The Giro d’Italia begins in earnest this weekend with the finest cyclists in the world gathered for the first Grand Tour of the year.
Reigning champion Egan Bernal will miss the event through injury, while 2020 champion Tao Geoghegan Hart is also missing due to illness.
That leaves the event wide open for experienced names to add to their tallies and for obscure riders to make their mark on the world stage.
Richard Carapaz – 2019 champion – is expected to finish among the top contenders, while 10 British riders including the resurgent Mark Cavendish will be dreaming of making an impact in 2022.
The 21-stage route will push riders and teams to their limits across a range of terrain designed to stretch superstars in every area of their skill-set and endurance fitness, and you can soak it all up live from your armchair on TV each day.
RadioTimes.com brings you all the dates and times you need to know in the Giro d’Italia 2022 schedule.
When does Giro d’Italia 2021 start?
The race begins on Friday 6th May 2022, the usual time of year for the Giro to take place after 2020’s event was moved to October.
The event will come to an end on Sunday 29th May 2022, with the final stage to be held around Verona.
Giro d’Italia 2022 route and schedule
Friday 6th May: Stage 1
Budapest – Visegrad (195km, flat)
Saturday 7th May: Stage 2
Budapest – Budapest ITT (9.2km, ITT)
Sunday 8th May: Stage 3
Kaposvár – Balatonfüred (201km, flat)
Monday 9th May
TRAVEL TO SICILY
Tuesday 10th May: Stage 4
Avola – Etna-Nicolosi (Rif. Sapienza) (172km, mountains)
Wednesday 11th May: Stage 5
Catania – Messina (174km, flat)
Thursday 12th May: Stage 6
Palmi – Scalea (Riviera dei Cedri) (192km, flat)
Friday 13th May: Stage 7
Diamante – Potenza (196km, hilly)
Saturday 14th May: Stage 8
Napoli – Napoli (Procida Capitale Italiana della Cultura) (153km, hilly)
Sunday 15th May: Stage 9
Isernia – Blockhaus (191 km, mountains)
Monday 16th May
REST DAY
Tuesday 17th May: Stage 10
Pescara – Jesi (196km, hilly)
Wednesday 18th May: Stage 11
Santarcangelo di Romagna – Reggio Emilia Parmigiano Reggiano Food Stage (203km, flat)
Thursday 19th May: Stage 12
Parma – Genova (204km, hilly)
Friday 20th May: Stage 13
Sanremo – Cuneo (150km, flat)
Saturday 21st May: Stage 14
Santena – Torino (147km, hilly)
Sunday 22nd May: Stage 15
Rivarolo Canavese – Cogne (178 km, mountains)
Monday 23rd May
REST DAY
Tuesday 24th May: Stage 16
Salo – Aprica (Sforzato Wine Stage) (202km, mountains)
Wednesday 25th May: Stage 17
Ponte di Legno – Lavarone (168km, mountains)
Thursday 26th May: Stage 18
Borgo Valsugana – Treviso (152km, flat)
Friday 27th May: Stage 19
Marano Lagunare – Santuario di Castelmonte (177km, hilly)
Saturday 28th May: Stage 20
Belluno – Marmolada (Passo Fedaia) (168km, mountains)
Sunday 29th May: Stage 21
Verona (Cronometro delle Colline Veronesi) (17.4km, ITT)
Giro d’Italia 2022 start list – teams and riders
AG2R-CITROEN
- Lilian Calmejane
- Jaakko Hanninen
- Felix Gall
- Mikael Cherel
- Nans Peters
- Nicolas Prodhomme
- Andrea Vendrame
- Lawrence Naesen
ASTANA QAZAQSTAN
- Vincenzo Nibali
- Miguel Angel Lopez
- David de la Cruz
- Valerio Conti
- Fabio Felline
- Joe Dombrowski
- Harold Tejada
- Vadim Pronskiy
ALPECIN-FENIX
- Mathieu van der Poel
- Stefano Oldani
- Jakub Mareczko
- Dries De Bondt
- Michael Gogl
- Senne Leysen
- Tobias Bayer
- Oscar Riesebeek
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
- Mikel Landa
- Pello Bilbao
- Wout Poels
- Jan Tratnik
- Phil Bauhaus
- Santiago Buitrago
