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Giro d’Italia 2024: Regione Piemonte to host the Grande Partenza

09/10/2023

The Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia 2024, which will start on Saturday 4 May from Venaria Reale, was presented in Turin at the Grattacielo Piemonte. Regione Piemonte will host the first three stages – and the start of the fourth stage – of the 107th edition, which will see the peloton face several altimetric difficulties right from the start.

It starts with the Venaria Reale-Turin, a light re-edition of the ‘mountain stage in the city’ that saw Simon Yates triumph in 2022. Along the 136 km of the route, there will be three GPMs with a passage on the Superga hill, exactly 75 years after the tragedy that saw the crash of the plane carrying the Grande Torino football team. The following day it will already be time for an uphill finish with the San Francesco al Campo-Santuario di Oropa (Biella) that will recall one of the best victories of Marco Pantani at the 1999 Giro d’Italia. The finale, with the ascent of Nelva to precede the climb to the Sanctuary, is similar to the 2019 GranPiemonte won by Egan Bernal. The third and final Piedmont stage will be the Novara-Fossano, suitable for sprinters but with a tricky finale. The peloton will leave Piedmont on 7 May with the fourth stage starting in Acqui Terme.

The route of the piedmontese stages

Stage 1: Venaria Reale-Torino, 136 KM

A challenging stage that will call the captains to action from the start. The race will get to Turin from the north. It then enters a wide circuit climbing the Pilonetto climb on the Superga hill, reaching Moncalieri and the Lungo Po where the finish is located. The circuit of about 28 km tackles the climb of the Eremo which continues to Colle Maddalena from the Corso Casale side to descend again to Moncalieri and the finish line.

Stage 2: San Francesco al Campo-Santuario di Oropa (Biella), 150 KM

A demanding stage with an uphill finish. It crosses Canavese and Biellese until reaching Valdengo where the most marked undulations begin with two climbs to overcome: Oasi Zegna and Nelva. We then descend into Valle Cervo at Andorno Micca and, after crossing Biella, we tackle the 13 km climb to the Sanctuary, the theatre of Marco Pantani’s epic win in 1999.

Stage 3: Novara-Fossano, 165 KM

A stage suitable for sprinters with a tricky finale. It goes through the rice area of Novara and Vercelli and then over the undulations of the Monferrato after Casale. There are very few climbs such as Lu and Cherasco, until the final ramp leading to the finish.

Click here to discover more about the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia 2024.

Statistics

Regione Piemonte will host the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia for the fourth time. The precedents are:

  • 1961, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Unification of Italy the start was in Turin with a stage called ‘Trittico Tricolore’ which included 3 circuits (White, Red and Green). The stage winner was Miguel Poblet.
  • 2011, the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy was celebrated, the start was with the Venaria Reale-Torino, a team time trial won by HTC-Highroad and Maglia Rosa to Marco Pinotti.
  • 2021, start with an individual time trial in Turin, won by Filippo Ganna.

Eight athletes born in Piedmont won the Giro d’Italia:

  • Fausto Coppi (Castellania), 22 stages, 5 Giro d’Italia (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953);
    Costante Girardengo (Novi Ligure), 30 stages and 2 Giro d’Italia (1919, 1923);
  • Beppe Saronni (Novara), 24 stages and 2 Giro d’Italia (1979, 1983);
  • Giovanni Valetti (Vinovo), 7 stages ed 2 Giro d’Italia (1938,1939);
  • Giovanni Brunero (San Maurizio Canavese), 6 stages and 3 Giro d’Italia (1921, 1922, 1926);
  • Francesco Camusso (Burdini di Cumiana), 2 stages and the Giro d’Italia 1931;
  • Luigi Marchisio (Castelnuovo Don Bosco), 2 stages and the Giro d’Italia 1930;
  • Franco Balmamion (Nole Canavese), 2 Giro d’Italia (1962, 1963) without a stage win.

Quotes

Alberto Cirio, President of Regione Piemonte: “One week after the great event that brought the Head of State, the Prime Minister and all the governors of Italy to Turin, making Piedmont the centre of our country’s institutional politics, today we present the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia, which makes us the centre of sport and in particular cycling, to which we are very attached. Sporting events have an enormous return for the economy of our territory, more than seven times greater than every euro invested to realise them. And this is the most important fact for us because there was a time when Turin and Piedmont rejected events, but that time is over and today we not only welcome them but we look for them, earning their trust because we know how valuable they are for making our territory grow”.

Fabrizio Ricca, Sports Councillor at Regione Piemonte: “The lungs of the Region are once again breathing cycling. As Councillor for Sport, I am proud to once again be able to present a Giro d’Italia start that finds its natural home in our territory. It will be an exciting competition that will provide a great spectacle for all fans and will once again confirm that the history of Italian cycling is in Piedmont’s DNA”.

Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Turin: “The finish of the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia 2024 in Turin is a source of pride for our city and represents, at the same time, a great opportunity because it will see all the eyes of the sporting world focused on our territory. The date will then be more symbolic than ever for our city. The race will cross Superga precisely on the 75th anniversary of the tragedy of the Grande Torino, ideally uniting two of the most popular sports in our country, cycling and football, with the history of those unforgettable champions for our city. It will certainly be a beautiful day for Turin and for the people of Turin who are ready to welcome the athletes of the Giro”.

Urbano Cairo, President of RCS MediaGroup: “For the 2024 edition, with the passage to Superga on 4 May during the first stage, we will unite two symbols of Italy in the world like the Giro d’Italia and the Invincibili of the Grande Torino. It will be a special moment, in which the epic tales of the heroes in Maglia Rosa will intertwine with those of the heroes in Maglia Granata. For the fourth time, the Giro d’Italia will start from the Regione Piemonte. The first two starts, in 1961 and 2011, were celebrating special occasions such as the 100th and 150th anniversaries of the Unification of Italy, while 2021 saw a large public participation after the pandemic. We are confident that next year we will offer a very high-level show starting from these first stages”.

Paolo Bellino, Managing Director at RCS Sport: “This year’s Grande Partenza confirms the excellent relationship between RCS Sport and Regione Piemonte, where we are returning to host the start of the Corsa Rosa after the last recent experience in 2021. These first three stages, and the start of the fourth, will show Piedmont in its entirety because the Giro d’Italia is not just a sporting event but a driver for promoting tourism and the territory. Furthermore, we decided to pay homage, 75 years after that tragic 4 May 1949, to the legend of the Grande Torino with the passage of the race to Superga and with the inscription ‘Only fate won them’ on the collar of the Maglia Rosa because the Grande Torino is part of the history of Italy and it is right to celebrate one of the symbols of our country”.

Mauro Vegni, Director of the Giro d’Italia: “It will be a spectacular Grande Partenza. We will start with tough and demanding stages for which the riders who aspire to the Maglia Rosa will have to be ready right from the start. Both the opening stage, which is somewhat reminiscent of one of the most spectacular and popular ones of 2022, and the second stage, with a selective finale and the uphill finish at Oropa, could create gaps between the favourites. Oropa will be the Montagna Pantani of the 2024 edition, 25 years after one of the Pirate’s most epic victories. The third stage also hides some pitfalls because the finish in Fossano is uphill and it will not be easy for pure sprinters to compete with the puncheurs. We will have fun”.

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