A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 2021 UCI World Tour, race 18 of 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Peloton on Stage 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | 8–30 May 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,410.9[N 1] km (2,119 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 86h 17' 28" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 Giro d'Italia was the 104th edition of the Giro, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. It started on 8 May and finished on 30 May. On 26 May 2019, the race organisers RCS Sport originally announced that the start of the 2021 Giro (known as the Grande Partenza) would be in Sicily, Italy.[1][2][3] However, on 4 February 2021, RCS Sport announced that the race would instead start in Turin, with the rest of the race route being announced on 24 February 2021.[4][5]
The race was won by Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers, winning his first Giro title and his second Grand Tour victory overall. He became the second Colombian to win the Giro after Nairo Quintana did so in 2014. He first took the maglia rosa when he won atop the gravel finish at Campo Felice on stage 9. He proceeded to extend his lead in the second week, culminating in his victory on the shortened queen stage to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Despite his difficulties in the final week, he still had enough advantage to confirm his victory in Milan. He won by 1' 29" ahead of Damiano Caruso of Team Bahrain Victorious. Going into the race, Caruso was initially supposed to be a domestique for his team's original leader, Mikel Landa. After Landa crashed out on stage 5, Caruso took up the mantle as the team's leader. Caruso proceeded to consistently get high placings on the mountain stages before taking a stage victory on the last mountain stage to Alpe Motta. The last place on the podium was occupied by Simon Yates of Team BikeExchange, 4' 15" behind Bernal. After constantly losing time in the first two weeks, Yates peaked in the third week, leading to him taking a stage victory on the summit finish to Alpe di Mera.
In the race's other classifications, Peter Sagan of Bora–Hansgrohe took the points classification title. He first took the maglia ciclamino after winning the sprint on stage 10. Geoffrey Bouchard of AG2R Citroën Team took the mountains classification title after consistently taking maximum points on the stages' early climbs. As a result of him winning the maglia rosa, Bernal also took home the young riders classification as the best-placed rider under the age of 25. Dries De Bondt of Alpecin–Fenix took home the titles in the intermediate sprint classification and the combativity classification while Simon Pellaud of Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec won the breakaway classification as the rider who had the highest number of kilometres on the breakaway. In the team classifications, Ineos Grenadiers took home the Trofeo Fast Team as the team whose top three riders had the lowest aggregate time while Team Bahrain Victorious took home the fair play classification as one of the three teams who did not get any sanction in the whole race. They won the tiebreaker as a result of Caruso taking the second place in the GC.
Teams
Twenty-three teams received invitations to participate in the 2021 Giro d'Italia. All nineteen UCI WorldTeams were entitled and obliged to enter the race, and they were joined by four second-tier UCI ProTeams. Alpecin–Fenix, the best-performing UCI ProTeam in 2020, received an automatic invitation, while the other three teams were selected by RCS Sport, the organisers of the Giro. Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè and Vini Zabù continued their streak of wild card invitations to the race, while Eolo–Kometa made its Grand Tour debut.[6] The teams were announced on 10 February 2021.[7][8]
On 15 April 2021, after positive doping tests for Matteo Spreafico and Matteo De Bonis left them facing a potential suspension, Vini Zabù withdrew their participation from the race.[9] As a result, regular invitee Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec, which had participated in the last three Giros but had initially missed out on an invitation, were awarded the last wildcard invitation.[6][10]
The teams participating in the race are:
UCI WorldTeams
- AG2R Citroën Team
- Astana–Premier Tech
- Bora–Hansgrohe
- Cofidis
- Deceuninck–Quick-Step
- EF Education–Nippo
- Groupama–FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux
- Israel Start-Up Nation
- Lotto–Soudal
- Movistar Team
- Team Bahrain Victorious
- Team BikeExchange
- Team DSM
- Team Jumbo–Visma
- Team Qhubeka Assos
- Trek–Segafredo
- UAE Team Emirates
UCI ProTeams
Pre-race favourites
