The Giro d'Italia set a new standard with the northernmost start of a grand tour in 2012 when the race kicked off in the Danish city of Herning. However, that record may be broken in the future as Sweden is considering a bid to host the start sometime after 2017.

The Giro d'Italia has done nothing to hide its intentions of becoming a more international event and earlier this week, race director Mauro Vegni elaborated on the ambitions, even mentioning that a start in the USA or Dubai may be on the cards. Yesterday Eurosport.se reported that the race is also considering a start in another country that it has never visited before.

The website reports that Sweden is currently considering a bid to host the Grande Partenza in the future. If the plans are turned into reality, it would be the northernmost start of the race ever, with the 2012 start in the Danish city of Herning currently holding the record.

Vegni recently met with bike manufacturer Cycleurope and its parent company Grimaldi about a possible visit.

"They asked me to look at the effort that would be needed for a start in Sweden," Vegni said. "We talked about possibly sometime after 2017."

The CEO of the Vätternrundan, a popular Swedish 300km sportif, Eva-Lena Frick said that the plans are still in an early phase.

"We have had an initial discussion and we have been looking and waiting for this," she said. "At present, we have determined that it is way too large a commitment for us, but it's something that you have the door open for. It is an amazing offer.

"The fact that we show the world that we are good at organizing major events, we can accommodate many people and give them a lovely experience," she added. "Both the racers and the fans who could come here and discover the country would want to come back. It would allow us many different ways to show that we in Sweden have lots to offer."

The Giro has started in a foreign country 11 times and will kick off in Ireland in 2014.