The Baby Giro, the Tour of Italy for U23 riders, will return to the calendar in 2017. Renato Di Rocco, president of the Italian cycling federation, and national coach Davide Cassani have announced that the 40th edition of the race will begin in Imola on June 9, just two weeks after the end of the Giro d'Italia of the pros, and probably finish on June 15 with a mountaintop finish in Abruzzo. Furthermore, a short individual time trial will be included in the route but the details still have to be clarified.

"We had to start the race again and it will again be a benchmark," Cassani told Gazzetta dello Sport, announcing the participation of 27 teams - 17 Italian and 10 international - with six riders each.

The cost of the race will be around 500,000 euros. Among the sponsors is the Italian energy group Enel which also sponsors the maglia rosa of the professional race. With the return of the Baby Giro, Cassani hopes for a general boost for Italian cycling which has been in difficulty for several years. In 2017, there will be no Italian WorldTour team because Lampre-Merida will be financed by a Chinese sponsor in the coming season.