The pre-race favourites were the 2019 Tour de France champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange), who won the lead-up race, Tour of the Alps. Their main challenger was considered to be Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck–Quick-Step), despite not having raced since a crash in the 2020 Il Lombardia. Other top contenders were Hugh Carthy (EF Education–Nippo), after his third place in the 2020 Vuelta a España, former podium finisher Mikel Landa (Team Bahrain Victorious), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora–Hansgrohe), Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana–Premier Tech), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), and two Maglia Rosa wearers from the 2020 edition – João Almeida (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) and Jai Hindley (Team DSM), the eventual 2020 runner-up. Multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali also started the race, but due to only recently having recovered from injury, was not mentioned among the favourites.[11]
Riders believed to be the main contenders for victories on the sprint stages were Caleb Ewan (Lotto–Soudal), Peter Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe), Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jumbo–Visma), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Elia Viviani (Cofidis), Giacomo Nizzolo (Team Qhubeka Assos) and Tim Merlier (Alpecin–Fenix).[12]
Route and stages
The full route, consisting of 21 stages covering a distance of 3,479.9 kilometres (2,162.3 mi) and an elevation gain of over 47,000 metres (154,000 ft), was announced by RCS Sport on 24 February 2021. The race was bookended by two individual time trials in Turin and Milan, respectively. There were six summit finishes, the first of which is on stage 6 to Ascoli Piceno. The summit finishes also included the infamous Monte Zoncolan on stage 14 and three of the last five stages. There were also six stages designed for the sprinters to contest and two rest days, after the tenth and sixteenth stages.[5][13]
Though stage 16 to Cortina d'Ampezzo did not feature a summit finish, it was initially earmarked as the queen stage by race organisers, as riders were due to cover over 5,700 metres (18,700 ft) of elevation gain, and the Passo Pordoi was due to award the Cima Coppi award to the first rider to cross it as the highest climb of the race.[13] However, due to poor weather, the stage was rerouted to remove the Pordoi and Fedaia, significantly shortening it and leaving the Passo Giau as the only climb in the Dolomites.[14] With the removal of the Passo Pordoi, the Passo Giau also became the Cima Coppi of the race.[14]
The nineteenth stage was also changed three days before it was run. The original route had the riders climb the Mottarone climb and then descend into Gignese, however, following the Stresa–Mottarone cable car crash, the route was changed out of respect to those affected to remove the climb, leading the riders straight to Gignese.[15] The stage was shortened by 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).[15]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 May | Torino to Torino | 8.6 km (5.3 mi) | 
|
Individual time trial |  Filippo Ganna (ITA)
| |
| 2 | 9 May | Stupinigi (Nichelino) to Novara | 179 km (111 mi) | 
|
Flat stage |  Tim Merlier (BEL)
| |
| 3 | 10 May | Biella to Canale | 190 km (120 mi) | 
|
Hilly stage |  Taco van der Hoorn (NED)
| |
| 4 | 11 May | Piacenza to Sestola | 187 km (116 mi) | 
|
Intermediate stage |  Joe Dombrowski (USA)
| |
| 5 | 12 May | Modena to Cattolica | 177 km (110 mi) |
|
Flat stage |  Caleb Ewan (AUS)
| |
| 6 | 13 May | Grotte di Frasassi to Ascoli Piceno (San Giacomo) | 160 km (99 mi) |
|
Intermediate stage |  Gino Mäder (SUI)
| |
| 7 | 14 May | Notaresco to Termoli | 181 km (112 mi) |
|
Flat stage | Caleb Ewan (AUS)
| |
| 8 | 15 May | Foggia to Guardia Sanframondi | 170 km (110 mi) |
|
Intermediate stage |  Victor Lafay (FRA)
| |
| 9 | 16 May | Castel di Sangro to Campo Felice (Rocca di Cambio) | 158 km (98 mi) | 
|
Mountain stage |  Egan Bernal (COL)
| |
| 10 | 17 May | L'Aquila to Foligno | 139 km (86 mi) |
|
Flat stage |  Peter Sagan (SVK)
| |
| 18 May | Foligno | Rest day | |||||
| 11 | 19 May | Perugia to Montalcino | 162 km (101 mi) |
|
Hilly stage | Mauro Schmid (SUI)
| |
| 12 | 20 May | Siena to Bagno di Romagna | 212 km (132 mi) |
|
Intermediate stage | Andrea Vendrame (ITA)
| |
| 13 | 21 May | Ravenna to Verona | 198 km (123 mi) |
|
Flat stage | Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA)
| |
| 14 | 22 May | Cittadella to Monte Zoncolan | 205 km (127 mi) |
|
Mountain stage | Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA)
| |
| 15 | 23 May | Grado to Gorizia | 147 km (91 mi) |
|
Hilly stage | Victor Campenaerts (BEL)
| |
| 16 | 24 May | Sacile to Cortina d'Ampezzo | 153 km (95 mi)[N 2] |
|
Mountain stage | Egan Bernal (COL)
| |
| 25 May | Canazei | Rest day | |||||
| 17 | 26 May | Canazei to Sega di Ala | 193 km (120 mi) |
|
Mountain stage |  Dan Martin (IRL)
| |
| 18 | 27 May | Rovereto to Stradella | 231 km (144 mi) |
|
Flat stage | Alberto Bettiol (ITA)
| |
| 19 | 28 May | Abbiategrasso to Alpe di Mera (Valsesia) | 166 km (103 mi)[N 3] |
|
Mountain stage |  Simon Yates (GBR)
| |
| 20 | 29 May | Verbania to Valle Spluga (Alpe Motta) | 164 km (102 mi) |
|
Mountain stage | Damiano Caruso (ITA)
| |
| 21 | 30 May | Senago to Milan | 30.3 km (18.8 mi) |
|
Individual time trial | Filippo Ganna (ITA)
| |
| Total | 3,410.9 km (2,119.4 mi)[N 1] | ||||||
