The Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza (Big Start) is on its way to Ireland in May 2014.
The 22-team pro cycling race will spend three days in Ireland. Stage one on May 9 will see time trials raced against a backdrop of the iconic sights of Belfast, starting at the Titanic Quarter and ending at Belfast City Hall.
Stage two on May 10 will be raced from Belfast around the Causeway Coast and rural Antrim, finishing back in Belfast.
Stage three leads off on May 11 in Armagh. The 187km leg will track along the east coast and finish its Ireland visit in the heart of Dublin.
The riders will then have a rest day before the Italian section of the race begins in Giovinazzo on the Adriatic coast on May 13.
Almost 200 riders in total will travel to the start in Northern Ireland, along with coaches, managers, masseurs and other support staff.
Teams will be presented to the public in Belfast on Thursday, May 8.
Irish ace Nicolas Roche will compete in next year’s Giro d’Italia. Roche’s father Stephen Roche won the Giro in 1987 and went on to triumph in the Tour de France and the World Championship later that year.
