Rescheduled Giro d’Italia to start with four stages in Sicily

Tom Dumoulin, of the Netherlands, rides past Milan's gothic cathedral after completing the final stage of the Giro d'Italia. (Antonio Calanni/AP)

MILAN — The rescheduled Giro d’Italia will start with four stages in Sicily.

The race will begin with a 16-kilometre (10-mile) individual time trial from Monreale to Palermo on Oct. 3, race organizer RCS Sport said Friday.

This year’s Giro was originally scheduled to start with three stages in Hungary and run from May 9-31 but it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sicily was scheduled to host the start of the 2021 Giro, but that has been brought forward.

“We immediately accepted the invitation of RCS Sport to bring the Grande Partenza forward from 2021 to 2020 because we also believe that the seasonal adjustment is fundamental for us,” said Manlio Messina, the councillor for sports in the Sicilian Region. “We are proud to be part of this project which I am sure will drive the development of sport and tourism.”

The opening time trial will replace one of a similar distance that was planned for Budapest. The next three Sicilian stages are almost identical to the ones that were set to be held as soon as the Giro crossed into Italy.

That includes the climb up Mount Etna on what will now be the race’s third stage.

The rest of the revised route is expected to be announced in the next few weeks, although there are unlikely to be amendments to the second half of the race.

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