2022 Giro d'Italia Race Preview
The details of this year's 2022 Giro d'Italia are falling into place. Find the latest route profiles and maps below, followed by our strategic preview of the race.
The 2022 Giro d'Italia promises to be one of the most compelling editions of the famous Italian race in recent memory, with a challenging route and a field of riders capable of producing a genuinely unpredictable three-week battle through the heart of Italy.
The race begins with a fascinating opening stage in Hungary, marking the third time in the Giro's history that the race has begun outside of Italy. Budapest will host the opening individual time trial, giving the pure climbers and all-rounders an early opportunity to take stock of one another before the race proper begins to take shape. The Hungarian capital will also host two road stages before the peloton crosses the border and settles into the more familiar terrain of the Italian peninsula.
The route this year places a particularly heavy emphasis on climbing, with race organizers Rcs Sport designing a course that rewards the best pure mountain riders in the world. The final week in particular is brutally demanding, with multiple summit finishes strung together in a way that will almost certainly blow the general classification wide open. The Blockhaus climb, a fearsome ascent in the Apennines, appears early enough to do real damage to any rider who has not prepared sufficiently for the demands of a three-week grand tour.
Richard Carapaz arrives as the defending champion, having won the 2019 edition before claiming Olympic gold on the road in Tokyo. The Ecuadorian climber will be hoping that his experience and consistency at altitude will prove decisive once again. However, the competition this year is extraordinarily fierce.
Primoz Roglic comes to the Giro seeking the one major title that continues to elude him, having suffered heartbreak at multiple Tour de France editions and demonstrated time and again that he is among the very finest stage racers of his generation. The Slovenian is a supremely complete rider, capable of time trialing at the highest level while also climbing with the best in the world. Many observers consider him the outright favorite.
Simon Yates is another major contender, a rider who has shown in previous editions that he can dominate mountain stages and hold his own against the clock when motivated. His previous relationship with the Giro is complicated, having led the race for many days in 2018 before crumbling in the final week. Whether he has the physical and mental resources to go the full distance this time will be one of the most intriguing questions hanging over the entire race.
Mikel Landa and Domenico Pozzovivo represent riders who have come agonizingly close to podium finishes before and will hope that fortune finally smiles on them. Tom Dumoulin, if fit and in form, could threaten on the time trial stages and remains a dangerous presence in any race that contains significant tests against the clock.
Outside of the general classification battle, the sprinting contests early in the race should produce some spectacular finishes, with several fast men lining up hoping to claim stage victories before the mountains take their inevitable toll on the field. The points competition and the mountains classification add further layers of tactical intrigue throughout the three weeks.
The weather in Italy in May can be unpredictable and the high mountain stages are never guaranteed to be free of snow or cold temperatures, adding an element of pure survival to the sporting contest. Riders and team directors will need to make difficult decisions on the road about when to attack and when to conserve energy, particularly given the brutal demands of the final week.
All signs point to a Giro that will keep fans guessing right until the very final stages, with no clear favorite strong enough to put the race beyond doubt early and several riders perfectly capable of wearing the pink jersey into Rome.
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