Giro d'Italia 2026: Iconic race to start in Bulgaria next year for the first time - 'These initiatives have a positive impact'
Updated 10/10/2025 at 18:55 GMT+1
For only the 16th time in history, the Giro d'Italia will start outside of Italy. The 2026 race - which is the 109th edition of the iconic event - will begin in Bulgaria. It will be the second year in a row that the race has started outside the host country, after it began in Albania in 2025. RCS Media Group president, Urbano Cairo, said the initiative will "have a positive impact".
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It has been confirmed that the 2026 edition of the Giro d'Italia will begin in Bulgaria next year, the first time the iconic race has begun in the country.
Out of the 109 times the Giro d'Italia has been held, it will be only the 16th time the race has started outside Italy.
It will be the second year in succession that the race has got underway outside the host country.
Belgium, Greece, France, Hungary, Israel and Northern Ireland are among the countries to have hosted the opening stage in the past, while the 2025 edition of the race began in Albania.
"In May we started from Albania, next year from Bulgaria," Urbano Cairo, RCS Media Group president, said at the Festival of Sport event in Trento on Friday.
"These initiatives have a positive impact. They are appreciated in the countries we go to, but also by Italians who discover new territory.
"We are giving a boost to Italian exports, and that's an objective for our country. The Giro d'Italia is an ambassador for sport in the world, taking it overseas opens doors."
The 2026 Giro d'Italia will take place between May 9 to May 31.
Simon Yates claimed victory at the 2025 Giro, winning his first Grand Tour since 2018, and only his second in total after success at La Vuelta seven years ago.
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A brave attack on the penultimate stage helped the Brit overcome Mexico's Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz of Ecuador.
Next year, Yates will no doubt hope to defend his title, while the likes of Juan Ayuso, world and European champion Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic will be expected to be among the favourites to top the general classification charts.
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