According to a detailed report in Italian newspaper La Stampa, the 2018 Giro d’Italia could start in Japan, with four stages held in the Shizuoka area east of Tokyo, including one that climbs Mount Fuji –the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres.

Journalist Giorgio Viberti reported that Giro d’Italia race director Mauro Vegni has evidently already travelled to Japan, with some kind of provisional agreement perhaps in place. A final contract could even be signed in the coming weeks if a delegation from Japan visits this year’s Giro d’Italia. It would appear that the leading Japanese advertising agency Asatsu-DK is involved in the plans for the Giro d’Italia in Japan and would help fund the costs via major sponsors. 

A start in Japan would see the Giro d’Italia start outside of Italy for the 13th time but the first time outside of Europe. The Giro d’Italia organiser RCS Sport came close to sealing a deal to start in Washington, DC, in the USA in 2012 but talks slowed down after local elections and Angelo Zomegnan was removed as race director. Mauro Vegni is now in charge and has been buoyed by the success of the Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza in Northern Ireland and Ireland in 2014 and most recently in the Netherlands this year.

It remians to be seen if the riders and team would accept travelling such a long distance during a grand tour or if the UCI would allow the Giro d'Italia to start in Japan and then include two rest days so early in the race. However, the success of the Grande Partenza in the Netherlands and the general globalisation of professional cycling could lead to the first Asian start for a Grand Tour in 2018.

According to La Stampa, the total budget to organise the Grande Partenza in Japan would be close to 35 million Euros, with each team competing in the race likely to receive a payment of between 250,000 and 500,000 Euros to convince them to accept the 14-hour transfer from Japan. The local organiser of the Grande Partenza reportedly had a total budget of 13 million Euros, with RCS Sport covering most of the cost of the teams to help team with the logistics of having staff and vehicles in both the Netherlands and subsequently in southern Italy.