The Giro d'Italia is Italy's top cycling competition. Twenty-two teams of professionals take part in the three-week race for the "pink shirt".
Since 1909, when the race first started, it has grown in popularity and is now very much part of the Italian sporting life, attracting a huge crowd of cheerful supporters. Its success is partly due to the legendary champions, such as Coppi, Girardengo and Gimondi, who helped bring the competition to prominence.
In 2008 the race, which criss-crosses the length and breadth of the Italian peninsula (around 3442km in 23 days), is scheduled to start in Palermo and finish in Milan. The programme is published on the Italian sport paper La Gazzetta dello Sport's website.
Tourist Office
Italian Tourist Office
Via Parigi 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Phone: +39 06 488 991
Fax: +39 06 488 992 28
