The 2024 Giro d’Italia is over but race organisers RCS Sport are already working on future editions of the Corsa Rosa, mapping out the start locations and stages for several years to come.
The 2025 race is expected to start in Trieste, in the northeast of Italy and again end in Rome.
An audacious idea for Saudi Arabia and the AlUla tourist resort to host the Grande Partenza in 2026 has apparently been scrapped or at least put on hold. The current uncertainties in the Middle East have been cited as one reason, with the still ongoing construction of hotels and other facilities another reason for the delay.
However, the Giro d’Italia has never been scared to innovate and push the limitations of the UCI rules on travel and rider recovery. There have been plans and proposals for the Giro d’Italia to start on the East Coast of the USA and even Japan in the past.
The AlUla tourist region of Saudi Arabia already sponsors the Jayco AlUla team and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) could be a key backer of the One Cycling project aimed to shake up the sport, while Abu Dhabi will host the UCI Road World Championships in 2028 and UCI Track World Championships in 2029.
A delay to the Saudi Arabian plans could mean Albania hosts the 2026 Grande Partenza, with Friuli-Venezia Giulia winning the bid process for 2025.
The Albania bid is backed by Italia’s right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who has close ties to the Albania prime minister Edi Rama due to a deal to send immigrants to the country.
However, Friuli-Venezia Giulia has often hosted important mountain stages thanks to the work of the late regional organiser Enzo Cainero, who created the Zoncolan finish. Trieste hosted the finish of the 2014 Giro won by Nairo Quintana.
Stage 20 in 2024 to Sappada was in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, with politicians meeting RCS Sport’s senior management to agree on a deal for next year’s race. Local media have reported that RCS Sport could earn close to €6 million from the deal.
RCS Sport have already designed routes for a start in Friuli-Venezia Giulia or in Albania but an Italian Grande Partenza in the north is expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks, with the full route revealed in October.
In 2025, the opening road stage is expected to be around Trieste, with other stages likely to finish in Gorizia in Piazza Transalpina, which symbolises the entry of Slovenia into the European Union in 2004 after historic tensions in the area following the Second World War and the creation of Yugoslavia.
The success of Friuli-Venezia Giulia resident Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) is likely to mean the open stage will suit the Italian sprinter.
The Giro d'Italia ended in the Italian capital in 2023 and 2024, with the Rome authorities paying RCS Sport €1.2 million for the final stage.
The Rome mayor and his staff are apparently to secure a discount for 2025 and beyond but RCS Sport hopes the Giro will finish in Rome for years to come, to compete against Paris which traditionally hosts the finish of the Tour de France.
RCS Sport has been working to strengthen its links with Italian politicians and institutions in Rome and move away from its origins in Milan. The Italian office has already started to sponsor the race in different ways.
A Rome finish forces the whole Giro d’Italia caravan to transfer from the mountain stages of the final week to Rome by road, plane and even train but the 2025 Giro d’Italia could include a final mountain stage in the central Apennines to reduce the travel and the environmental footprint of the Corsa Rosa.
