Giro Next Gen, the challenge of young talents begins – Corriere.it

An eight-stage challenge between the best young talents in world cycling, the Giro d’Italia’s response to the Tour de l’Avenir which has been the Tour de France’s counterpart at an amateur level for decades.

Giro d’Italia Next Gen part of a project that Rcs Sport will complete in 2024: in forty days of competitions, line up the Giro d’Italia, the Next Gen and the Giro Donne for which the organizers of the pink race have acquired the rights from next year, in fact. The Giro Next Gen collects the legacy of a race born in 1970which has taken on various names (Baby Giro, Girobio from 2009 to 2012, Giro d’Italia Under-23 in 2017, Giro d’Italia Giovani Under 23 from 2018 to 2022) and which has been won by numerous future champions: Moser, Battaglin , Baronchelli, Pantani, Simoni and Di Luca.

The 2024 edition, scheduled from 11 to 18 June, compares from the time trial in Agli to the final stage in Trieste (eight stages for 1050 km) as many as 35 teams of 5 riders each: a reduced number of athletes per team allows even the smallest teams not to be overwhelmed by the strategies of the clubs satellite of the professional ones. Among the candidates for the final victory are Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma Development Team), second in 2022 at the Tour de l’Avenir and this year’s winner of the Giro del Belvedere, Antonio Morgado (Hagens Bermans Axeon), winner of the of the Lunigiana 2022 and of the International Tour of Rhodes 2023, Santiago Umba (GW Shimano Sidermec), recently 11 at the Giro dell’Appennino dei pros and 5 at the Vuelta de la Juventud, and Francesco Busatto (Circus – ReUz – Technord), winner of the Liège – Bastogne – Liège U23 and 4 in the Giro dell’Appennino, the most popular blue.

This year’s stages are:
11/06, 1 stage, Agli – Agli Itt, 9.4 km Short individual time trial, very fast and suitable for time trial specialists. It consists of long straight sections connected by some curves. The only small difficulty is the final ramp (4% average) which leads to the Castle of Agli.
12/06, 2 stage, San Francesco Al Campo-Cherasco, 151km Relatively flat stage in the first part and then moving and articulated up to the finish. You go around the city of Turin touching some towns of its hinterland such as Settimo Torinese and Chieri. Then continue south until you reach the Alba hills where you climb La Morra and Novello before reaching the final circuit of 18 km (1 lap) which passes not only Cherasco but also Narzole and the Tanaro valley floor. In 2010 on the same finish Philippe Gilbert triumphed in that edition of the Gran Piemonte.
13/06, 3 stage, Priocca-Magenta, 146km Practically flat stage entirely dedicated to fast wheels whose only difficulty will be the short stretch of Lu. You cross the Po Valley of Alessandria and Pavia on essentially straight and perfectly flat roads.
14/06, 4th stage, Morbegno-Passo Dello Stelvio, 119km Very tough high mountain stage that designed the first, potentially definitive draft of the general classification. From Morbegno you follow the course of the Adda up to Sondrio where you take the panoramic road through important places for cycling such as Poggiridenti. Passage from Teglio (which gives its name to the valley) and then a long climb up to Bormio through Tirano, Mazzo di Valtellina and Valdisotto. Final climb of 22km at 7% average with over 30 switchbacks.
15/06, stage 5, Cesano Maderno-Manerba Del Garda, 159km A moving and nervous stage, especially in the finale, which takes the race to Lake Garda. Departure across the plain north of Milan dotted with inhabited centers with the usual crossing difficulties consisting of normal traffic obstacles such as roundabouts, traffic reservations and street furniture of various types. Before Brescia, the race climbs towards Lake Iseo and climbs the Tre Termini Pass, the ascent to Lumezzane and the Sant’Eusebio Pass before descending to the shores of Lake Garda with some final “teeth” suitable for possible coups .
16/06, stage 6, Pergine Valsugana-Povegliano, 166km Stage with a tough initial ascent (Valico della Fricca), with a subsequent 150 km downhill or flat. You cross many inhabited centers with the usual difficulties until you reach Povegliano where, after crossing the finish line, you will ride two laps of a very fast 16 km circuit.
17/06, stage 7, Possagno-Pian Del Cansiglio, 176km the stage of the Giro Next Gen 2023. Departure from the Canova Temple in Possagno and after km 0 there will be a succession of short and long climbs, hard or pedalable, without solution of continuity. You cross the entire Prosecco area from Valdobbiadene to Combai to Refrontolo and after Vittorio Veneto the sequence of climbs begins: San Lorenzo, Passo San Boldo with its hairpin bends in the tunnel, Valmorel, Nevegal with its central kilometers all over 10%, Malga Cate in Alpago again with double-digit slopes and finally the entrance to Pian del Cansiglio from Farra with its first 4 km all at 12/13%. Very hard and selective block that will determine the final classification.
18/06, stage 8, Tavagnacco (Cavalicco)-Trieste, 131km Closing stage of the Giro Next Gen 2023. Departure from Tavagnacco (Cavalicco), the hometown of Enzo Cainero, and the first slightly undulating part along the Udinese moraines. We pass through Pagnacco, Buja, Tarcento to continue in the area of ​​the wines of Nimis, Attimis, Faedis up to the Cividale plain. In the province of Gorizia the passage marked by the Great War with Monte San Michele and the shrine of Redipuglia to then enter the province of Trieste through the “high” road of Aurisina and Santa Croce. Brief dive towards the coast and final sprint of the stage and of the Giro in front of Piazza Unit d’Italia and Molo Audace.