“It’s a nice parcours. The first thing that springs to mind is the completely flat 40-kilometre time trial, but there are also a lot of tough uphill finishes. Now that we know the route, we will decide what to do as a team, and who will ride the Giro,” said Grischa Niermann, head of racing at Team Visma | Lease a Bike, after the presentation in the Italian capital.

“It looks like a challenging parcours, even though it takes a while before we get to the first uphill finish. As is usually the case in the Giro, it’s heavily backloaded with some very hard stages in the Dolomites and Alps near the end. It should be a good course for a climber, but we also have to keep the long time trial in mind. Overall, it looks good,” Niermann added about the first Grand Tour of 2026.

The fight for pink kicks off with three stages in Bulgaria, where a lumpy and long second stage is sandwiched between two flatter stages in the Eastern European country. The race then continues in the south of Italy, where the almost 250-kilometre stage seven to the iconic Blockhaus, followed by a “muro” stage filled with short, steep climbs, will tire the riders before a rest day and the all-important tenth stage.

Here, a 40-kilometre fight against the clock awaits the riders, who will be cruising at high speeds along the Tyrrhenian Sea. A time trial that long and without any climbs is a rare sight in modern cycling, but it may well be balanced out by the mountains still to come. Stage 14 marks the next major showdown between the favourites, as 4,500 metres of climbing are packed into only 130 kilometres, including an uphill finish to Pila. The second week finishes in Milan with what could be a sprinter’s delight, before the race is decided in a tough final week.

Stage 16 has traditionally been the queen stage of the Giro d’Italia, but next year that will not be the case. Another uphill finish is still on the menu, though, but the main course will be served on stage 19, where the queen stage takes place in the Dolomites on climbs such as Passo Duran, Passo Giau and Piani di Pezzé. The stage is only 150 kilometres long, but with 5,000 metres of climbing and a mix of steep gradients and thin air, it promises to be a brutal day in the saddle. A double ascent of Piancavallo rounds off what will likely be yet another tough Giro d’Italia on stage 20, before the neo-classic sprint stage in Rome crowns the next Giro d’Italia winner.

Last year, Simon Yates was the one celebrated in Rome after a final raid on the Colle delle Finestre that no one will forget anytime soon. The Brit had long had a special bond with the Italian Grand Tour, and this year he finally brought the Trofeo Senza Fine. Before the presentation, Yates reflected on what it meant to actually win the race he had been yearning for.

“To be honest, I’m still in disbelief that I managed to pull it off. It’s something I’ve worked towards for so long, and obviously a moment I will never forget. It feels like a defining moment in my career. The Giro is just a different race from every other race on the calendar. The feeling you get when you ride through the fans on the way to sign-on is incredible, and they show so much passion on the side of the road. I’m sure everybody who has raced the Giro feels that as well - not just the guy who wins,” Simon Yates concluded.