It’s May, the classics season is over, and so it’s already time to turn our attention to the Grand Tours ... and more specifically to Italy for the Giro d'Italia. The 2026 edition kicks off this Friday, May 8, in Nessebar, Bulgaria, with a total of 3,469 km on the schedule for the 184 riders representing the 23 teams at the start of this 2026 Giro d'Italia.

After the Grand Départ from Bulgaria with three road stages, the race will have its first rest day before resuming in southwestern Italy. It will then gradually head north before turning east after Naples, following the coast and crossing back west and into the north of the country to explore the northern region. This is followed by the now-familiar but still rather baffling transfer to Rome, where a loop stage will bring this 109th edition of the Giro d'Italia to a close!

In this article, you’ll find all the details of this route, including OpenStreetMap maps, stage profiles, and timetables. The route of the 2026 Giro d'Italia will hold no more secrets for you!

The 2026 Giro d'Italia maps are even better in the app... and available first!

Below you’ll find the stage maps for the 2026 [[Giro d’Italia]], but if you really want to dive into these maps ... they’re even better in the velowire app! And as usual, they’re available there before they’re published here!

In fact, for now you’ll find the first 3 stages here (the rest coming later this weekend), while in the app the first 10 stages are already available!

Whether you’re heading to the race — whether as part of a participating team, the organizing committee, one of its partners, or simply as a cycling enthusiast lining the route — or if you just want to explore the 2026 Giro d’Italia maps in a different way, velowire invites you to check them out in the Maps section of the velowire app for a more convenient experience. That way, you’ll always have them with you, and as a little bonus: you can view them in full-screen mode, and if you’re traveling to the event, display your location on the map and move the map along with you, making it easier than ever to get there!

So don’t wait any longer—join the hundreds of users of the app by downloading the velowire app from the app stores:
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The Grand Départ of the 2026 Giro d’Italia in Bulgaria 🇧🇬

For the first time in its history, the Giro d’Italia will start in Bulgaria 🇧🇬, marking its 16th Grand Départ abroad (and second in a row, following last year’s start in Albania). Three stages will take place in Bulgaria, starting with a flat stage between Nessebar (Несебър) and Burgas (Бургас) along the coast. The second stage will also be a flat stage, between Burgas (Бургас) and Veliko Tarnovo (Велико Търново), which heads inland. The third and final stage of this Grand Départ runs between Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited city, Plovdiv (Пловдив), and the capital, Sofia (София).

Following this Grand Départ in Bulgaria, the race will move to the southern tip of Italy. That is why a first rest day is scheduled for this coming Monday.

The 2026 Giro d’Italia route on OpenStreetMap, stage profiles, and hourly itineraries

Let’s not delay any longer; let’s take a detailed look at each stage of the 2026 [[Giro d’Italia]] one by one:

1/ Friday, May 8, 2026 - Nessebar (Несебър) 🇧🇬 > Burgas (Бургас) 🇧🇬 - 147 km

The first stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia starts in Nessebar (Несебър), and as the riders head south along the coast, they pass through the finish city, Burgas, but at this point they continue on their way to a 22-km local circuit that they complete twice and where they encounter the day’s only difficulty, Cape Agalina (4). On the first lap, they contest the intermediate sprint in Sozopol, while at the exit of the circuit on the second lap, the “Red Bull km” sprint is on the program. They then leave the circuit, following the same route as the outbound leg in the opposite direction, to head back up to the finish in Burgas (Бургас), where the race veers left at the last moment to head toward the stage finish.

Below you will find the timetable, profile, and OpenStreetMap map of the route for Stage 1 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia. Click on the images to enlarge them.

2/ Saturday, May 9, 2026 - Burgas (Бургас) 🇧🇬 > Veliko Tarnovo (Велико Търново) 🇧🇬 - 221 km

The second stage starts in the previous day’s finish city, Burgas (Бургас), and this time the race heads inland; while the stage is fairly flat up to the sprint in Sliven, that’s where the challenges begin, with three Category 3 climbs: two in quick succession, the Byala Pass and the Vratnik Pass, before finishing the stage with the climb up the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass (^ 452 m / 3.9 km at 6.8%). It is then just a little over 10 kilometers further on that the stage victory will be contested at the finish in Veliko Tarnovo (Велико Търново).

Below you will find the schedule, profile, and OpenStreetMap map of the route for Stage 2 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia. Click on the images to enlarge them.

3/ Sunday, May 10, 2026 - Plovdiv (Пловдив) 🇧🇬 > Sofia (София) 🇧🇬 - 175 km

This stage, starting from Plovdiv (Пловдив), is divided into two parts: a first part that climbs continuously to the Borovets ski resort (2nd category, 9.2 km at 5.4% (max 11%)), passing through the intermediate sprint in Dolna Banja, followed by a second section with a gentle, continuous descent to the finish in Sofia.

Below you will find the schedule, profile, and OpenStreetMap map of the route for Stage 3 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia. Click on the images to enlarge them.

R1/ Monday, May 11, 2026 - first rest day

After these first three stages of the 2026 Giro d'Italia in Bulgaria, the riders and race followers will then head to southwestern Italy and Catanzaro, where they will rest on Monday, May 11, before setting off on Stage 4 the following day.

The routes and full details of the upcoming stages will be published shortly, just like the possibility to download the maps of the Giro d'Italia 2026 in Google Earth. In the meantime, you can already find the first 10 stages of the 2026 Giro d'Italia in the velowire app, under the Maps section.

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Giro d Italia | Giro d'Italia 2026

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