Giro d'Italia with a touch of Slovenia

The world famous cycling Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, which will be attracting the attention of cycling fans from 6 to 29 May, is returning to Slovenia. The 19th stage, which is scheduled for 27 May, of one of the greatest three-week cycling challenges will take the cyclists through part of the Soča Valley with a challenging climb up the Kolovrat mountain range. This is an excellent opportunity for Slovenia, where cycling is one of the most popular activities, to show the world its cycling soul, green countryside and excellent options for outdoor activities. 

Giro d'Italia in brief

The Giro d'Italia (also known as the Giro or La Corsa Rosa) is an annual stage race for professional male cyclists that takes place mostly on Italian roads.This year's 105th edition of the Giro d'Italia will feature a total of 21 stages. The race will run through 14 of the 20 Italian regions, and take a turn out of the Italian territory twice – to Slovenia and to Hungary, where the race will actually start. 

Take a look at a few interesting facts about the race.

The Giro d'Italia was held for the first time in 1909, making it one of the oldest cycling races in the world. The first winner was Luigi Ganna.

Since 1931, cyclists have been competing for the pink jersey awarded to the overall winner. Pink is the colour of the organiser of the race, the sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, which is still printed on pink paper.

The 2021 Giro d'Italia was broadcast in as many as 185 countries. Television stations generated a total of 95 hours of live coverage of the race.

The pink caravan of the Giro (pink because that’s the colour of the leader’s jersey) has visited Slovenian territory five times to date. The start and finish lines of the "Slovenian" stages have included Kranj, Bled, Portorož and Ljubljana, and the route of the Giro has also ventured into the Brda region twice.

Slovenia is a paradise for cyclists

It doesn’t matter what kind of cyclist you are or what kind of bicycle you ride - you will find something to your liking in Slovenia. The diverse and picturesque landscape will take your mind off all the effort, and time and kilometres will fly by just like that. In Slovenia, you can ride a bicycle practically every day in the year; the main cycling season is between April and November, and in places with a temperate Mediterranean climate it can last into the winter.

With the Giro, Slovenia is in the company of the "Great Three"

Cycling enthusiasts know that there are only three great challenges among all the world’s cycling races – France's Tour de France, Spain's Vuelta and Italy's Giro d'Italia. An overall win in one of these prestigious races shoots professional cyclists straight to the cycling Olympus. Slovenians have already learned how it feels to have their heroes among the winners of one of the three-week races, as Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič have won the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, respectively.

And while the Giro d'Italia is still waiting for an overall Slovenian winner, Slovenian cyclists have already won an impressive eight individual stages of the race. First to enter his name in the annals of individual stage winners at the Giro was Luka Mezgec in 2014, to be followed by Jan Polanc, Primož Roglič, Matej Mohorič and Jan Tratnik

 

While the Giro d'Italia is still waiting for an overall Slovenian winner, Slovenian cyclists have won as many as eight individual stages of the race. The Giro is especially close to the heart of Slovenians precisely because it does sometimes head over into Slovenian territory. And it’s heading our way again in 2022! The 19th stage will start in Italy's Marano Lagunare, and the cyclists will enter Slovenia through the Učja gorge. They will then descend towards the Soča river, go past Žaga, through Trnovo to Kobarid (famous as Caporetto in Italian), and from there to Idrsko. After that they will climb to Livek and Livške ravne up to Kolovrat and over the Solarji saddle and go back into Italy to Cividale del Friuli (Čedad in Slovenian), where they will begin the final ascent to the famous pilgrimage centre of Castelmonte above Cividale. 

The 178 km long "Slovenian" stage will feature almost 3,230 metres of climbing, including a new 10 km climb with an average gradient of 10%, and a challenging finishing climb at the end.

Recipe for Slovenian sporting success

Have you ever wondered why such a small country like Slovenia has so many top-level athletes in so many sports? There are many ingredients of the successful sport story of Slovenia. Of course, as in all other things, perseverance, courage and heart count for a lot. And these ingredients are certainly not lacking in the greatest Slovenian sporting names.

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Underlined with green

In the Giro d'Italia cycling race, a lot of attention is also dedicated to sustainability. Under the slogan "ride green" the organisers ensure that the race is not only attractive to sport enthusiasts, but they also strive to make it a role model for sustainable activity and environmental protection. Sustainability guidelines are also of key importance in Slovenia, the first country in the world to be declared a green destination as a whole.

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