All true: the organizers have confirmed the two Brescia stages of the Giro d’Italia 2022 edition. They are, in detail, two appointments for great climbers: from Salò to Aprica (200 km for 5,440 meters in altitude) and from Ponte di Legno in Lavarone, 165 km for 3,740 meters of altitude. The pink jersey returns to Brescia for the 105th edition of the Giro, which will (finally) make the many fans of our province dream.

The Giro d’Italia 2022: start and finish

The Giro d’Italia 2022 will be staged from 6 to 29 May, and will find Hungary again as the nation of

the “Great Start”. After the (inevitable) changes in 2020 due to a pandemic, two years later we leave Hungary again. The Great Start includes two straight legs and an individual time trial: it starts on Friday 6 May with the Budapest-Visegrad suitable for sprinters; on Saturday 7th, instead, the time trial (9.2 km) in the heart of the capital. Last leg in Hungary, Sunday 8 May, from Kaposvar to Balatonfured on the shores of Lake Balaton. The “Great Arrival”, scheduled for 29 May, will be back in Verona, with the 17.1 km time trial of the Veronese hills, to be covered on the Torricelle circuit and arrival in Piazza Bra and in the Verona Arena.

The route of the Giro 2022

There will be five sprint arrivals, plus a couple of extra eligible candidates, but they fall within the category of “moving stages”: among all the “classic” Catania-Messina, or the Sanremo-Cuneo, and even the Borgo Valsugana-Treviso. Among the “moving stages” it is impossible not to mention the Napoli-Napoli, which is almost like a sprint finish, or the Diamante-Potenza, which with 4,490 meters of altitude is almost a mountain stage. Finally, the uphill arrivals: the Avola-Etna, the Isernia-Blockhaus, the Rivarolo Canavese-Cogne and the Belluno-Marmodala stages are added to the aforementioned Brescia stages, arriving at the Fedaia Pass.

The Brescia stages of the 2022 Giro

We conclude with the two Brescia stages of the Giro 2022. The Salò-Aprica (also called Sforzato Wine Stage) is a classic stage of Valtellina, with a sequence of climbs some of which have been rediscovered after many years. Departure from Salò to go to Valsabbia as far as Bagolino, to climb the Goletto di Cadino (that is, the Crocedomini Pass: the last passage dates back to 1998 on the occasion of Marco Pantani’s victorious ride to Montecampione): ascent Valcamonica, climb Mortirolo from Monno (as in 2017) to go down to Grosio and go up again to Teglio, until reaching Aprica through the Valico di Santa Cristina (last passage in 1999).

The Ponte di Legno-Lavarone is a mountain stage divided into two parts. Uphill departure towards Passo del Tonale, followed by a stretch of over 70 km always downhill. After crossing the Adige, you climb Palù di Giovo, passing through the Valle dei Mocheni to reach Pergine Valsugana: then you go up again on the Passo del Vetriolo, from an unprecedented side, then along the Menador climb with its tight hairpin bends and the galleries; at the top of the hill, the Gpm of Monte Rovere ends with a few undulating kilometers.