Giro d’Italia 2023 route officially unveiled in Milan with 70.6km of time trialling and tough final week

The route for the 2023 Giro d’Italia features 70.6 kilometres of time trialling spread over three stages, a huge increase from the 26.2 kilometres of time trialling in 2022.

The route, unveiled this afternoon in the Giorgio Gaber Teatro Lirico, Milan begins with an 18 kilometre time trial on a bike path in Abruzzo and concludes with a circuit stage in Rome three weeks later.

As well three time trial stages, including a brutal uphill one on stage 20, the 2023 route features six other uphill finishes, eight sprint days and a tough final week including the mountains of the Dolomites.

2022 winner Jai Hindley along with former winners Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador were present for the ceremony in Milan, with Contador labelling the 2023 route a "10 star" Giro d'Italia.

The last time the Giro d’Italia featured more than 70 kilometres of time trial action was in 2013, and this will be seen as a move to entice the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Geraint Thomas and Primož Roglič to Italy next year. The standout of the three time trials in 2023 will be the stage 20 mountain time trial from Tarvisio to Monte Lussari sanctuary.

As well as the time trialling action, the route features more than 50,000 metres of climbing including a summit finish at Monte Bondone.

The opening week’s action will take place in the south of Italy before travelling north through the Tuscany region towards Turin, Bergamo and then the Dolomites.

A key feature of the second week will be a hilly stage around the town of Bergamo which will feature many of the climbs associated with the Il Lombardia monument as well as an Alpine stage in Switzerland.

The third week will see the riders tackling a classic Giro d’Italia final week in the high mountains.

Stage 16 from Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone is bound to be particularly gruelling with more than 5,200 metres on the way to the summit finish. Stage 19 is a key Dolomite stage and will feature multiple mythical climbs associated with the Italian grand tour.

The riders will take on the Passo di Campolongo, the Passo Valparola, the infamous Passo Giau and then the Tre Cime di Lavaredo associated with a big win for Vincenzo Nibali when he won the 2013 edition of the race.

If the brutality of stage 19 wasn’t enough, the stage 20 mountain top time trial, close to the border of Slovenia, will feature unbelievably savage gradients of 15% in the first 4 kilometres of the final climb alone.

When they finally reach Rome, the winner of the 2023 Giro d’Italia will be crowned around the ancient site of the Colosseum making for a fitting finale to what promises to be a brutal edition of the Italian Grand Tour.