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What romance is yet to be written about the Giro d’Italia? The maglia rosa, the crescendo of spring, suffering and rhapsody carved as large as crevasses across the Alps and Dolomites for the next three weeks.

Think back to last year and Simon Yates’ redemptive ride on the Colle delle Finestre, the third contender in a race seemingly bound for a testa-a-testa between Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz.

None of that trio are racing this year; instead, Jonas Vingegaard is favourite to become the first man since Chris Froome to win all three Grand Tours, a career triple crown, joining an exclusive group of just seven other riders (Froome, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali) to have done so.

But stories abound elsewhere. This year’s Giro features a deep and eclectic sprint field, could launch the career of Italy’s next great climbing hope, and will feature some of the toughest stages in recent Grand Tour history.

This is everything you need to know ahead of racing beginning in Bulgaria this Friday.

The Giro d’Italia trophy is one of the most iconic in men’s cycling (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)

What’s the route?

By the Giro’s standards, this is not the hilliest edition — with 48,700m of climbing, it is some 4,000m shy of last year’s total.

The Grande Partenza — held this year in Bulgaria — is relatively flat, with the Giro continuing its tradition of hosting the most eclectic starts across the Grand Tours. Recent editions have begun in Albania, Hungary, and Jerusalem.

A sprinter will be in the pink jersey on stage one, with the first week almost resembling the design of an old-school Tour de France parcours — plenty of opportunities for the fast men and puncheurs.

With the race having hit Italy’s toe after stage three, the rest of the first week spent winding north, the ascent of the Blockhaus on stage seven will see the first significant GC gaps. Keep an eye out on stage nine, where the Adriatic start town of Punta Marina, in Ravenna, has this week been invaded by swarms of peacocks.

A lengthy time trial at halfway signals the start of the mountains proper, with the race passing through the Alps first, then moving back east towards the Dolomites. Stage 14, to Cari, will take place entirely within Switzerland. Organisers have been kind to the riders — over the final two weeks, there are never generally three tough climbing stages in a row, unlike the typical configuration at the other Grand Tours.

The queen stage is on day 19, a mountainous route to Alleghe which includes the Passo Giau, before the traditional sprinters’ finish in Rome.

The 2026 route, which begins in Bulgaria (www.giroditalia.it)

Who are the favourites?

This question could be singular. Jonas Vingegaard is possibly the largest favourite at any Grand Tour since Tadej Pogacar at this same race two years ago.

The 29-year-old Dane looked scintillating in comfortably winning both Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya earlier this season, with his Visma-Lease a Bike coaches explaining that they felt the repercussions of his crash at the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country had taken two years to fully recede. Now, they say, their man is in top form.

Vingegaard’s credentials speak for themselves — a man who has won two Tour de France titles and produced some of the highest climbing numbers the sport has ever seen — but his candidacy is strengthened by a glut of withdrawals across the field.

Vingegaard won the red jersey in the Vuelta last season, can he land the maglia rosa this month in Italy? (OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)

Joao Almeida, a close second as Vingegaard won last autumn’s Vuelta a Espana, withdrew last week, citing the after-effects of illness, while two more GC contenders, Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa, also announced they would miss the race with injury.

With UAE Team Emirates duo Tadej Pogcar and Isaac del Toro focusing on yellow in France rather than pink in Italy this season, Almeida’s withdrawal means Adam Yates leads their challenge. A former podium finisher at the Tour, the super-domestique has huge depths of reserves on longer climbs, but lacks the explosiveness of some of the other contenders. His twin brother Simon, however, overcame similar concerns to win as a rank outsider at last year’s Giro.

Isaac Del Toro was UAE’s leader last year but is not riding in 2026 (Luca Bettini/AFP via Getty Images)

But Vingegaard’s biggest challenger is likely to be 22-year-old Italian Giulio Pellizzari. Blessed with a flowing climbing style only matched for grace by Del Toro, last season’s move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has seen him make steady improvements — especially in developing a kick which saw him to two stage wins and the overall victory at last month’s Tour of the Alps.

He finished sixth here last year — and arguably should have been higher, had he not been sacrificed to work for Primoz Roglic for most of the race’s first two weeks. Teammate Jai Hindley, meanwhile, a former Giro winner in 2022, is also slipping under the radar.

Big things are expected of Giulio Pellizzari in this year’s Giro (Marco BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images)

A second-tier class of favourites includes Enric Mas (Movistar), 2021 winner Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Derek Gee-West and Giulio Ciccone (both Lidl-Trek). It would not be a massive surprise to see any of these riders sneak onto the podium.

Where will the race be decided?

If you lack the means to follow the Giro’s first week, do not fear — the GC battle will not start in earnest until stage seven. But what a start it is.

A 244km stage finishing at the Blockhaus climb is any Grand Tour’s longest stage since 2021, and the final ascent — a 13.6km effort at an average gradient of 8.4 per cent, with ramps of 14 per cent — will produce major gaps. Abruzzo’s most iconic peak, Eddy Merckx was the winner on the Giro’s first visit here, with Hindley taking victory en route to pink four years ago.

