Giro 2027: Mortirolo twice in one day? What is true

The 2027 Giro d'Italia will be officially presented on Tuesday 3 November in Rome. Yet with two and a half weeks to go, half of the route has already reached the papers: a stage with Mortirolo, Gavia and Mortirolo again, a finish on the Zoncolan on the penultimate day, a start in Trieste. We tell you what is solid, what is a tip-off, and why we think the pencil should stay a pencil.

What is official (not much)

Two things. First, the date of the presentation, 3 November in Rome, reported by Sky Sport and TuttoBICIweb. Second, the start in Trieste. RCS owner Urbano Cairo publicly confirmed the deal with the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, as the site Domestique reports. The figure, around 10 million euros, and the Vespucci ship as the stage for the announcement come only from local press. Everything else is, for now, rumour.

The draft that is circulating

The richest detail comes from a Tuttosport preview picked up by TuttoBICIweb on 13 October. Dates: 8 to 30 May, finish in Rome. After the Trieste stage with a loop into Slovenia and Gorizia-Pordenone, the Giro heads south. The main course is the Sondrio-Aprica queen stage on 25 May, about 6,000 metres of climbing: Mortirolo from the Mazzo side, Gavia (named as Cima Coppi), then Mortirolo from Mazzo again and a finish in Valle Camonica. Sky Sport was already talking on 5 October about a possible return of the Mortirolo with a finish in Aprica. The Mortirolo twice in the same day, however, is for now written by a single source, and we write it with tongs.

Then there is the Zoncolan. That the penultimate stage, Lienz-Zoncolan on Saturday 29 May, finishes on the Friulian climb is reported by several outlets: Domestique, Sky Sport, IDLpro. From the Ovaro side it is about 10 km with 1,200 metres of climbing, an average gradient around 12% and ramps of 22%, according to the figures reported by IDLpro. It was last used in 2018, when Chris Froome won solo.

Where even the leaks disagree

Why we think it works (and why not)

A Giro that puts the queen stage and the Zoncolan in the last week has an obvious merit: the general classification does not close halfway. Mortirolo, Gavia and then the hardest climb of the modern Giro in the closing weekend mean three weeks in which nobody can afford to pretend. The flaw is the other side of the coin: if the Giro is decided in the last week, the first one risks becoming a long test of patience. We prefer a nasty route at the start and at the end, with the best in the middle. But we admit that for people watching on TV in May, with long days, a Giro that arrives hot at the end is a good Giro.

And there is one more point: the double Mortirolo, if true, would be a brave choice by the organisers. Repeating a climb in the same stage is uncommon and splits the race differently from a new climb, because riders already know what awaits them and pace themselves accordingly. It can go two ways: attacks from far out, or everyone glued together until the last ramp.

Where to start preparing

The 2027 Tour will be unveiled on Thursday 22 October in Paris, twelve days before the Giro. If you want to play detective with us, there is our Tour preview. For those who dream of riding the same roads, the Mortirolo guide explains how to pace your effort, and in our 2027 Calendar we collect gran fondos and races to build your season. The exact dates of the Giro's passage are not known yet: we will add them after 3 November.

Where do you stand: the same Mortirolo twice in a day, genius or stubbornness? And what would your dream stage be? Tell us in the comments: on 3 November we redo the maths with the real route.