2027 Giro d'Italia route: stages, double Mortirolo and Zoncolan

The 2027 Giro d'Italia was presented today in Rome: it starts in Trieste on Saturday 8 May and finishes in Rome on Sunday 30. That is 21 stages, 3,418.9 km, 50,250 metres of climbing, eight summit finishes and only 56.9 km against the clock. The centrepiece is 25 May, Sondrio-Aprica, with the Mortirolo twice and the Gavia in between. On 18 October we wrote that half the route was already out there and that we would redo the sums on 3 November: here they are, along with the times an ordinary cyclist needs to climb the same ramps.

The route in brief: what is in and what is not

The start is a 172 km loop in Trieste with a trip into Slovenia, and stage 2 is Ljubljana-Koper, 166 km, in Slovenia. Then the race heads down the Adriatic: Argenta-Misano Adriatico (151 km), Filottrano-Sarnano Sassotetto (139 km, a summit finish) and, on Friday 14 May, the Sulmona-Campo di Giove time trial, 19.6 km with roughly the last 12 uphill. On the 15th the race reaches Naples after 219 km, on the 16th Monte Livata, then the first rest day on the 17th.

The second week heads north: Norcia, Scarperia (Gualdo Tadino-Scarperia, 220 km, the longest stage), Zeri, Reggio Emilia and Piani di Bobbio/Valtorta on 22 May, 187 km and about 4,900 metres of climbing. Sunday 23 brings the Monza-Milan time trial, 37.3 flat km, and Monday 24 the second rest day. The last week is the one people will remember: Aprica on the 25th, Chiari-Vo' on the 26th, Madonna di Campiglio on the 27th, Rovereto-Sacile on the 28th, Pordenone-Zoncolan on the 29th and the finish in Rome on the 30th, a 131 km circuit. The numbers come from Domestique and Bici da Strada, which agree on the list of stages and the kilometres; the official reference is the RCS release, which we have not read in full.

Settling up with the leaks: what we wrote on 18 October

In our piece on the leaks we wrote that only one source had the double Mortirolo and that it should be taken with a pinch of salt. Well: it is true, from Mazzo di Valtellina, twice, with the Gavia as Cima Coppi at 2,618 metres in between. The Zoncolan on the penultimate day was reported by several sources: true, but the stage does not start in Lienz as was reported, it starts in Pordenone, 180 km. Stage 2 was also muddled (the leaks said Gorizia-Pordenone, it is Ljubljana-Koper) and so was the climbing on the big stage: about 6,000 metres was the rumour, the official figure is 5,700.

On the time trials the leaks contradicted each other and we wrote that we did not know which version was right. TuttoBICIweb's version was essentially the good one: the uphill Sulmona-Campo di Giove test and a time trial that starts at the Monza circuit, even if it finishes in Milan. The hilly time trial finishing in Vicenza, which Domestique wrote about, is not there.

How long the climbs take you: three climbs, amateur times

From the official figures (Bici da Strada, Bicisport) we worked out a few numbers of our own, which are no substitute for a test on the road. The Zoncolan from Ovaro is 10.1 km at an 11.9% average, with 1,200 metres of climbing. At 5 km/h it takes about 2:01, at 6 km/h 1:41, at 7 km/h 1:27, at 8 km/h 1:16. At 6 km/h that is about 710 metres of climbing per hour.

Who gains: few minutes against the clock, a lot of mountain

With 56.9 km of time trialling out of 3,418.9, racing against the clock is 1.7% of the distance, and one of the two tests is the Campo di Giove climb, while the other, 37.3 flat km, is the only one for specialists. Eight summit finishes in 21 stages and an average of about 14.7 metres of climbing per kilometre (50,250 divided by 3,418.9, our sum) describe a Giro written for climbers. The flip side, for us: a final week with Aprica, Campiglio and the Zoncolan in six days is an invitation not to win early. If the Giro is not decided before 25 May, it will be because someone put off settling the account until the third week.

We found no rider statements about the route in the sources we read today and prefer not to invent any. Whoever is named for the pink jersey, for now, is a guess and not a fact.

And the Giro Women: nine stages, a Mont Blanc finale

The 2027 Giro d'Italia Women was presented the same day: 29 May to 6 June, nine stages, 1,132 km and 17,450 metres of climbing, from Viareggio to the Aosta Valley, with no rest days. On 5 June there is an 11 km uphill time trial at Valdigne and on 6 June the Mont Blanc stage, 132 km with 3,950 metres. TuttoBICIweb and Domestique say so, with the same list of stages. A calendar curiosity: the Women's race starts on Saturday 29 May, the same day the men finish on the Zoncolan.

Where do you stand?

A line to take away: in the 2027 Giro the two time trials together are shorter than a single mountain stage. Is the double Mortirolo genius or stubbornness? Is the Zoncolan on the penultimate day a treat or a risk of a locked-down race? Tell us in the comments. If you want to ride these roads, in the 2027 Calendar you will find the gran fondos that go over the Gavia and the Mortirolo, and in the group rides you will find people to go with.

Sources: Domestique (route, totals, rest days), Bici da Strada and Bicisport (stages, kilometres, gradients), TuttoBICIweb (Giro Women). Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons. We did not read the official RCS release or the Giro website, and the gradients of some climbs differ between sources: so we give only the Zoncolan and Mortirolo data, where they agree, and the Gavia figure with its source.