Jai Hindley celebrates stage victory at Blockhaus in the 2022 Giro (LUCA BETTINI/AFP via Getty Images)

This year’s route only contains a single time trial, on stage 10, but it is a relatively lengthy one at 42km — longer than this year’s world championship course, for example.

Vingegaard is the best time-triallist of the GC contenders here — Filippo Ganna seems a virtual lock to win this stage — but it’s worth keeping an eye on UAE Team Emirates’ Jay Vine. More on him later.

After that, a long but shallower climb to Pila on stage fourteen is screaming out for a contender to attack from range, before several shorter climbing days promise a high pace from the outset.

The Cima Coppi (the Giro’s highest point) comes atop the Passo Giau on the Queen Stage on stage 19, a day featuring over 5000m of climbing — but a huge descent off the Passo Falzarego could prove equally decisive.

Survive that, and the final test arrives one day later as the Piancavallo is tackled twice. It would be a shock if Vingegaard had not secured pink by now — but as last year’s edition showed, where pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic quit the race after multiple crashes, that tag cannot be taken for granted.

The Dolomites are a beautiful but fiendish challenge in almost every edition of the Giro (LUCA BETTINI/AFP via Getty Images)

What about the sprint jersey?

Great question. The 2026 Giro is the most sprint-friendly Grand Tour on the calendar, meaning several of the world’s fastest men are building their season around the magenta ‘ciclamino’ jersey. The fascinating element here is the clash of styles.

Jonathan Milan is the fastest man here. Winner of the points classification at last year’s Tour, the big Italian, racing on home roads, is always a favorite in any drag race.

It will be fascinating to see him match up against 22-year-old Paul Magnier, a rider in his mould, who has racked up race wins early in his career — only Pogacar took more victories last year. This will be the Texas-born Soudal Quick-Step’s rider’s second Grand Tour, but a first stage win is a realistic expectation.

Lidl-Trek won the ciclamino jersey last year with Mads Pedersen (LUCA BETTINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Elsewhere, Grand Tour debutants Unibet Rose Rockets are shaping their race around their sprint train, led by the wily and experienced Dylan Groenewegen. Coached by Marcel Kittel, the social-media-savvy squad have not been shy in targeting victory on Friday’s first stage.

But the points jersey is about more than flat victories alone. Though the sprinters have seven clear opportunities, at least two finishes will require the ability to climb — which is where Kaden Groves (Alpecin Premier-Tech) and the in-form Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) come in. Expect this duo to hoover up the intermediate bonuses on several stages as well — throwing themselves into the ciclamino battle.

Who could surprise?

One of the characteristics of this year’s route is a large number of breakaway/puncheur stages — at least seven in total.

Lidl-Trek have struggled so far this season, but if Milan goes for the points classification and Gee-West for GC, I would expect the explosive Giulio Ciccone to be free to chase stage victories. The 31-year-old has won three Giro stages in his career before but never more than one in the same race — this course, though suits the explosive breakaway artist. UAE Team Emirates’ Jhonatan Narvaez, somewhat freed of domestique responsibilities by Almeida’s withdrawal, is in a similar boat.

But UAE coaches are talking up another rider — Jay Vine — for both GC and stages. The Australian, who found his way into the sport via the Zwift Academy programme, is a four-time stage winner at the Vuelta a Espana and has a knack for joining the right attacks. It is easy to see him gaining time early in a breakaway — whilst as a very good time-triallist, it would not be shocking to see him ahead of team leader Adam Yates at the race’s midway point.

Is Jay Vine UAE’s dark horse in this year’s Giro? (ANDER GILLENEA/AFP via Getty Images)

Another teammate, Jan Christen, does not have a dissimilar profile to Del Toro ahead of last year’s race — his victory at the AlUla Tour earlier in the season demonstrates his capabilities. This is the 21-year-old Swiss rider’s first Grand Tour.

Finally, the newly renamed Netcompany INEOS have named Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman as co-leaders. Winner of two stages at last year’s Tour, Arensman could well repeat that feat this month, demonstrating career-best climbing form in the season so far. INEOS, having a great year under Geraint Thomas’ management, have one of the strongest squads here on paper, with Ganna, Bernal, Arensman, and Ben Turner all realistic stage winners.

Will it have any bearing on the Tour?

In all honesty, not particularly. Without Pogacar here, it is difficult to see Vingegaard’s true baseline. Should he win by minutes, it can be explained away by the strength of competition. If he only just wins — or even fails to — the buzz around Paul Seixas as Pogacar’s prime opposition will intensify, if the clamour has anywhere left to rise.

Other mini storylines to keep an eye on are Decathlon CMA CGM’s strength-in-depth, as they seek to develop their climbing train ahead of Seixas’ Tour debut, while Sepp Kuss’ level could also show how much support Vingegaard might expect in the high mountains in the Tour de France this July.