"Giro presentation delayed to January, organizers want Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Roglic"

The Italian Cicloweb reports that the presentation of the Giro d'Italia route has been delayed to early January. Initially, it was scheduled to take place on November 12. In addition, the Giro organization RCS is trying to attract the best tour riders at the start.

The intention is that the Giro will start in Albania, but there has been uncertainty about this since the delay of the route presentation. According to previous reports, there are two possible reasons for this. One is economic; it is possible that Albania did not meet the financial agreements. The other reason has to do with political contracts. The Giro start would reportedly be part of a deal between Italy and Albania, with the latter taking over immigrants.

However, Paolo Bellino, general director of RCS, dismissed these rumors. "There is no change in plans nor a problem with Albania. The press conference in Rome was only delayed because of a technical problem on our side." However, there seems to be more at play than a "technical problem" after all, as according to Cicloweb, the presentation has been delayed to early January.

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This delay is raising different questions. Cicloweb bases her claim on meetings of the regional council of the Valle d'Aosta region. "The council member for Tourism, Sports and Commerce Giulio Grosjacques, questioned by another council member, confirmed the dates of the two stages in Valle d'Aosta with arrival in Champoluc and departure from Verrès the next day, stating that there is no official announcement at this time. This will logically be delayed until the presentation originally scheduled for November 12, which he said has been rescheduled for early January 2025. 'This date has also been confirmed by other employees for us," the Italian cycling site said.

According to Councillor Grosjacques, he would have been assured by the Giro's organization that possible changes to the route would only affect the first week; weeks two and three will thus remain unchanged. Cicloweb also speculated about the participation of Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard. Therefore, the RCS organization would do everything possible to get them to the start. Of course, it would be the organizers' big dream, but it doesn't seem very likely. However, the riders' teams would already know the route, claims Cicloweb.  

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