pressed on to Cortina d’Ampezzo, where France’s Louison Bobet triumphed.

Once firmly back in Italy, Trieste again played a key role in 2004, hosting a start toward Pula – the first Croatian city in Giro history – just over a decade after Croatia’s independence.

Pushing further: Greece, Hungary, Albania…

Even before Pula, the Giro had already driven its eastern ambitions further. In 1996, the race kicked off in Athens to celebrate the centenary of the modern Olympic Games. From there, a new era began—one defined by increasingly frequent starts abroad.

While the Giro has looked north to countries like France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, its gaze has been just as firmly fixed eastward. In recent years, Israel (2018), Hungary (2022), and Albania (2025) have all hosted the Corsa Rosa, while Slovenia has become a regular feature on the route – obviously helped by a golden generation led by Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar.

It was Roglič himself who delivered one of the race’s most iconic modern moments, sealing overall victory in 2023 atop Monte Lussari, right on the Italy–Slovenia border. A summit finish etched into Giro folklore.

2026: Bulgaria turns Pink

In 2026, it’s Bulgaria’s turn to be painted pink. The race will slice across the country from east to west, starting in Nessebar on Stage 1 and finishing in the capital, Sofia, on Stage 3.

A rolling pink wave will surge from the Black Sea coast, charging through new terrain to write yet another chapter in the story of a race that, for over a century, has never stopped chasing the horizon.

*Switzerland, France, San Marino, Free Territory of Trieste, Monaco, Yugoslavia, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Slovenia, Greece, Croatia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, Hungary, Albania.