il Giro d'Italia 2016
6 May to 29 May 2016

for sprinters and climbers

(to Giro d'Italia web site)

cycling tactics

the cycling zone

The Tour de France 2017, Russian mountains on steroids!

Giro d'Italia 2017

Giro d'Italia 2016

Giro d'Italia 2015

Giro d'Italia 2014

Giro d'Italia 2013

Giro d'Italia 2012

Giro d'Italia 2011

the italian giro

The Giro d’Italia, the Tour of Italy, is the first of the major three-week tours - The Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, the Vuelta d'Espana - in the annual repertoire of international cycle races.

• The 99th Corsa Rosa (Pink race), the Giro d’Italia, takes place from the 6th May to 29st May 2016,
  this time starting on Friday to accommodate a third rest day, yet still ending on a Sunday.
  
• The 2016 Giro extends over 3,383 km, averaging about 161 km a day.
• The race begins with three days in the Netherlands, starting at Apeldoorn with a short [9.8 km] individual time trial.
• As well as starting in the Netherlands for the first three stages, and visiting France at the end of stage 19 and the start of stage 20, during stage 2 the race tickles Germany at Berg-en-Dall, with a loop of about 14 km.
• the Giro then switches to the south of Italy, to what might be termed 'the instep'!
• The race will finish in the northern city of Turin.
• This year, the Giro's organisers are RCS Sport rather than Gazzetta dello Sport. Note the new official web site. (The Gazzetta dello Sport is a sports newspaper printed on pink paper, hence the pink leader's jersey. That tradition continues.)
• The second, long, individual time trial, on 15th May, is designated the Chianti Classico Stage, as the stage goes through the Chianti wine region.
• The third individual time trial is uphill, rising 752 metres over 9.05 km - an average gradient of over 8%.
• The Giro will also visit France, finishing at Rissoul on Stage 19 and starting at Guillestre on Stage 20.
  
  
• Four high mountain stages and seven medium mountain stages.
• Seven stages for the sprinters:
  stages 2, 3, 5, 7, 12, 17, 21.

Giro d'Italia 2016 - race map

For larger version of this chart with links to each stage's map, profile and other data.
During each stage, the race can be followed 'live' on the Giro d'Italia web site.

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this year’s stages

21 stages are planned, with four high mountain stages, seven medium mountain stages, three individual time trial (stages 1, 9, and 15), and eight stages for sprinters. There will be two rest days. All other days are flat stages, or transition days between flat and mountain stages. The total distance ridden will be 3,383 km, or roughly 2,382 miles.

The 2016 Giro route3:27 mins

mountain stages - summit and uphill finishes

Stage 6, although it is a medium mountain stage, has a sharp uphill finish

Stage 13 has several climbs close to the Slovenian border which are steep and narrow.

Stage 14 has six major climbs that includes the Passo Pordoi, the Passo Campolongo, the Passo Giau and Passo Valparola before the descent to Corvara.

Stage 15 is an mountain (uphill) time trial, climbing at a steady 8% as the road twists and turns.

Stage 19: after climbing the massive Colle dell'Agnello (2744m), this stage finishes in France, at Risoul.

Stage 20 includes three major climbs in its 134 km, including the 2715 m Col de Bonette, followed by the 21.2 km Colle della Lombarda.and its slope starting at 9.3%, and averaging 7%.

Profiles at for these stages are shown below.

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this year’s favourites

Favourites for 2016 include Vincenzo Nibali, Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde, Rigoberto Urán, Rafal Majka.

first ten riders in the 2015 giro

1. Alberto Contador | ESP| TFR | 88h 22' 25"
2. Fabio Aru | ITA | AST || + 1' 53"
3. Mikel Landa | ESP | AST | + 3' 05"
4. Andrey Amador | CRC | MOV | + 8' 10"
5. Ryder Hesjedal | CAN | TCG | + 9' 52"
6. Leopold König | CZE | SKY | + 10' 41"
7. Steven Kruijswijk | NED | TLJ | + 10' 53"
8. Damiano Caruso | ITA | BMC | + 12' 08"
9. Alexandre Geniez | FRA | FDJ | + 15' 51"
10. Yuri Trofimov | RUS | KAT | + 16' 14"

the classification jerseys

1:52 mins

Here are the four classification jerseys for the 2015 Giro.

The overall winner’s jersey is pink, like the paper on which the original sponsors' newspaper is printed.
The points jersey is red to illustrate the fiery passion of the fight for points.
The best climber’s jersey is the blue of the sky to which they are climbing.
The best young rider’s jersey is white like the innocence of youth.

the teams

There are 22 teams this year, 16 professional teams and 4 wildcard teams:
Bardiani-CSF, Gazprom-RusVelo, Nippo – Vini Fantini, Southeast – Venezuela.

Watching the Giro - on the roadside, on TV

Watching the Giro in Italy is very similar to watching the Tour in France. abelard.org has several pages giving general advice on how to be a effective road-side spectator.

• Le Tour 2: preparing to watch the Tour
• Le Tour 3: the Great Day arrives
• le Tour 4: preparing to watch a mountain stage

Daily live TV coverage will be available from British Eurosport, who will provide daily live coverage from all stages of this year’s Giro d'Italia.
One or other of Sky Sports channels will show highlights during the evening.

email email_abelard [at] abelard.org

© abelard, 2016, 11 April


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the address for this document is https://www.abelard.org/italy/giro_italia_2016.php