Giro d’Italia 2017: guide

From Friday Eurosport begins broadcasting all 21 stages of the 100th Giro d’Italia Live from the Sardinian city of Alghero.

Covering a total distance of 3,572 kilometres the event includes competing Australians Rohan Dennis, Caleb Ewan, Nathan Haas, Adam Hansen, Simon Clarke, Rory Sutherland, Michael Hepburn, and Alexander Edmonson.

A host of Aussies are scattered across the 22 teams entered, including Caleb Ewan riding for Australian owned Orica-Scott and Rohan Dennis for BMC, plus we’ll see the 2016 winner of the Giro d’Italia, Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali, returning to defend the title.

With four hours live each stage, Eurosport’s extended coverage of this event includes the daily ‘Giro Extra’ hosted by Eurosport reporter and former cycling champion, Juan Antonio Flecha, and featuring expert insights, highlights and interviews with riders competing in this historical cycling event.

Considered one of the best cycling tours of the year, the Giro d’Italia offers a real challenge to the world’s best climbers but also gives the sprinters something to play for, delivering a terrific indication of form going into the European summer.

Known for its steep and difficult climbs, the 21-stage epic course is comprised of six sprint stages, eight stages of medium difficulty climbing, five highly testing climbing stages and two individual time trials.

Traversing the stunning mountainous landscapes of Italy, the Grand Tour will conclude in the Lombardy region capital of Milan on 28 May, with the final stage seeing riders racing down the famous Monza racetrack leading to the Milan Cathedral.