Giro d'Italia organizers RCS have announced that the 2015 edition of the Italian grand tour will kick off with a team time trial to Sanremo that is held entirely on cycle paths. The first road stage will finish in Genoa and be one for the sprinters while the riders will tackle the first climbs in the third stage.

The 2015 Giro d’Italia will kick off on the 9th of May, with an 18km team time trial along the coast between San Lorenzo al Mare to San Remo.

The 98th edition of the Corsa Rosa will run over 21 stages to the 31st of May and the organisers, RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport, have announced all three opening stages will take place in the picturesque region of Liguria, which sits on the Italian Riviera.
The team time trial will be followed by two in line stages. Stage two, from Albenga to Genoa, has been designed to deliver a great sprint finish. Stage three, from Chiavari to La Spezia, is the first hill stage in the Giro d’Italia and will identify the potential Maglia Rosa contenders

This is the first time the opening stage has been held in San Lorenzo de Mare and the fifth time in Liguria, with Genoa hosting it in 1980, 1992 and 2004 and San Remo in 1987.

Stage details:
Saturday 9 May – TTT Riviera dei Fiori 18km approx.
The opening stage will be the first Grand Tour stage to take place solely on cycle paths. Teams will race along the Riviera dei Fiori cycle path, which is built on a former coastal rail route, and gives panoramic views of the Mediterranean coast. Its rolling hills will create a fast race.
Both ends of the course will be familiar to many riders; the annual Cipressa climb begins each March from San Lorenzo al Mare; and the stage’s finish line is also used by the Milan-San Remo spring classic route, which also begins in March.

Sunday 10 May – Albenga – Genoa 150km approx. – sprinters’ stage
This is the first in line stage and has been created to deliver an exciting sprint finish in Genoa, Liguria’s capital city. The course will run for 120km alongside the Riviera di Ponente before entering the historic, UNESCO World Heritage city, where riders will race four loops of a 7.5km circuit.
The race will be held on the Aurelia road and in the valleys of the Savona and Genoa provinces. The organisers have also added a climb to Stella, birthplace of Sandro Pertini, one of Italy’s most beloved presidents and first recipient of the UN’s Otto Hahn Peace Medal.

Monday 11 May – Chiavari – La Spezia 185km approx. – GC contenders stage
Stage three will be the first to test the riders and identify the GC contenders.  Riders will face a series of hills between the coast and the inland areas of Levante Ligure.
The race will be held on the Cinque Terre road, which was hit hard by torrential storms in 2012. The route has been designed as a relatively gentle introduction to the mountain stages, with a continuous series of climbs and descents to La Spezia. There a short city circuit will be raced before the reaching its climax on the top of the Biassa climb. Riders expected to begin their attack 10km before the finish line.

The Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali, the 2013 winner of the Giro d’Italia and only the sixth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours, has sent a video message to the guests:
“The Giro d’Italia is very important for me and I would like to send my regards to everyone. I have a very special bond with the Giro because it’s the race that launched me onto the Grand Tour scene. I can say I wish to come back in 2015”.

The announcement was attended Liguria’s President Claudio Burlando, as well as the region’s Sport Director, Matteo Rossi, and Tourism, Culture and Entertainments Director, Angelo Berlangieri.

President Burlando has explained the project: “This is a great opportunity for Liguria and its development and sport will help us drive tourism. Hosting the first three stages of Giro 2015 means welcoming a truly global competition with a fantastic heritage, and at the same time will show the World a panoramic view of our region from West to East, where cycling and outdoor sport are central to our way of life. The climate here means there is no seasonality and we’ve invested in and created many infrastructures in Liguria for cyclists, with the goal of creating a single cycle path across the the complete length of Liguria, from Ventimiglia to Sarzana. This is why the Giro will start on the 24km coastal cycle path that runs between San Lorenzo al Mare and Ospedaletti.”

RCS Sport’s representatives included its chairman and RCS MediaGroup advertising director, Raimondo Zanaboni; its CEO and RCS MediaGroup chief financial officer, Riccardo Taranto; its managing director, Paolo Bellino and the Giro d’Italia director, Mauro Vegni.

Zanaboni said: “The Giro d’Italia is a great opportunity that gives a lot of visibility for all our partners, both local institutions and sponsors. This is showed in the attendance and coverage of the 2014 race and its highly regarded reputation in both Italy and across the world”.

Taranto said: “Personally, being born in Genoa, I’m very proud that the race is starting here. For all the RCS Group, the Giro d’Italia, cycling and sport in general are a strategic asset that RCS Sport develops every year internationally.”

Bellino: “We are working to make next year’s Big Start unforgettable. The Giro’s first stage, raced on a cycle path on a renovated area, shows our attention to every cycling aspect. The Giro will not only focus on its racing heritage but through a series of events that will contribute to transform this very high level race into a truly global event.”

Vegni: “The three stages in Liguria, we are sure, will be a great success. This land is double-knotted to cycling and its passion has never ceased. Next year will be the fifth Giro Big Start from Liguria, and countless towns and villages have hosted the Giro’s stages throughout its history, either as stage starts or finishes. And this is on top of prestigious events such as the Milan-San Remo. We therefore expect a lot of people and a lot of love.”

La Gazzetta dello Sport director, Andrea Monti, together with the newspaper’s deputy director and the presentation’s moderator, Pier Bergonzi, also underlined the “pink paper’s” history and heritage as Italy’s cycling newspaper and its association with the Giro d’Italia. “A pink indestructible line has linked them since day one,” said Monti.