Giro d’Italia 2018 Stages and Route

Giro d’Italia 2018 route has been announced by RCS Sport, the organizer of the race. For the first time ever, a Grand Tour will start outside of Europe: Israel will host the first three stages of the Giro d’Italia 2018, beginning with an Individual Time Trial in Jerusalem on Friday, May 4. It will also be the 13th time that the Giro starts outside of Italy. The race will be finished in Rome with a final circuit stage on Sunday, May 27. There will be no team time trial (TTT) and limited opportunities for the sprinters in the 101st edition of the Italian grand tour.
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Monte Zoncolan

One of the most demanding climbs in professional road bicycle racing, Monte Zoncolan is a mountain in the Carnic Alps, located in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. It has been used in the Giro d’Italia six times (2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2018) and in the Giro Donne (Giro d’Italia Femminile, rebranded in 2013 as the Giro Rosa), once (1997).
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Montevergine di Mercogliano

Montevergine is located near Avellino, in the comune of Mercogliano, in Campania, central Italy. The mountain is a limestone massif and part of the Apennine chain. Under the peak, at some 1,270 m, is the Sanctuary of MontevergineNotes 1 – where the climb ends.
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Mount Etna

Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. With a height of currently 3,329 meters / 10,922 ft (this varies with summit eruptions), it is the highest active volcano in Europe outside the Caucasus, and also the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps. To date, the Giro d’Italia has visited the volcano four times, three times to the Rifugio Sapienza and once to Piano Bottaro lower down. The last visit was in 2017, where Jan Polanc, the Slovenian rider of UAE Team Emirates won stage 4, as the last survivor of a four-man breakaway. The fifth visit will be in 2018 edition.
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Black Jersey is Back

Between 1946 and 1951, the Giro d’Italia had a special jersey, “maglia nera” (English: black jersey), for the last-placed rider. There was a real competition between many riders, to win this highly-coveted jersey. The last-placed rider would rode the final victory lap with the race winner each year around the historic Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan. The last winner of the black jersey was Giovanni Pinarello, founder of the prestigious Pinarello bikes, which went on to equip several winners of the vastly more coveted maglia rosa (race winner’s pink jersey). And, Pinarello is also the winningest bicycle in the Tour de France (13, as of 2017). Now, for the second consecutive year, the Black Jersey is back at Giro d’Italia Under 23, a tribute to Giovanni Pinarello.
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A Mountain Pass during the 1925 Tour de France

Today’s historic photo of the day: a mountain pass during the 1925 Tour de France. Frenchman Roger Lacolle (Météore) is leading the group (in the left, walking). The rider going the opposite way is a native, not a competitor.
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UK’s pothole problem: a danger to cyclists

Many of the cyclists who have ridden on Britain’s roads will know that even at the best of times, it can be a bumpy ride due to potholes. They are caused by changes in temperature and water in cracks of the road surface meaning that potholes are a problem that unfortunately cannot be prevented. They put many road users at risk of damage to either their vehicles or themselves. According to a research from the AA, 1 in 3 drivers in the UK report that their car, van or motorcycle has been damaged by potholes in the last two years with some cases even leading to crashes.
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Aston Martin unveils a special edition £15,000 Storck road bike

Aston Martin, the British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers, has collaborated with renowned bicycle manufacturer Storck to produce a limited edition road bike: an exclusive Aston Martin version of Storck’s new Fascenario.3. Only 107 pieces of this special bicycle will be produced, and owning one will cost £15,777!
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