- Domen Novak
- Jasha Sütterlin
BARDIANI-CSF-FAIZANE
- Sacha Modolo
- Filippo Fiorelli
- Filippo Zana
- Luca Covili
- Alessandro Tonelli
- Davide Gabburo
- Samuele Zoccarato
- Luca Rastelli
BORA-HANSGROHE
- Wilco Kelderman
- Lennard Kämna
- Jai Hindley
- Emanuel Buchmann
- Ben Zwiehoff
- Giovanni Aleotti
- Patrick Gamper
- Cesare Benedetti
COFIDIS
- Guillaume Martin
- Davide Cimolai
- Simone Consonni
- Anthony Perez
- Pierre-Luc Perichon
- Davide Villella
- Remy Rochas
- Wesley Kreder
DRONE HOPPER-ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI
- Jhonatan Restrepo
- Jefferson Cepeda
- Natnael Testfatsion
- Andrii Ponomar
- Simone Ravanelli
- Eduardo Sepulveda
- Mattia Bais
- Eduard-Michael Grosu
EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST
- Hugh Carthy
- Magnus Cort
- Jonathan Caicedo
- Simon Carr
- Diego Andres Camargo
- Owain Doull
- Odd Christian Eiking
- Merhawi Kudus
EOLO-KOMETA
- Lorenzo Fortunato
- Erik Fetter
- Diego Rosa
- Francesco Gavazzi
- Vincenzo Albanese
- Samuele Rivi
- Davide Bais
- Mirco Maestri
GROUPAMA-FDJ
- Arnaud Demare
- Ramon Sinkeldam
- Ignatas Konovalovas
- Jacopo Guarnieri
- Attila Valter
- Tobias Ludvigsson
- Miles Scotson
- Clement Davy
INEOS GRENADIERS
- Richard Carapaz
- Pavel Sivakov
- Richie Porte
- Ben Swift
- Salvatore Puccio
- Jonathan Castroviejo
- Ben Tulett
- Jhonatan Narváez
INTERMARCHE-WANTY-GOBERT MATERIAUX
- Domenico Pozzovivo
- Biniam Girmay
- Rein Taaramae,
- Jan Hirt
- Lorenzo Rota
- Barnabás Peák
- Simone Petilli
- Aime De Gendt
ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH
- Alessandro De Marchi
- Alex Dowsett
- Giacomo Nizzolo
- Matthias Brandle
- Rick Zabel
- Alexander Cataford
- Jenthe Biermans
- Reto Hollenstein
JUMBO-VISMA
- Tom Dumoulin
- Koen Bouwman
- Sam Oomen
- Jos van Emden
- Edoardo Affini
- Tobias Foss
- Pascal Eenkhoorn
- Gijs Leemreize
LOTTO SOUDAL
- Caleb Ewan
- Thomas De Gendt
- Roger Kluge
- Filippo Conca
- Matthew Holmes
- Sylvain Moniquet
- Michael Schwarzmann
- Harm Vanhoucke
MOVISTAR TEAM
- Alejandro Valverde
- Jorge Arcas
- Will Barta
- Oier Lazkano
- Antonio Pedrero
- Jose Joaquin Rojas
- Sergio Samitier
- Ivan Ramiro Sosa
QUICK-STEP ALPHA VINYL
- Mark Cavendish
- Mauri Vansevenant
- Andrea Bagioli
- Michael Mørkøv
- Bert Van Lerberghe
- Davide Ballerini
- Pieter Serry
- Mauro Schmid
TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE-JAYCO
- Simon Yates
- Lawson Craddock
- Christopher Jull-Jensen
- Damien Howson
- Michael Hepburn
- Matteo Sobrero
- Callum Scotson
- Lucas Hamilton
TEAM DSM
- Romain Bardet
- Thymen Arensman
- Cees Bol
- Alberto Dainese
- Nico Denz
- Romain Combaud
- Martijn Tusveld
- Chris Hamilton
TREK-SEGAFREDO
- Bauke Mollema
- Giulio Ciccone
- Dario Cataldo
- Juan Pedro Lopez
- Jacopo Mosca
- Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
- Edward Theuns
- Otto Vergaerde
UAE-TEAM EMIRATES
- João Almeida
- Fernando Gaviria
- Davide Formolo
- Diego Ulissi
- Rui Costa
- Alessandro Covi
- Maximiliano Richeze
- Rui Oliveira
UK viewers can watch the Giro d’Italia 2022 live on Eurosport and discovery+. Live coverage of every stage will be broadcast between the Eurosport 1 and 2 channels with discovery+ encompassing all of their coverage online.
Alternatively, Amazon Prime members can get a 7-day free trial to the Eurosport channel. After the free trial, the Eurosport channel is £6.99 per month. Amazon Prime is £7.99 per month but can be accessed with a 30-day free trial.
The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.
