Here we are, just one day to go until the start of the 109th Giro d'Italia , which will begin in Bulgaria. After the first three stages in Bulgaria, there will be a rest day to allow for the transfer to Italy, and the race will resume on Tuesday, May 12th, with the Catanzaro-Cosenza stage.  

There will be 184 athletes, divided into 23 teams, ready to challenge each other along the 21 stages scheduled: from Nessebar to Rome , where the 2026 Giro d'Italia will finish.

THE FAVORITE: The clear favorite is Dane Jonas Vingegaard , who, after victories in two editions of the Tour de France and last year's Vuelta a España , will try to join the exclusive club of winners of all three Grand Tours . During his presentation, Vingegaard openly stated that he came to the Giro d'Italia to win and that he will give everything to bring another pink jersey to Team Visma | Lease a Bike , who also won the 2025 edition with Simon Yates. Vingegaard will have a competitive team at his side, and his point man on the climbs will be the experienced Sepp Kuss , winner of the 2023 Vuelta a España.

THE RIVALS: However, there will be no shortage of rivals, from the two captains of Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe, Jai Hindley (the winner of the 2022 edition) and the Italian Giulio Pellizzari (who will not have Joao Almeida) as well as Adam Yates , leader, on paper, of UAE Team Emirates together with Jay Vine (who if he does not run into any crashes, will be able to take advantage of the time trial on the tenth stage to gain minutes

The other men in the standings are Derek Gee , fourth in 2025, but who disappointed at the Tour of the Alps, the Ineos duo Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman , as well as Felix Gall , leader of Decathlon and a serious candidate for the podium. Also watch out for Australian Michael Storer (the Tudor leader appeared to be improving at the Tour of the Alps) as well as   Ben O'Connor, fourth in the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Movistar is also worth keeping an eye on, as they have a solid climbing team on paper with Enric Mas (his condition is an unknown), Einer Rubio , and Javer Romo . Bahrain Victorious can also have a say with the experience of Damiano Caruso , second in 2021 and a top-five in 2025, and Santiago Buitrago.

FANTACYCLING CHOICES: In a race with a strong favorite and a lot of uncertainty behind him, it won't be easy to make the right choices in Fantacycling , and this will make both the managerial championship and the special leagues even more exciting. Speaking of which, there will be a special league dedicated only to the Giro d'Italia, with an iPhone 17 up for grabs for the winner, a MacBook Pro for the runner-up, and an Apple Watch for the third-place finisher .

THE SPRINTERS: Among the sprinters, the man to beat will be Jonathan Milan , who is leading Lidl Trek with his six victories this season and holds a special record: he has won the points classification in all three Grand Tours. The Italian sprinter's main rivals will be Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon's top sprinter) and Paul Magnier, as well as Kaden Groves, Dylan Groenewegen, and Arnaud De Lie , as well as the expected Pascal Ackerman. Keep an eye on Casper Van Uden (Picnic is aiming to win a stage with him), Ethan Vernon, Lukas Kubis, Erlend Blikra, Orluis Aular, and, among the Italians, Matteo Malucelli, Matteo Moschetti, Luca Mozzato, Giovanni Lonardi, and Enrico Zanoncello. These riders could secure placings and bring you interesting bonuses at Fantacycling.

THE REVELATIONS: In such a challenging stage race, the favorites for the general classification aren't guaranteed to fully live up to expectations, so you could make a difference in your Fantacycling lineup by picking the potential revelations of this Giro d'Italia. Among them are Italians Alessandro Pinarello (captain of NSN) and Simone Gualdi (Lotto Intermarché), as well as Frenchman Mathys Rondel (Tudor) and Norwegian Johannes Kulset (the overall leader of Uno-X).