Additional Summit Finish added to revised Giro d'Italia Route

Additional summit finish at Roccaraso on Stage 9 as official route confirmed for the 103rd edition of the Fight For Pink

An extra summit finish has been added to the revised 2020 Giro d’Italia which will take place in October, organisers confirmed.

The first week has been modified, with an additional day on the Mediterranean island. After the race crosses to the mainland there will be an additional sprinter-friendly stage six at Matera and climbers can enjoy the Roccaraso climb in the Abruzzo region on stage nine.

“The last two weeks of the Giro remain unchanged from its original schedule, with the exception of the start of the 10th stage which will be given to Lanciano,” organisers added of the town in the central Abruzzo region.

The race will take place from October 3-25, five months after being pushed back from May because of the coronavirus outbreak. Initially the three-week race had been due to start in Hungary but the first four stages will now take place in Sicily.

The Giro gets underway with 15km individual time trial that brings riders downhill from the Norman-Byzantine cathedral at Monreale into the centre of Palermo, where all eyes will be on home favourite and Sicilian Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), who has eschewed the Tour de France to ride the Giro.

As well as two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali, the 2020 Giro field is set to feature Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and defending champion Richard Carapaz (Team Ineos).

The first mountaintop finish comes on stage 3, with the gruppo scaling Mount Etna via a new approach from Linguaglossa, while the first day on the Italian mainland is stage 5 from Mileto to Camigliatello Silano, which was already on the original route presented last October.

A new addition to the route comes the following day, with stage 6 bringing the riders from Castrovillari along the coastline of Basilicata to a finale in the striking city of Matera, famed for its ancient cave dwellings, the sassi. John Degenkolb won on the Giro’s last visit to Matera in 2013.

Highlights of the second week include stage 12, which starts and finishes in Cesenatico and follows the route of the Nove Colli Gran Fondo in honour of the mass participation event’s 50th anniversary.

The third weekend of the Giro features a potentially pivotal 33km individual time trial through Prosecco country from Conegliano to Valdobbiadene on stage 14 ahead of a summit finish at Piancavallo in the Carnic Alps on stage 15.

The final week of the Giro, as ever, is a demanding one. Stage 17 features the climbs of Forcella Valbona, Monte Bondone and Passo Durone ahead of a summit finish at Madonna di Campiglio, for a total of more than 5,100m of climbing.

Stage 18 is no easier, with the Campo Carlo Magno (14.3km at 6%), Passo Castrin (23.7km at 4.7%) preceding the highest point of the race, the Stelvio, which is tackled from its celebrated, hairpin-garlanded approach from Prato all Stelvio (24.7km at 7.5%). The stage concludes with a summit finish at Laghi di Cancano for a total altitude gain of 5,400m.

After a brief respite on the road to Asti, the final climbing instalment of the Giro comes on the penultimate day, with the 2,744m-high Colle dell’Agnello, Col d’Izoard and Col de Montgenèvre on the agenda before a summit finish at Sestriere.

The Giro concludes with a flat and fast 16.5km time trial from Cernusco sul Naviglio to Milan with the finale taking place on Piazza del Duomo.

The grand finale will take place on the same day as the men's and women's editions of Paris-Roubaix and the rescheduled Vuelta a España’s first summit finish on the Tourmalet.