Although Giro d’Italia organizer RCS hasn’t confirmed, the Bulgarian Tourism and Sports ministers announced on Wednesday that the 109th edition’s Grande Partenza will take place in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and spend three days in total in the eastern Balkans nation. It will be the 16th Corsa Rosa with a foreign start.
This year’s Giro started in Albania, and has recently kicked off in countries like Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands and Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Giro’s first foreign start was in 1965 in San Marino.
Grand Tour foreign starts have become popular in the 21st century as nations bid to reap tourism dollars by hosting. This year’s Vuelta a España begins August 23 in Italy, where the last year’s Tour de France Grand Départ was set. The next two Grand Départs are in Barcelona and Edinburgh. The 2026 Vuelta will start in Monaco.
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